I Noticed A Christmas Horror Movie Is Trending Right Now On Netflix, And I Am So Confused Right Now

Netflix logo in black and red
(Image credit: Netflix logo)

I know I’m not the only one who’s eternally curious about what other people are watching with their Netflix subscription, and the top trending movie and TV tabs have helped me crack the mystery. In fact, they often end my doom-scrolling before it really starts. But seeing one movie in the Top 10 movies made me question everything in mid-July: Krampus.

Look, it’s been a long year, but I’m pretty sure it’s not December yet. But despite the lack of holiday cheer in my own life this summer, it’s apparently spreading in its own twisted way among Netflix users because a lot of people are suddenly watching Krampus. The 2015 movie is one of those Christmas horror movies with a character you’d hate to actually spend the holidays with. The movie just joined 2025 Netflix releases on Wednesday, July 16, and clearly a herd of horror fans were scrambling to check it out, or rewatch it.

If you haven’t heard of the movie, it’s derived from a folktale where a horned figure named Krampus punishes badly behaved kids whilst St. Nick rewards the good kids. The movie is from director Michael Dougherty, who also made the great Halloween movie Trick ‘r Treat. It stars Severance’s Adam Scott and Hereditary’s Toni Colette as a couple and parents to a young boy, whose Christmas spirit is tested. After he tears up a letter to Santa, the family becomes haunted by Krampus, and it’s a rather fun horror movie. The Krampus director has even shared his sequel thoughts before.

Toni Collette and Adam Scott looking frightening in cold in Krampus

(Image credit: Universal Pictures)

All that being said, Krampus has entered the Netflix Top 10 in the middle of July when the widely celebrated date of Christmas is over five months away. Look, I know Christmas in July is somewhat of a thing thanks to Hallmark’s yearly promotion of it, but I’m starting to think the tradition is a lot more popular among than I originally believed.

Admittedly, Krampus is by no means your average Christmas movie, and is very different than films like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation or How The Grinch Stole Christmas being heavily watched, but I personally get so enamored by the holiday season once it starts as early as late November that I truly just wait it out until then. I am not all people, and I think it’s kind of fun that this is the tradition of some.

Some might only watch horror movies in October, and there’s a new summer horror movie out there right now in the form of I Know What You Did Last Summer. Noticing Krampus trending on Netflix definitely got me all confused on what day it is, but hey, there’s no rule against when you should watch the movie you want to!

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.

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