SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT (1984). IMDB: "A young boy watches his parents killed by a thief in a Santa suit. He spends his youth in an orphanage, staying quietly to his self, but his mind is further bent by an ironhanded Mother Superior. He eventually gets a job at a local store, where he finally snaps when he is required to wear a Santa suit, and goes on a killing spree that leads him slowly back to the orphanage." Wikipedia: "The PTA fought to have this film removed from the theaters due to its subject matter and the fact that it was shown around Christmas, although an earlier film with a similar synopsis had gone unnoticed. Upon its original release in 1984, the film created serious controversy. Siskel and Ebert condemned the film and went so far as to read the film's production credits on air, saying 'shame, shame' after each one."
SANTA ON MURDER SPREE AT EX'S PARTY (Associated Press, Dec. 27, 2008): "Stinging from an acrimonious divorce, a man plotting revenge against his ex-wife dressed up like Santa, went to his former in-laws' Christmas Eve party and slaughtered at least eight people before killing himself. Bruce Pardo's former wife and her parents were believed to be among the dead. Investigators planned to return to the scene overnight to sift through the ashes of the home, which Pardo set ablaze using a homemade device that sprayed flammable liquid."
BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974). IMDB: "The story is simple: right before Christmas break, an unseen psycho sneaks into the attic of a Canadian sorority house, menacing the girls with obscene phone calls, and starts to kill them one by one."
MAN FOUND LIVING IN FAMILY'S ATTIC (WBBH-TV, Dec. 29, 2008): "Stanley Carter apparently just wanted some place to spend the holidays - plus a few Christmas gifts. Police in Plains Township, Pennsylvania, found a 21-year-old man in the attic of a duplex apartment after the occupants reported missing cash, a laptop computer, and an iPod. Footprints were spotted in a bedroom closet where a trap door leads to the attic. When Carter emerged, he was wearing clothes he apparently pilfered during his days in hiding. Police say he kept a list of everything he took, and labeled it Stanley's Christmas List."
