Navigating the chaos of Christmas celebrations can feel a bit like fighting through the battle of Armageddon. Yet while it might be tempting to escape this with a hot chocolate and another viewing of Love Actually, Christmas films needn’t be jolly.

Each year brings its share of snowbound action films and bauble-laden slasher movies. But some filmmakers choose to take things a step further – to the apocalypse. If you find yourself longing for the end of civilisation as December 25 nears, fear not – film and TV have you covered.

This link isn’t as counterintuitive as it might seem. In the Christian church calendar, the lead up to Christmas is supposed to heighten anticipation for Christ’s return. The theme of apocalypse resonates through some of the best-known Christmas images: Sandro Botticelli’s famous Mystic Nativity(1500), for example, depicts the birth of Christ along with scenes from the Bible’s Book of Revelation. An inscription declares that the artist was living through “the second woe of the Apocalypse”.

My research has explored how and why popular culture might use Christmas when depicting “the end”. Like the Ghost of Christmas yet-to-come, I can therefore point you in the direction of some of the best festive end-times stories.

Some seasonal horror films use festive settings to add a lighter, playful touch. In the December zombie apocalypse

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