6 Families Scarier Than Yours During the Holidays
It’s that very special time of year when the days get shorter and colder, everyone runs around like a crazed maniac thanks to awesome?Gift Guides, and homes are filled with the sweet sounds of family. Well, maybe not so sweet.
The holidays bring relatives together for better or for worse, and if you’re worried about the latter, take heart — at least you don’t belong to one of the following families. These households bring a subtle type of holiday horror with enough cheer to send a chill up your spine. Come, take a seat. The family’s in town.
WEDNESDAY - The Addams Family
Doom and gloom are the name of the game with the Addams Family, especially for Wednesday Addams. Maybe your family bickers at the dinner table, but surely it’s not over which torture device to use after dessert. And perhaps things get a little embarrassing when rummaging through old photo albums, but at least it’s not an unsolved murder mystery.
In Netflix’s new?Wednesday?series, Wednesday must discover for herself the value of family and the lengths she’s willing to go to fight for it. Sometimes family pops up in the most unexpected places — and no, we don’t mean Thing.
DEVIL MAY CRY - Dante’s Family
Look, we’ve all got our demons. And diving into family history can really be quite difficult when the truth is obscured by terrifying events and big secrets. But sometimes, at the end of the day, all you can do is keep swinging a gigantic sword and hope for the best. At least that was?Dante’s family?plan during?Devil May Cry.
Of course, you can’t outrun your demons forever. When they do finally catch up, you gotta face the music and sometimes shed a few tears. If you don’t, there will certainly be hell to pay.
THE GODFATHER - Corleone Family
From?The Godfather?franchise, we’ve all been gifted with?timeless wisdom?and plenty of life lessons. But life in the Corleone family is far from picture perfect. All that red on the walls? Let’s just say it’s not Sunday sauce.
From brothers battling for control to outside rivals threatening any semblance of order, the mob life is not for the faint of heart.?Vito Corleone’s?dynasty is as fragile as freshly fried cannoli. Even those you expect to trust can turn on you in the blink of an eye — so make sure you’re always ten steps ahead. Otherwise, you might just end up six feet under.
HARRY POTTER - Malfoys
While?it’s arguable that Draco Malfoy isn’t as much of a villain as he seems, the rest of his family is pretty despicable. And we admit that we can’t forgive Draco’s merciless bullying of Golden Trio members?Harry Potter,?Hermione Granger, and?Ron Weasley. That aside, let’s look at Draco’s parents and aunt. Lucius Malfoy, a Death Eater and devoted servant to?Lord Voldemort, slipped Ginny Weasley the possessed diary that almost killed her.
He also abused?Dobby the House Elf, and held high standards of magical purity. Narcissa Malfoy shared those beliefs. Bellatrix Lestrange, perhaps the most vile and extremist of them all, killed?Sirius Black?and tortured Hermione. She also murdered countless other witches and wizards in her quest for Pureblood supremacy. If the apple doesn’t fall far from tree, the very roots of this family are poison.
Dursleys
We also have a horrible family on the Muggle side of things. Before he’s whisked away to the magical?Wizarding World, Harry Potter spends 11 grisly years abused emotionally, verbally, and physically by Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley Dursley. They’re truly a horrid bunch. Despite being blood related to him, they treat Harry as a pest at best. He lives in a cupboard under the stairs and wears his cousin’s hand-me-downs.
Additionally, Harry is malnourished and often gets locked inside his room with actual bars on the windows. He isn’t allowed outside contact, and is considered a freak by the Dursleys when his magical abilities begin to manifest. It’s a wonder Harry turned out to be so kind and caring when he had to suffer through such trauma and neglect during his youth.
INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE - Lestat, Louis, and Claudia
Ah, the?Interview with the Vampire?gang. They’re definitely toxic. But watching them is like watching a very impassioned train wreck, complete with moments of still tenderness and periods of clarity before the metal starts to cut and bruise. Lestat de Lioncourt, creator and lover to Louis de Pont du Lac, is an enigmatic vampire with anger issues. Louis is a newly turned vampire who constantly struggles between his lost humanity and monstrous appetite.
And then there’s Claudia, the orphaned fledgling daughter/sister created to fix the marriage. Claudia despises Lestat. She wants to free herself and Louis of his influence. Yet where there is hate, there is often a love so twisted and profound that it’s far too difficult to entangle from. These emotions — and emotionally driven decisions — are what carry the show, and what will bring us the highly anticipated horror and melodrama in the upcoming season 2.
GAME OF THRONES - Literally everybody
And finally,?Game of Thrones. The family drama series that really taught us blood is thicker than water but fire burns everything. First of all, we’re not even going to venture near the flaming family trees of the Targaryens or the Lannisters. Those messes speak for themselves — you know why.
But okay, we hear you. The Starks, right? They were each honorable and dedicated to each other, defending their family and legacy until the very end. Except, if you think about it, this family suffered heartbreak unlike any other?GoT?dynasty. They couldn’t even have a wedding in peace! Yeah, probably best to just keep sailing east and hope for brighter shores (or bigger?dragons).
In your opinion, which pop culture families are the scariest? And if you had to choose, which family might you spend some holiday time with? Share your thoughts at?side.show/geekgroup, and don’t forget to Let Your Geek Sideshow!