The Best of Winter Horror

We are deep into the winter months and it has been pretty hard. The nights are long and the days are cold. But look on the bright side, at least you're not freezing to death in the snow because a horrible monster is chasing you (at least I hope thats not happening to you). So here are some of the best winter horror movies to remind you that things could be much much worse.

Listen to episodes 171, 172, and 173 of Lunatics Radio Hour to hear more about winter horror!

The Thing (1982): You can’t have a snowy horror movie list without the greatest remake of all time, John Carpenter’s The Thing. The mundane routine of researchers at a remote base in Antarctica is interrupted when an unknown creature infiltrates the base and turns everyone against each other. This movie perfectly captures the isolation and loneliness of an endless winter. Not only is the character’s environment against them, they are also being hunted by a terrifying shapeshifting monster. There is no escape from the Thing because the only other option is freezing to death outside. Apparently, real researchers at a base in Antarctica watch this movie every year as the most intense part of winter comes in. And while you may not be able to get that immersive of an experience, it is still a great watch in the winter snowy months.

30 Days of Night (2007): If you’re sick of watching sexy, beautiful, young vampires falling in love with high schoolers and want feral, blood thirsty monsters, this is the perfect movie for you. This film takes place in a small Alaskan town where every winter for  a period of 30 days the town is cast in complete darkness. Most of the residents leave during this time, but some stay behind to watch over the town and unfortunately for them a group of vampires use these 30 days without sun as a non stop feeding frenzy. Once again we have the terrifying mix of monster vs nature. Unlike in most classic vampire movies the remaining  survivors can’t rely on a break from the hoard of feral beasts during the day. They also can’t survive by hiding from the vampires forever because they’ll freeze or starve. So ask yourself next time it snows and the sun is nowhere to be seen, what’s worse? Slowly freeze/starve to death or be ripped apart by rabid vampires? 

Storm of the Century (1999): While technically a mini series and not a movie, this series is such a perfect snowy weather watch I had to include it (plus each episode is an hour and a half long so you can watch it like three movies). Citizens of a small island in Maine prepare for the “storm of the century” where they will be completely cut off from the mainland, something they are relatively used to. What they’re not used to, however, is the strange man who came into town right before the storm, his arrival coinciding with a string of strange events and deaths around the island. He claims he’ll go away when he gets what he wants, but what could that be? The best part of the story is the characters. Each character is well thought out and reacts to the situation at hand in their own unique way. While full of supernatural goings on, this show has some of the most realistic and human characters I have ever seen. If you love Stephen King’s snow horror like Misery or The Shining, but haven’t seen this I highly recommend adding it to your rotation of horror movies. Perfect for watching while the snow falls outside your window.

Werewolves Within (2021): Ok enough bummer snow horror movies! If you want to experience a good isolated horror, but still want to lighten up the dark winter months with some comedy, I highly recommend Werewolves Within. It starts as all good snow horror starts, with a small town cut off from civilization because of a very intense snow storm. After finding a dead body, a generator with claw marks, and a neighbor's dog getting eaten, the people of the town conclude there is a werewolf among them. Now they just have to figure out who it is without getting eaten, but that's going to be difficult while they’re all staying in the town’s B&B with no power. A mix of great comedic timing, isolating setting and consistent building of suspense as the characters try to suss out the werewolf make this a perfect winter treat. Can you figure out who the werewolf is while laughing at the character’s ridiculous antics?