None of your favorite childhood characters are safe anymore. While we’re still awaiting the arrival of the slasher take on everyone’s favorite honey eating bear in Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, a new family friendly favorite has crossed into horror territory. How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ titular bad guy turned good will be slicing and dicing the roast beast and more in the upcoming holiday horror, The Mean One.

Playing on the main plot and names from the Grinch universe, The Mean One centers on the titular character who lives at the top of a snowy peak and carries a deep disdain for Christmas. Like in the original telling, the folks living in the town below, Newville, are all terrified of the green skinned baddy, but for more terrifying reasons than sneaking into their homes, eating their food, and stealing their presents — although all of those things are pretty horrific too. Things come to a head when Young Cindy You-Know-Who (Krystle Martin) comes home in hopes of healing her past after her parents were brutally slaughtered by The Mean One twenty years ago. Still thirsty for blood, The Mean One is preparing his holiday journey into the town below, ready to continue his bloodshed.

Starring opposite Martin as the titular monster is David Howard Thornton (Terrifier) with an ensemble cast including Chase Mullins, Chase Mullins, John Bigham, Erik Baker, Flip Kobler, and Amy Schumacher. There’s no word whether this version will have some sort of ravenous take on the Grinch’s dog Max, but we can only dream. The Mean One is under the directorial eye of Steven LaMorte (Balance of the Force).

The Grinch and Cindy Lou Who in 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' (2000)
Image via Universal Pictures

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The story of the Grinch has found itself told multiple times in various ways over the years from the 1966 animated musical How the Grinch Stole Christmas! led by Boris Karloff to 2018’s computer animated The Grinch during which audiences heard Benedict Cumberbatch as the grumpy old green meanie. Out of all the on-screen takes, nothing has leaned closer to a horror film than 2000’s Jim Carrey led How the Grinch Stole Christmas. There’s just something about that live-action movie that sends a shiver down our spines. Perhaps it was the latter version that planted the seed in LaMorte’s brain to fully move the Christmas hating creature into a slasher setting.

No matter what the case, the movie sounds to be campy with a hefty side of gore as The Mean One takes his revenge on the bustling town below his perch. Unlike Blood and Honey which is really keeping us on the edge of our seats with a release date, The Mean One has set December 15 for its drop in the U.S. While we don’t have a teaser for The Mean One, you can check out a trailer below for the recently released Terrifier 2, in which Thornton also stars.