16 of the Scariest Santa Pictures Ever

Almost everyone has a childhood picture of themselves perched up on Santa’s lap and while the youngsters sometimes cry and sometimes smile, Kris Kringle usually maintains his jolly expression of glee. But sometimes Santa just isn’t the Old Saint Nick we’ve come to love. Sometimes he’s downright creepy and here’s the proof. Here are some of the creepiest Santa photos in order of “kind of weird” to “better sleep with the lights on tonight.”

Special thanks to Creepy Santa Photos for their impressive collection of horrific images of Mr. Claus.

The only explanation I can think up for everyone’s expression in this photo is that Santa just told Flickr user RaGardner4’s son Dylan he’s on the naughty list and whatever put him there angered Santa to his very core.

I have no idea what’s going on with this Finnish Santa spotted by Flickr user esaskar. Is he trying to be incognito? Maybe he’s trying to be funny? Or maybe that’s just what Finns think American Santas look like. Whatever the case, the end result is just plain odd.

Here’s a sadly stereotypical Santa picture –Old Kris Kringle curled up with a bottle of booze. Thanks for confirming all the tales istolethetv.

While Santa masks are usually horrifically terrifying for no good reason, at least this Santa has a reason for looking so evil –it was apparently so cold in Edmonton that even Jolly Old St. Nick had to wear facial protection that made him look like a masked murderer. Of course, this isn't even close to the worst Santa mask anyway, as you'll see a few images down.

Not only is this guy making a creepy face, but he also looks just like the killer from Silent Night Deadly Night. Fortunately, Arleen was too young to have seen that movie at the time. Of course, these days she wonders, “I don’t know how my mother let me sit on his lap!”

I don’t know about you guys, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see this picture included with a letter telling the two girl’s parents where to leave the ransom if they want to see Carol and her sister again. But hey, at least the girls look happy here.

Many creepy Santa pics still include a child that is blissfully ignorant of how evil the man behind them looks. This is not one of those photos. Indeed, poor little Zak looks like he’s being kidnapped for ransom money by this gruff-looking Mr. Claus.

This might just be the most evil-looking Santa I’ve ever seen. Interestingly, while both of the girls look happy, the one on the right, Lori Jean, looks like she’s ready to worship Satan right beside Mr. Kringle.

Flickr user Dean Ayres’ childhood Santa photo wouldn’t be that bad if it weren’t for that blue eye shadow. Do any of you have any idea why on Earth Santa would be wearing turquoise make up? Also, the two boys who got handcuffs, are those gifts for naughty or nice children?

With a Santa that looks this lecherous, is it any wonder some children sat on their own chair instead of his lap? Apparently Jessica’s little girl is a good judge of character because she wouldn’t take a picture anywhere near this Santa, so they had to sneak him in the background to get this photo.

This picture by Flickr user Trevor Dennis makes me think Santa joined the witness protection program at some point. He must have seen something he shouldn’t have when popping down the wrong chimney.

The sunglasses under the facial hair seem odd enough, but that beard looks more like a ski mask gone wrong than a Santa disguise.

Whoever thought that Santa masks were a better alternative than a fake beard must be blind or utterly insane. Just looking at this picture makes me want to run the other way and hope that The Doctor will jump in to save the little girl from this Pilot Fish –sorry non-Whovians, you’re just not going to get that.

In case you actually needed further proof that Santa masks should just out rightly be illegalized, just look what happens when the mask is a bit too big for the man in question. All I can say is thank God the modern Salvation Army bell ringers don’t wear these monstrosities.

If Santa looked like that in modern Christmas movies, I think kids would stay up at night in horror rather than excitement as they went to bed expecting him to come down the chimney.

There are plenty of early photographs of people posing with deceased relatives so they could have one last nice photograph. This Mr. Claus looks so cold and lifeless that I can’t help but wonder if they just let all the youngsters take their Santa photos with a dead Kris Kringle. Whatever the story behind this picture, the end result is horrifying.

Again, this vintage Santa picture is simply terrifying and the bearded man looks more like a monster than St. Nicholas. Even the taxidermied donkey looks more alive than this Santa Claus.

Think your Santa pictures are worse than some of these? Feel free to upload them and share them in the comments. If yours is scary enough, maybe we’ll even feature it on the site.