Film
A Queer Twist on the Incredibly Heteronormative Holiday Romcom Genre
In Happiest Season, Kristen Stewart stars in a Clea Duvall-directed story about a woman head over heels with another who won’t come out.
Christmas
Art
Hong Kong’s Protesters Subvert the Holiday Season With Radical Christmas Cards
Hong Kong protesters are remixing the Christmas card tradition under the #freehkxmascard hashtag and decorating cards with memes and slogans from the ongoing movement.
Test 2018 posts
How to Decorate a Christmas Tree Like an Artist
From Minimalist to De Stijl.
Art
A Classic of the Christmas Horror Movie Genre
In the lead-up to Christmas, Nitehawk in Williamsburg is screening Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984), a controversial and beloved slasher film about a murderous Santa.
Art
Christmas Cheer from a Lean Year: The 1950 Holiday Cards of Langston Hughes
The Beinecke Library at Yale University is exhibiting Hughes's typewritten 1950 Christmas postcards, along with holiday cards he received from friends.
Art
This Colossal Goat Sculpture Is a Swedish Tradition, and Almost Every Year It Goes Up in Flames
Since the 1960s, the city of Gävle in Sweden has annually built a towering Yule goat, and almost every year someone burns it down.
Art
Merry Christmas from Krampus, Santa's Demonic Helper
Krampuskarten depict Saint Nicholas's darker counterpart: the devilish Krampus, whose current image visually carries centuries of folklore.
Books
Christmas at Midcentury, When Aluminum Trees Replaced Victorian Evergreens
A new book by Sarah Archer explores the influence of the Space Race and Cold War on America's midcentury Christmas celebrations.
Art
The Skeletal Welsh Horse You Must Beat in a Battle of Rhymes
In the Welsh folkloric tradition of Mari Lwyd, a horse skull visits your home around Christmas, and you must best it in poetry or allow it inside.
Art
Why Are There Dead Birds on Victorian Christmas Cards?
One of the more curious recurring images on 19th-century Christmas cards is the dead bird, which may symbolize mortality or something more ritualistic.
Art
The Victorian Christmas Card as Aesthetic Object
Christmas card imagery today ranges from the classic depictions of elves and reindeer to the more comical and topical, but every picture is assuredly holiday-themed: you wouldn't be able to unironically give someone a Christmas card on their birthday.
Art
Have a Creepy Little Christmas with These Unsettling Victorian Cards
Anthropomorphic cats, murderous frogs, and insects dancing by the moonlight aren't exactly part of our Christmas card tradition today.