Here's a tasty sampler to make the holiday of gorge a bit more bearable. Oh no, please, don't pretend that you love spending Thanksgiving with the family. Denial will only make it worse. You've already done enough Pilates and yoga and cleansing diets and extra therapy sessions and increased meds in preparation for this event. Stop the self-flagellation, buy some chocolate, and relax.

Check out some of these films before the nightmare begins. Then when you find yourself arguing politics again with your drunk, unemployed brother-in-law; or you're called on to rush your idiot nephew to the emergency room with a drumstick bone protruding from his nose; or you have to calm your shrieking cousin, who thinks a day of cooking for twelve entitles her to hold the entire planet emotional hostage, you will be able to think back and smile at the innocent pleasures of bloodcurdling horror on screen.

No, no, you don't have to kill them all. Just remember the movie, and breathe. Breathe…

Parents (1989)
This dose of anti-nostalgia is my idea of fun with mom and dad. Enjoy Bob Balaban's scathing look at 1950s suburbia and never eat leftovers again.

The Quiet Family (1998)
Meet the Kangs. They moved from Seoul to a dumpy corner of rural nowhere to open a nice hotel. If only that scraggly woman hadn't wandered by and put a curse on them. Every business owner fears the death of a customer on the premises, but this is ridiculous.

Buddy Boy (1999)
Francis could be okay. Francis could be happy. Francis could lead a normal life and have a real girlfriend. Francis could stop doing awful things, if he didn't have that freak-show of an alcoholic mommy to look after. And why doesn't mommy shave once in a while?

Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Good eatin' tonight. Down-home hospitality does not get any better than this. TCSM is one reason Texas has a reputation for being a place where everybody wants to "hang out." Over the river and through the woods with Leatherface on your tail!

Psycho (1960)
Here's the mother lode. Norman's mommy messed him up so bad, he can't stop twitching, or doing that other thing he does. Don't ask why there's a deep impression in mom's mattress, and do not look in the cellar. But have a sandwich while you wait.

A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
The girls are home after a long stay at the hospital. Dad is glad, but for some reason he's scared, too. And stepmother keeps talking so fast, she must be taking medication again. Let the girl fun begin! Keep your door locked.

Crucible of Horror (1970)
Oh, those aristocrats! They are so much more sophisticated than the rest of us, with their S/M mind games and their habit of touching one another in all the wrong places. What will they think of next? Oh, I know: Let's kill daddy.

The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
The hills also have dirty hair, bulging noses, pointy teeth and DNA of questionable origin badly affected by nuclear testing. That's how come they've got to steal some new material for the gene pool. Other than that, they're really very nice people.

Spider (2002)
Dennis Clegg is schizophrenic, and by the end of this film you may be too. With flashes backward and forward, multiple characters played by the same actor to render the family drama at its core, and a pitch-perfect adaptation of Patrick McGrath's novel, this is probably as close to the sensation of mental illness as a film is likely to achieve.

The Brood (1979)
Long before Spider, director David Cronenberg was dissecting the family unit and coming up with gore. Several of my friends cannot mention the title of this film without shivering, and once you see how Samantha Eggar likes to nurture her little ones, you will know why.

Got a favorite family horror not included on the list? Share it, in the comment section. And have a happy holiday.