Today’s post is a pretty quick one. Long before Good Tidings, Silent Night Deadly Night, Christmas Evil, and numerous other killer Santas, this little gem showed up in Tales From The Crypt. Little bit of backstory, when I was a kid, my uncle had what was, to me, the greatest comic book collection ever. Golden Age Marvel and DC (including the first appearance of Daredevil).

More importantly, there were stacks of EC Comics, especially Tales From They Crypt. That, along with Vault Of Horror and Haunt Of Fear were big parts of my formative years (probably explains quite a bit). I don’t know what became of that marvelous collection, and it pains me to think it might be gone.

Anyway–this of course leads me to the 1972 Tales From The Crypt movie (one of my longtime favorites), specifically, given the current theme, the segment “And All Through The House.” And yes, there are spoilers ahead.

First of all, who doesn’t love such winning a combination as a good Freddie Francis directed Amicus or Hammer flick and a svelte 1972 Joan Collins?

It’s christmas eve. Richard puts a present under the tree for “best wife in the world,” Joanne (Collins). He sits down to read the paper only to be unceremoniously brained by said wife with a fire poker whilst “O Come All Ye Faithful” plays on the radio (specifically the line “Yea, lord, we greet thee…” Thwack). All this for his life insurance payout as their daughter sleeps upstairs.

Soon after, the announcer cuts in with a warning about an escaped murderer on the loose dressed in, you guessed it, a Santa suit.

Joanne goes and locks up the doors then proceeds to stage her husband’s accident scene by dumping the body down the basement steps, collecting some spilled blood from the crime scene, and dripping it around the body.

Clever.

This is when we find out that the daughter, not asleep and eagerly awaiting the arrival of Santa, has in fact seen him outside and let him in. He makes for Joanne immediately, strangling her in front of the fire place.

Adeste fideles.