{"id":2209715,"date":"2025-12-23T12:23:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T12:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2209715"},"modified":"2025-12-23T12:23:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T12:23:19","slug":"horror-to-watch-for-the-holidays-best-movie-and-tv-ghost-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/horror-to-watch-for-the-holidays-best-movie-and-tv-ghost-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"Horror to watch for the holidays: Best movie and TV ghost stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

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When the sun vanishes early and the chill of darkness comes on deep and fast, there has always been an instinct to gather around a source of warmth and illumination for tales of fearsome happenings. Especially during the holidays. In Victorian times, the telling, or reading, of ghost stories was a Christmas tradition; the most enduring Yule-time tale \u2014 Charles Dickens\u2019 \u201cA Christmas Carol,\u201d written in 1843 \u2014 is first and foremost a ghost story.<\/p>\n

Almost 200 years later, the electronic hearth offers plenty of chilling tales with which one can continue the tradition and honor the rattling chain of Jacob Marley\u2019s ghost. Here are a few personal favorites, beginning with three from Mike Flanagan, TV\u2019s master spinner of spectral tales.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Haunting of Bly Manor\u201d (Netflix)<\/h2>\n

This contemporary retelling of Henry James\u2019 \u201cThe Turn of the Screw\u201d is a masterpiece of modern gothic. As in the original story, a young woman, here an American named Dani (Victoria Pedretti), takes a job as governess to two young children, Miles (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) and Flora (Amelie Bea Smith), who live in a grand and isolated manor with housekeeper Hannah Grose (a terrific T\u2019Nia Miller). The children, as ever, are both charming and odd, and tragedy moves through the echoing corridors of Bly Manor. Tragedy, and many other things, as Flanagan blurs the psychological and the supernatural even more vigorously than James did.<\/p>\n

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Michiel Huisman and Timothy Hutton in the Netflix TV show \u201cThe Haunting of Hill House.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Steve Diet \/ Netflix)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

\u201cThe Haunting of Hill House\u201d (Netflix)<\/h2>\n

This series, which predates \u201cBly Manor\u201d and shares many cast members, is a modern-day adaptation of Shirley Jackson\u2019s classic of the same name. Steven Crain (Michiel Huisman) has become a bestselling author with a book based on a family tragedy that took place while his parents, Olivia (Carla Gugino) and Hugh (Henry Thomas), were renovating an (you guessed it) isolated mansion where things are not as they seem. As adults, Steven\u2019s siblings are still angry at their brother\u2019s betrayal and, more important, haunted by what happened to them in Hill House, which we see in a series of increasingly terrifying flashbacks as the house continues to call to them.<\/p>\n

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\"Hamish <\/picture>\n
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Hamish Linklater stars in Mike Flanagan\u2019s Netflix series \u201cMidnight Mass.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Eike Schroter \/ Netflix)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

\u201cMidnight Mass\u201d<\/h2>\n

After serving four years in prison for a drunk-driving accident in which a woman was killed, Riley Flynn (Zach Gilford) returns to his isolated (naturally) hometown on Crockett Island where a new priest, Father Paul Hill (Hamish Linklater), is attempting to revitalize the local church. Flynn attempts to rebuild his life even as mysterious events begin plaguing the island. With one of the best midseason reveals in TV history, \u201cMidnight Mass\u201d has plenty of jump scares while exploring, with surprising delicacy, the need for, and perils of, religious faith.<\/p>\n

\u201cKrampus\u201d (Peacock)<\/h2>\n

In this Christmas horror comedy, the dysfunctional Engels family is plagued by vicious gingerbread men, dark elves and demonic toys deployed by a horned monster which, according to European folklore, is unleashed to punish naughty children. As a cautionary tale, it\u2019s way more effective than coal in the stocking.<\/p>\n

\u201cMama\u201d (Amazon)<\/h2>\n

An exquisite, heartbreaking and genuinely terrifying contemplation of trauma and familial love. Five years after his twin brother has gone on a murderous rampage and abducted his daughters after losing his fortune in the 2008 stock market crisis, Luke Desange (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) finally finds the girls in a remote cabin. Filthy and feral, Victoria (Megan Charpentier) and Lily (Isabelle N\u00e9lisse) have apparently been surviving on their own, though Lily insists it was \u201cMama.\u201d Adapting to life with Luke and his girlfriend Annabel (Jessica Chastain) is difficult, in part because whatever kept them alive in the forest is not prepared to let them go.<\/p>\n

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\"Ewan <\/picture>\n
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Ewan McGregor plays Dan Torrance in \u201cDoctor Sleep,\u201d Stephen King\u2019s sequel to \u201cThe Shining.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Jessica Miglio \/ Warner Bros. Pictures)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

\u201cDoctor Sleep\u201d (Netflix)<\/h2>\n

Flanagan is at it again, adapting Stephen King\u2019s sequel to \u201cThe Shining.\u201d Little Danny is now Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor), a recovering alcoholic who tries to use his \u201cshine\u201d sparingly and for good, while keeping the evil spirits trying to contact him at bay. He accidentally connects with Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran), a young girl with powers as strong as his own, and together they must battle a group of psychic vampires, led by Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson), who are killing children. Great performances, frightening plot twists and three guesses where they all wind up.<\/p>\n

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\"Tom <\/picture>\n
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Tom Hiddleston and Mia Wasikowska star in Guillermo del Toro\u2019s \u201cCrimson Peak.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Kerry Hayes \/ Universal Pictures and Legendary Pictures)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

\u201cCrimson Peak\u201d (Amazon)<\/h2>\n

A true Victorian Gothic tale in which budding author Edith (Mia Wasikowska) marries the mysterious Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston), who convinces her to move to his dilapidated and (say it with me now) isolated mansion so he can use his newly invented digging machine to revitalize his family mine. There she meets his sister Lucille (Chastain), to whom Thomas is disturbingly attached, and encounters all manner of spooky threats, often in her long white nightgown.<\/p>\n

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\"Patrick <\/picture>\n
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Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga play demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren in \u201cThe Conjuring.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Michael Tackett \/ AP)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

\u201cThe Conjuring\u201d (HBO Max)<\/h2>\n

The film that kick-started the franchise remains the best one in it. When Roger and Carolyn Perron (Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor) and their five daughters move into a big and (ahem) isolated <\/i>farmhouse, things go south fairly quickly. Carolyn turns to demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), who discover that a witch who once lived in the house has cursed it and the land around it. Director James Wan creates some of the most memorable, and cinematically elegant, jump scares ever filmed. Also some fine early \u201870s fashions.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis House\u201d (Netflix)<\/h2>\n

After losing their daughter as they fled the horrors of South Sudan to seek asylum in the U.K., Rial (Wunmi Mosaku) and Bol (Sope Dirisu) find themselves assigned to a falling-down house in a neighborhood filled with racists. Rial begins to see visions of her daughter and a mysterious man before realizing that the house is haunted by a night witch and traumatic memories of their past. A metaphor for current immigration problems? Maybe. But a darn good ghost story.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Ritual\u201d (Netflix)<\/h2>\n

After one of their friends is killed during a robbery, four men decide to take a hiking trip in Sweden to mark his passing. When one is injured, they leave the trail and take a shortcut through the brooding forest. Big mistake. Frightening talismans lead to bigger, bloodier scares and larger threats that include a cult, an ancient forest monster and an obvious message: Always stay on the trail!<\/p>\n

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\"Timothy <\/picture>\n
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Timothy Dalton as Sir Malcolm and Eva Green as Vanessa Ives in Showtime\u2019s \u201cPenny Dreadful.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Jonathan Hession \/ Showtime)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

\u201cPenny Dreadful\u201d (Amazon)<\/h2>\n

Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway) and his monster (Rory Kinnear) meet and mingle with Dorian Grey (Reeve Carney), Dr. Henry Jekyll (Shazad Latif) and Count Dracula (Christian Camargo) in the three seasons of John Logan\u2019s gothic, gory and genuinely fun pastiche of the Victorian supernatural tales known as penny dreadfuls. Come for the monsters, stay for Eva Green\u2019s clairvoyant Vanessa Ives, and, in Season 2, Patti LuPone.<\/p>\n

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\"Ben <\/picture>\n
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Ben Mendelsohn and Cynthia Erivo play police and private detectives in HBO\u2019s adaptation of the Stephen King novel \u201cThe Outsider.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Bob Mahoney \/ HBO)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

\u201cThe Outsider\u201d (HBO Max)<\/h2>\n

In this adaptation of Stephen King\u2019s 2018 novel of the same name, the savaged corpse of a boy is found in the woods and all evidence points to beloved Little League coach Terry Maitland (Jason Bateman), who appears to have an ironclad alibi. As the town and Maitland\u2019s wife (Julianne Nicholson) reels, Det. Ralph Anderson (Ben Mendelsohn), aided by investigator Holly Gibney (Cynthia Erivo), must figure out who, or what, is loose in the woods. Warning: The initial crime is horrific so be prepared \u2014 this supernatural cop miniseries is frightening on more than one level.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Terror\u201d (AMC+)<\/h2>\n

The first season of this anthology series is based on Dan Simmons\u2019 bestselling supernatural-tinged imagining of what happened to the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror when they went missing during an 1845 expedition to find the Northwest passage through the Arctic. Starring Jared Harris, Ciar\u00e1n Hinds, Tobias Menzies and a panoply of fine actors, it is a chilling (literally and figuratively) descent into madness. In the second season, subtitled \u201cInfamy,\u201d evil, both natural and supernatural, stalks Chester Nakayama (Derek Mio) after he and his family are incarcerated during World War II. Historical horror at its best.<\/p>\n

\u201cSleepy Hollow\u201d (Hulu)<\/h2>\n

In modern-day Sleepy Hollow, fallen Continental Army officer (and friend of Gen. Washington) Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) wakens, 230 years after he beheaded a mysteriously evil horseman. He meets Sheriff\u2019s Lt. Abigail Mills (Nicole Beharie), who, after some convincing, joins him in his quest to foil the Horseman who has also risen again. Originally on Fox, this is a charming, family-friendly series, with plenty of time-displacement comedy (and some very loose historical references) to alleviate the scares.<\/p>\n

\u201cLa For\u00eat\u201d (The Forest) (Netflix)<\/h2>\n

A girl has gone missing from a village near Belgium\u2019s dense and eerie Ardennes Forest and the town\u2019s new detective, Gaspard Decker (Samuel Labarthe), works with local police officer Virginie Musso (Suzanne Cl\u00e9ment) and a concerned teacher to find her. This is essentially a French detective series but the forest of the title looms over the narrative like an additional character. Terrible things have happened, and may lurk, within and the vibe is very creepy, even with subtitles.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing Human\u201d (the U.K. version) (Amazon)<\/h2>\n

Annie (Lenora Crichlow), Mitchell (Aidan Turner) and George (Russell Tovey) seem like three normal flatmates living in Bristol but they are actually a ghost, a vampire and a werewolf. All trying to lead ordinary lives and often failing spectacularly. Part comedy, part drama and often truly frightening \u2014 Mitchell is at odds with the other local vampires who are less inclined to spare humans \u2014 the first three seasons (before both Turner and Tovey left the series) are adventuresome meditations on the power of friendship.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.latimes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the sun vanishes early and the chill of darkness comes on deep and fast, there has always been an instinct to gather around a source of warmth and illumination for tales of fearsome happenings. Especially during the holidays. In Victorian times, the telling, or reading, of ghost stories was a Christmas tradition; the most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2209716,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2209715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Horror-to-watch-for-the-holidays-Best-movie-and-TV.com2F8e2F0d2F61af02d74d54ac7d1d934401.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2209715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2209715"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2209715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2209717,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2209715\/revisions\/2209717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2209716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2209715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2209715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2209715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}