What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedThanksgiving
Eli Roth · Film · 2023
If you loved Thanksgiving, start with Midnight Mass (Mike Flanagan, 2021) — a series on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to Thanksgiving across media.
If you loved the way Thanksgiving weaponized small-town secrets against a community, these stories will satisfy your craving for retribution.
Books on the same thread
With a Vengeance
Riley Sager · Book
Shares a thread with Thanksgiving: Revenge.
Much like the calculated vengeance seen in Thanksgiving, this story centers on a protagonist systematically settling scores, proving that a quest for justice often demands a high price.
Holly
Stephen King · Book · 2023
Explores: missing persons, elderly sociopaths, investigative process.
Fans of the insular, hidden darkness in Thanksgiving will appreciate how this narrative uncovers the sinister reality lurking behind the facade of a quiet and seemingly ordinary town.
Fear Street
R. L. Stine · Book · 1989
Shares 2 threads with Thanksgiving: Small Town Secrets, Revenge.
This selection mirrors the slasher intensity found in Thanksgiving, capturing the same dread that emerges when a small town's social traditions are subverted by a deadly, personal agenda.
Revenge
Yōko Ogawa · Book · 2013
Shares a thread with Thanksgiving: Revenge.
If the brutal, thematic focus on revenge in Thanksgiving resonated with you, these stories provide an equally unflinching exploration of the violence that stems from deep-seated personal grievances.
Series on the same thread
Midnight Mass
Mike Flanagan · Series · 2021
Explores: Religious Fanaticism, Loss of Faith, Miracles and Deception.
This show captures the same sense of a town under siege that defined Thanksgiving, focusing on how a community's desperate beliefs can be manipulated to invite terrifying, hidden consequences.
The Fall of the House of Usher
Mike Flanagan · Series · 2023
Explores: Family Secrets, Corporate Corruption, Mortality.
Just as the residents in Thanksgiving face a reckoning for their past, this story explores the inevitable collapse of a powerful dynasty when long-buried secrets finally demand payment.
Revenge
Mike Kelley · Series · 2011
Shares a thread with Thanksgiving: Revenge.
This series perfectly matches the cold, methodical retribution of Thanksgiving, following a protagonist who systematically dismantles the lives of those who wronged her family in the past.
IT: Welcome to Derry
Andy Muschietti · Series · 2025
Shares a thread with Thanksgiving: Small Town Secrets.
Like Thanksgiving, this narrative thrives on the tension of a small town haunted by its own history, where the truth behind local disappearances reveals a much larger danger.
Podcasts on the same thread
Small Town Murder
James Pietragallo, Jimmie Whisman · Podcast · 2026
Explores: provincial life, tragic irony, forensic breakdown.
For those who enjoyed the sociological breakdown of a town under pressure in Thanksgiving, this podcast provides an analytical look at the tragic, dark realities behind isolated communities.
Scary Pumpkin Horror Podcast
Podcast
Explores: Creepy, Fear, Nightmare.
This collection of stories captures the specific brand of holiday-adjacent dread found in Thanksgiving, focusing on the suspense that arises when the ordinary world turns into a nightmare.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is Thanksgiving based on a real tragedy?
Thanksgiving is a fictional horror film directed by Eli Roth. While the movie centers on a Black Friday riot in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the specific events and the holiday-themed killer depicted in the story are entirely scripted for the film and are not based on actual historical events.
Where does Thanksgiving take place?
The setting for Thanksgiving is Plymouth, Massachusetts. The film highlights this location because it is the birthplace of the holiday. The narrative follows a mysterious killer who terrorizes the residents of this specific town as part of a sinister plan tied to the Thanksgiving holiday.
What triggers the events in Thanksgiving?
The central conflict in Thanksgiving is triggered by a Black Friday riot that ends in tragedy. Following this event, a mysterious killer begins targeting residents of Plymouth, Massachusetts, one by one. These killings are eventually revealed to be part of a larger, sinister plan related to the holiday.
Is Thanksgiving a revenge story?
Yes, the killings in Thanksgiving initially appear to be acts of random revenge following a tragic Black Friday riot. However, as the film progresses, it becomes clear that these murders are not random but are actually calculated steps within a larger and more sinister holiday-themed plan.