This Christmas, the prospect of spending prolonged periods of time with extended relatives will be the second-scariest part of the holiday season. Legendary Pictures and Universal have now introduced the new face of Yuletide fear with the trailer for the upcoming horror-comedy Krampus, which surfaced online Wednesday morning. With a December 4 release, the film will get a bit of a jump on the Christmas market, but could nonetheless make for one of the more unexpectedly prized gifts under the tree as the year winds up. A stacked cast including Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, and Allison Tolman deftly combines comedy (Koechner gets most of the best one-liners in the trailer) with chilling visions of seasonally appropriate horror for a hopeful cult-classic in the vein of Gremlins or 2007’s deliciously macabre Trick ‘r’ Treat, director Michael Dougherty’s previous feature.

Krampus gathers a large family for a tense Christmas reunion, the awkwardness of which is further exacerbated by a relentless snowstorm that lasts for days. The family’s busy rationing food and plotting on how best to keep warm, but the family’s young son beckons a far graver terror; in giving up on the spirit of Christmas, he summons the mythical European monster called the Krampus, a Satanic beast from the Germanic states that was said to devour insolent children. For this new film, he’ll bring an entourage of demonic little helpers to assist him in his campaign of all-out fear. Indeed, the Krampus mythos has gone surprisingly underserved in the vast pantheon of horror films. It’s high time that somebody capitalized on this obscure, batty corner of monster mythology.

For more on the origins of Krampus, stay tuned to check out a new episode of The Dan Cave later today. In the meantime, let us know your thoughts on the Krampus trailer in the comments below.

Edtior’s note: Nerdist is part of Legendary Digital Networks, a subsidiary of Legendary Pictures, but remains editorially independent.