Increasingly, over the last few decades, modern pop culture has warmed up to embracing the frightful chills of the winter holidays in films like Gremlins, Black Christmas, Terrifier 3 … Love Actually. But the historical roots of this time of year have always had a darker, spookier side. Long before Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol — an era when families of Victorian England gathered to share ghost stories by the fire on Christmas Eve — pre-Christian folklore told of a thin veil between worlds, where spirits (and goblins, beasts, and gods) lingered during the winter solstice. 

Those ancient beliefs blend with modern natural introspection of the holidays. Along with the (sometimes saccharine) jubilations, Christmas and the winter festivities encourage people to reflect on the past, lost loved ones, and the lingering “ghosts” of memory. Add to that how this month is populated by magical home invaders, and a creepy surveillance imp on the shelf, and December is a rather fitting time for mystery, the macabre, and paranormal tales.

Celebrating the scarier side of the holidays is not only a sort of subversive counter-programming by pairing cheer with fear, it allows us to acknowledge the dichotomy of light and dark, contrasting cozy, nostalgic evenings with long, eerily silent nights.

All of this is a very drawn out way of saying I love getting creepy, spooky, and downright scary gifts for the holidays, and I love shopping for loved ones who also appreciate a little splash of blood red with their Christmases so white. And so, we return with a Talking Strange Show “Season’s Screamings Gift Guide” for 2024. After the success of last year’s guide, we are going bigger and bloodier with gift suggestions for the horror and paranormal fans in your life. Comic books, action figures, statues, graphic novels, swanky shirts and hats, paranormal investigation equipment, and even some vodka and cologne are all included, and all part of the theme.