'A Creepshow Holiday Special' (2020)


Well, today was going to be a review of Guy N. Smith's 'Crabs Omnibus' and then I found out that he died today and suddenly I didn't want to write that review any more. Don't get me wrong, it's a good book and I will talk about it here, just not today.

So where does that leave us then...? Well, it is Christmas Eve so lets have a little chat about 'A Creepshow Holiday Special'. A quick chat though, I've got a lot of presents to wrap up before I see my kids in the morning...

Robert Weston has reason to believe that he might be a werewolf, but when he goes to a Shapeshifters Anonymous support group, he learns that there's something far more sinister than his curse to worry about. Lets see if he makes it through the night...

'A Creepshow Holiday Special' is basically a long lead up to a flurry of Santa Claus' getting gunned down by possibly the unlikeliest group of were-people that you have ever met. It shouldn't work, it really shouldn't; it's a one trick pony forced to do that trick for three quarters of an hour. If it was the horse in question, you'd be asking for your money back, you really would. Don't expect anything clever then, just a round of introductions followed by a fight with some evil Santa's (which is admittedly a great play on the 'Red Shirt' trope).

But you know what though? The 'Holiday Special' does work. The Shapeshifters Support group is a great way to frame what's happened to Robert and the show definitely has a lot of fun looking at what life is like for those were-people unlucky enough not to be a were-wolf.

And that's the whole point really, having fun. Once you realise that you're not here to be scared but to watch evil Santa's being gunned down, this Holiday Special just opens up into something very enjoyable. It may not be as gory as other Creepshow episodes (blood doesn't show up well on Santa suits after all) but the death count is high and I still feel weird saying this but that's the main thing.

It doesn't even matter that the ending is fairly well signposted. If you've ever wanted to call Santa a motherfucker but didn't want to go on the naughty list, the next best thing is right here waiting for you. 'A Creepshow Holiday Special' doesn't take itself seriously at all and is all the more fun for it. Don't expect much of a story but if you've seen the trailer then you were never here for the story, were you...? ;o)

'A Creepshow Holiday Special' is streaming on 'Shudder'.

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