At this moment, the mammoth streaming services and content platforms that have become man’s best friends in our culture (particularly this year, but really for nearly a decade and a half) are brimming with movies screaming “Holiday” and “Christmas” from their titles. Recommendations are being shared like political tweets. It’s one of the questions that cycle repeatedly with some mystical import and dubious gravity through the brain around this time of the year: What should we watch?

Let me help. As always, with the aim of spotlighting lesser-known writers and/or overlooked meritorious works.

1. John Grin’s Christmas. Written by Charles Eric Johnson. Directed by Robert Guillaume. Starring Robert Guillaume, Roscoe Lee Browne, Ted Lange, Geoffrey Holder. Modern (a la 1986) minority take on “A Christmas Carol” that is only cliche in its promotion of morality (bugger) and faithfulness to the original narrative. Aired on television but has a wonderful staginess throughout that delivers immediacy and exudes subtle experimental charm.

2. The Christmas Toy. Written by Laura Phillips. Directed by Eric Till. Starring Dave Goelz, Kathryn Mullen, Steve Whitmire. Puppets teach and learn empathy. Humans are second fiddles. Original music is adorable. Also aired on television in 1986 (pivotal year). Nominated for an Emmy, which is neither here nor there. Female writer alert.

3. But Can She Type? Written by Rebecca Parr Cioffi. Starring Pam Dawber, Jonathan Frakes, Jeannie Elias. Who needs a feature when you can keep an active hour of your life and still benefit from twenty-odd minutes of righteous holiday cheer that comes wrapped in an un-holiday-ish vignette from “The (New) Twilight Zone?” A secretary stumbles–by way of a defective xerox machine–into a different dimension wherein her sort (secretaries, that is) are blessed hot commodities. She’s a hit at a strange party. The concept’s incisiveness sparks joy. This was 1985. Sensing a pattern…

4. A Holiday Visit. Written by Bob Juhren. Starring Lloyd Battista, Diana Kirkwood. Here’s an idea. Let’s not watch anything. Just listen. CBS’ Radio Mystery Theatre had this to offer in 1981: a woman estranged from her family and hometown for years returns one Christmas but must first navigate some discombobulating winding roads. Evocative, cordially creepy and a balm to the nostalgic heart.

5. A Visit to the Bank. Written by Shirley Jackson. Starring primarily your imagination. No, seriously, let’s not watch anything this time. This is a short story about the pains endured by a woman seeking a bank loan without her husband in tow, in the 1940s. True horror for the holiday. And a narrative voice like a razor.

Find at Youtube, Amazon Prime, and in The Oxford Book of Christmas Stories, and relish the rare.