15 Terrifying Thanksgiving Horror Movies That Are Scarier Than a Burnt Turkey

Slasher film Home Sweet Home, directed by Nettie Peña, was made in the early 1980s and has all the trappings of a vintage horror movie. Escaped mental patient Jay Jones (Jake Steinfeld) — who was locked up for killing his parents — shows up at a Thanksgiving gathering and immediately wreaks havoc. He cuts the power to the house before offing the homeowner and then cutting the phone lines, essentially isolating the guests from any help they could possibly call. As the guests sit down to enjoy what they think will be Thanksgiving dinner, Jay enters and starts picking them off one by one. Will anyone survive?

This year's Black Friday takes the biggest shopping day of the year and exposes it for all its horrors. OK, so maybe it turns it into a zombie attack, but the terrifying hordes of shoppers who descend upon stores on the day after Thanksgiving are no doubt horrifying for store employees. In this movie, the employees at a toy store have to defend themselves against zombie shoppers who are infiltrating the store on this chaotic shopping holiday. The movie, which will be released ahead of this year's Black Friday, might just make you rethink setting out for your own shopping trip after Turkey Day.

The Devastator — sometimes referred to as Hostile Takeover — is based on the book Office Party by Michael A. Gilbert. In the story, an accountant named Eugene (David Warner) takes his coworkers and boss hostage while they're all working overtime on Thanksgiving. In the tense film from the 1980s, the police surround the building to try to talk Eugene down, but he seemingly doesn't want to make any deals. In fact, he wants nothing at all out of this, because at this point, he has nothing to lose. He's tired of the way he's been treated, and this Thanksgiving is the last time he's willing to put up with it.

College student Justine (Haley Bennett) can't afford to fly home for Thanksgiving, so she stays on her college campus in this 2014 film. Over the break, she finds a girl named Violet (Ashley Greene) in her room with a knife, and when she tries to escape, she quickly finds out that Violet isn't operating alone. She's part of a cult, out to kill the "Kristys" of the world — seemingly perfect, God-fearing women. Justine spends a panicked night trying to escape the killers, engageing in violence of her own while watching some of her friends get killed. It's when she goes after Violet herself that it all comes to a head.

Twins Todd and Terry are at a drive-in movie when they find their mom locked in a passionate makeout session with a man they don't know. Terry explodes and kills a teen in a nearby car out of rage — but then pins the whole thing on Todd. Todd's locked up in an asylum while Terry goes about his adolescent life. Ten years later on Thanksgiving Day, Todd escapes the asylum and Terry starts to break down again, going after his mom's current partner. All hell breaks loose when the two of them are on their own murderous rampages.

Horror comedy ThanksKilling is crass, gory, and very high camp. It starts at the very first Thanksgiving in 1621, where a Pilgrim is killed by a turkey wielding a tomahawk. The movie then jumps to modern time, to a group of teens who end up stranded outside when their car breaks down. They start discussing native urban legends, including those related to Thanksgiving. Supposedly a demon turkey comes around every 505 years to unleash its evils onto people who have settled on native lands. This year, though, he shows up early and just goes to town killing everyone who crosses his path.

As part of Hulu's Into the Dark series, Pilgrim is a creepy look at historical reenactors gone awry. Spoiled housewife Anna (Courtney Henggeler) decides that this Thanksgiving, she's going to hire a bunch of people to cosplay as Pilgrims in order to re-create the first Thanksgiving — but in her home for her family. However, the "Pilgrims" show up way too early and tell Anna that they're going to immerse her family in Pilgrim ways. Things quickly devolve as the Pilgrims act stranger and the concept of what Thanksgiving actually is starts to blur. It goes beyond just psychological thriller, though, when things start to get seriously bloody.

Thanksgiving gets turned on its head when a killer spirit of a blues musician is unleashed. While on the loose, he terrorizes everyone he encounters — most notably some young sweethearts who are totally unsuspecting victims. Ghost Note — which is a musical note with no sound, common in blues — is a ghost story at its core with enough of an indie vibe to be just this side of creepy. You'll be on the edge of your seat wondering if this terrifying ghost will be recaptured and banished before it's too late or if he will kill again.

It's Thanksgiving, but a group of college students have stayed behind in their dorm. To pass the time, they hold a seance together in an effort to get rid of what they believe to be a ghost of a young girl. However, the ritual goes horribly wrong when they accidentally bring back the little girl's killer. Bad things start to happen over the next couple days of Thanksgiving weekend for these students, and they have no one to turn to for help. The students are left wondering if they should hold another seance to correct what they've done or if they'll eventually succumb to whatever evil they've unleashed.