12 Days of Non-Christmas Horror Movies on Tubi in December 2023 (inspired by The 12 Days of Christmas)

As far as holiday horror goes, Christmas is an embarrassment of riches. There are so many Christmas-themed horror movies in existence that you could watch more than one every day throughout December and still not see them all. We even made a list of 25 of the best Christmas horror movies so you can have your own horror-movie advent calendar.

But, even in the holiday season, there will certainly be days when you’re not in the holiday spirit. A full 31 days of cheer is a lot to ask for anyone. So, December can’t be filled only with Christmas horror. Maybe you want to watch something completely disconnected from Christmas. Maybe you also don’t want to be seen as a Grinch or a Scrooge for straying too far from the traditions of the season. If that’s the case, our Tubi recommendations for December have you covered.

This list of horror movies currently streaming on Tubi uses the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” as inspiration. Each line of the original song is reinterpreted and rewritten to incorporate non-Christmas horror movies into the lyrics. So for example, “a partridge in a pear tree” becomes “a leprechaun in a magic tree” thanks to Leprechaun 2 (1994). Make sense? Good. Happy non-holiday viewing!

The Twelve Days of Non-Christmas Horror Movies

1. Leprechaun 2 (1994)

On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me, a leprechaun in a magic tree.

Why Watch It? Leprechaun 2 is silly and fun, and Warwick Davis is fantastic as the joyously cruel killer leprechaun.

Official Description: An evil leprechaun is determined to take the beautiful descendant of a love interest from one thousand years ago as his bride in modern Los Angeles.

2. Stigmata (1999)

On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me, several flying doves.

Why Watch It? Stigmata is a great example of 90s horror. The visuals are stylized, the editing looks like a music video at times, and the story is engaging.

Official Description: Bleeding sores matching Jesus’s crucifixion wounds develop on an atheist woman, and a skeptical priest sent to investigate finds dark forces at work.

3. High Tension (2003)

On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me, gory French murders.

Why Watch It? High Tension is quite gory, but it is also one of the more accessible entries in the New French Extremity cycle of films. Viewers may be split about the movie’s big reveal, but it is something that should be viewed at least once to judge for one’s self.

Official Description: Best friends Marie and Alexa head to a secluded farmhouse for a quiet night to study, but a late-night visitor brings a haunting change of plans.

4. Terror Birds (2016)

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love sent to me, two terror birds.

Why Watch It? Terror Birds is pure campy goofiness. A dumb movie watched just for fun.

Official Description: Searching for her father, Maddy and her friends find the monstrous birds that killed him and the ambitious scientist protecting them from extinction.

5. Ring (aka Ringu, 1998)

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love sent to me, Japanese rings.

Why Watch It? Ring is a creepy Japanese classic, and its chilling atmosphere makes it perfect viewing for the winter months.

Official Description: A determined aunt investigates how her niece died in such a sudden and unexplainable way. She uncovers a videotape with devastating consequences.

6. Contamination (1980)

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love sent to me, aliens a-laying.

Why Watch It? Contamination features alien “eggs” that cause people to explode, and there is a giant and amazingly cheesy alien seen towards the end of the film. Also, the music in the movie is from the Italian prog-rock band Goblin.

Official Description: A space hub found in the Hudson River reveals a mutilated crew killed from the inside out, as well as boxes of glowing alien eggs meant for doom.

7. Jungle Holocaust (aka Last Cannibal World, 1977)

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me, one Swan a-missing.

Why Watch It? This one is purely for fans of cannibal movies. As such, use caution if you decide to watch Jungle Holocaust. Like other Italian cannibal movies of its time, it contains many elements general audiences will find disturbing.

Official Description: A jungle outpost trip for two moguls surveying oil becomes a depraved nightmare when one is booby trapped and the other is dragged off by cannibals.

8. The Maid (2020)

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love sent to me, one maid a-haunting.

Why Watch It? From its intial setup, The Maid appears like it will be a typical haunted house movie about the ghost of a deceased maid haunting her former place of work. Instead, the film takes some unexpected turns and ends up being a bloody and violent surprise.

Official Description: Joy is the new maid of a royal house, whose previous maid disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

9. Vamp (1986)

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love sent to me, scary ladies dancing.

Why Watch It? Vamp is a campy cult-classic, and Grace Jones is mesmerizing.

Official Description: Two friends head for a nightclub called the After Dark Club. But when the bar’s dancers turn out to be vampires, the evening takes on a new twist.

10. Robo Vampire (1988)

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love sent to me, vampires a-leaping.

Why Watch It? Robo Vampire has everything: a laughable RoboCop rip-off, supernatural beings of Chinese folklore, kung-fu, and lots of shooting. It’s awfully good.

Official Description: Narcotics agent Tom Wilde is given a second chance at life after being shot and killed. In a futuristic experiment, agent Wilde is returned to life as an Android Robot. Now he must do battle with evil drug warlord Mr. Young and his inhuman creation the Vampire Beast.

11. Pipeline (2020)

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me, a pipe monster piping.

Why Watch It? Fans of ultra-low-budget horror might get a kick out of Pipeline. Also, pipe-based horror is a unique and under-explored category.

Official Description: A family’s move becomes their worst nightmare after they learn that a blood-seeking monster lives in the walls and pipes of their new home.

12. The Night Eats the World (2018)

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me, a lonely drummer drumming.

Why Watch It? With so many people out and doing things during the holiday season, sometimes its nice to just stay inside and do nothing. In The Night Eats the World, Sam has no choice but to stay inside and do nothing, until he is forced to do something in order to survive the zombie apocalypse he finds himself in.

Official Description: What seems like a nightmare is a horrifying reality for a man who wakes up in Paris as apparently the only survivor of a swarm of killer zombies.

The Twelve Days of Non-Christmas Horror: Full Lyrics