December is upon us, which means it’s time to discuss holiday horror! I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t offer you a bit of gastro horror tidings to get through this month! This really should come as no surprise given that the late autumn and early winter holidays are known for their use of food as a means to celebrate. There are specific traditions for each. On Thanksgiving we eat turkey, Hanukkah celebrations are made better with latkes (Team Sour Cream here), and with Christmas you have all sorts of food traditions depending on where you celebrate.
One of my favorite representations of food in holiday horror is milk and cookies (or in some cases, just cookies). Whether or not the intention is to bribe Santa Claus, you have everything from killer gingerbread men, poisoned cookies, and/or just appearances of milk and cookies as a minor plot point. For me, I think I just love seeing Christmas-themed cookies in film, especially when there is a lot of attention in how they are decorated. I admit that I might be biased towards this topic because when Geeks Who Eat (my semi-active food blog) won a Silver Bolo Award on The Last Drive-In, Joe Bob and Darcy made one of our recipes for vegan Christmas cookies.
Why Do We Leave Milk and Cookies Out for Santa?
Before we get to the films, I thought it would be fun to explore why we leave out cookies as an offering to a man who slides down our chimneys. In the United States, leaving milk and cookies out for Santa became popularized in the 1930s during the Great Depression, when parents wanted to use this act to teach their children about the importance of giving and sharing what they had. (Pruitt, 2015)
The origins can be traced even further back globally. “During the Yule season, children would leave food out for Sleipner [Odin’s eight-legged horse], in the hopes that Odin would stop by on his travels and leave gifts in return.” (Pruitt, 2015) This is just one of the many ways modern Christmas traditions have “borrowed” from the Pagan holiday, Yule.
According to National Geographic, “cultures worldwide have celebrated the changing seasons with winter solstice festivals for thousands of years, and feasting with loved ones has always been a large part of this. By the Middle Ages, European winter solstice festivals had melded with evolving Christmas celebrations, and as cookies spread through the continent, they became particularly popular at this time of year, since they could be made in large batches, stored for long periods and were easy to share.” (Kolt, 2024) Doesn’t this make you appreciate cookie parties a bit more? You’re literally participating in gastro history!
As its popularity has grown, cookies and milk for Santa or for Christmas in general has become universally recognized in pop culture and advertising. Commercials for Oreos, milk, and even Chevy have played this up. It can be seen in TV shows and traditional holiday films. You’d be hard-pressed to not think about cookies when it comes to Christmas and Santa.
Now that you know some of the backstory, we’re here to discuss holiday horror! Below are the films and shorts I’ve compiled. This is not an all-encompassing list, but there is plenty to satisfy your cinematic sweet tooth!
Feature-length films:
Krampus - If killer gingerbread henchmen of Krampus attacking a family aren’t enough of a justification to appear on this list, this film has a ton of gorgeous cookies in the early part of the film thanks to Max’s omi. You can almost smell the Christmas magic.
Black X-Mas (2006) - This remake of Bob Clark’s classic takes a lot of weird turns from the original, one of which is the addition of Billy’s backstory. His mother refers to his sister Agnes as a cookie she just wants to gobble up. In the same flashback, Billy uses a cookie cutter to remove his mother’s skin and make skin cookies (which he dips in milk to eat). Cookies appear throughout the rest of the film as well.
The Gingerdead Man - Technically, The Gingerdead Man isn’t a holiday film, but given that the titular villain is in fact a gingerbread man, I’ll include the first entry which at least sort of feels wintery.
Gremlins - After turning from Mogwai into Gremlins, Gizmo’s brethren invade the Peltzers’ kitchen. Mrs. Peltzer discovers them eating her holiday cookies before she launches her attack against them. In my opinion, this is one of the most fun scenes that takes place during the film.
I’m Dreaming of a White Doomsday - Tread cautiously with this film because it is BLEAK. In I’m Dreaming of a White Doomsday, the appearance of cookies feels like bookends. At the start, they are a sign of a happier time of togetherness and by the end, they come to symbolize the end.
Curtains for Christmas - This Hallmark-inspired indie horror comedy also has its share of cookies. Christmas lover Holly tries to bake cookies and fails. This leads her to steal some better-made ones from a victim.
Shorts:
Milk and Cookies and Milk and Cookies: Walter’s Revenge - This pair of shorts (there is also a supercut on YouTube that has them as one short) has some great practical effects work as well as creature design. If there is one takeaway from this pairing, it’s that you should never steal cookies meant for Santa (or in this case a creature named Walter).
Grandma’s Cookies - I don’t want to spoil this short because the premise plays with the traditional idea of not peeking when you’re supposed to be in bed waiting for Santa in a really interesting way. Out of the shorts mentioned here, this one is my favorite.
Christmas Guts - In Christmas Guts, we learn why it’s important to verify where food comes from before you eat it! This short also has some fun stop-motion bits at the end.
I hope this list gives you some ideas to bring a little bit of gastro horror home for the holidays. I’ve also compiled a couple of Letterboxd lists worth checking out for Christmas Cookies in Horror and Food in Holiday Horror. Happy Holidays!
References:
Kolt, M. V. (2024, December 5). The story behind Christmas cookies. Retrieved November 26, 2025, from National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/the-story-behind-christmas-cookies
Pruitt, S. (2015, December 8). Don’t Forget Santa’s Cookies and Milk: The History of a Popular Christmas Tradition. Retrieved November 26, 2025, from History.com: https://www.history.com/articles/dont-forget-santas-cookies-and-milk-the-history-of-a-popular-christmas-tradition
Sarah Stubbs is an online content creator with a passion for all things pop culture, especially food and horror. The latter were both early passions of Sarah’s. Her mother taught her how to cook at a young age fostering that passion. Additionally, her mother was instrumental in her love of horror movies showing her movies like House on Haunted Hill and all of the Universal Monster movies before the age of 10. All of these passions played into her creating Sarah Stubbs Says as well as her other projects including the #100HorrorMoviesIn92Days Challenge. Sarah co-founded the site Geeks Who Eat with her husband Matthew in 2015 and is the co-host of Final Girls Feast.
Sarah Stubbs is an online content creator with a passion for all things pop culture, especially food and horror. The latter were both early passions of Sarah’s. Her mother taught her how to cook at a young age fostering that passion. Additionally, her mother was instrumental in her love of horror movies showing her movies like House on Haunted Hill and all of the Universal Monster movies before the age of 10. All of these passions played into her creating Sarah Stubbs Says as well as her other projects including the #100HorrorMoviesIn92Days Challenge. Sarah co-founded the site Geeks Who Eat with her husband Matthew in 2015 and is the co-host of Final Girls Feast.
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