Christmas Gift Horror Stories Go Viral, Prove People Are Diabolical

We support our Publishers and Content Creators. You can view this story on their website by CLICKING HERE.

PublishedDecember 19, 2024 11:09 AM EST|UpdatedDecember 19, 2024 11:09 AM EST

Some people have experienced diabolical Christmas gift situations.

Christmas is next week, and people around the world are excited. It’s a great opportunity to bring people together, spend time with those you love and to, hopefully, eat a lot of food.

Exchanging gifts is also something a lot of people like to do. It’s great to see the smile on someone’s face after getting an awesome gift, but we all know it can go sideways from time to time.

Christmas gift stories go viral.

A viral Reddit thread is asking one simple question:

“What’s the intentionally worst Christmas gift you’ve ever given?”

That’s always going to be an immediate click. Scheming up to screw someone over on Christmas? Say no more. I’m in.

Check out some of the responses below, and let me know your responses at David.Hookstead@outkick.com:

Divorce papers. By my Lawyer disguised as an elf.
My ex got me, a 6’3″ guy, a women’s medium white hoodie. I was so mad about it. She has a habit of getting others gifts that are really for her. I wore the sh*t out of that hoodie. Time to mow the grass, time for the white hoodie. Need to fix the car, yep time for the white hoodie. She was so mad. Glad she’s an ex.
I have a sister in law that gives the absolute worst gifts. She finds out you have an interest in something and then beats it to death for every occasion a gift needs to be given, or regifts you things she got for free. This year her adult daughter got a puppy, so we are gifting her all sorts of things themed to get being a dog Grandma. A sign, a key chain, a license plate border, and a cling for her car window. All bought cheaply.
My SIL would buy very boring and cheap gifts for my kids. I don’t usually care very much about the actual gift, we have other family members who aren’t well off, and I usually respect that people do what they can. However, my brother has a very good job, and earns way more than anyone else in the extended family. It wasn’t even the cost as we had a agreed limit, it was the effort, and to be frank, my SIL is a cheapskate. So, while I was buying her kids art sets and Lego, usually quality products brought on sale, she’d buy cheap t-shirts, towels, socks and the like in return. Eventually, when the kids were in their late teens, I went all passive-aggressive and just brought the same gift she gave the next time. So, if she brought towels for my kids one year, I’d buy towels for hers the next year. That lasted 2 years. Suddenly, she no longer wanted to exchange gifts. I still genuinely believe that she has no clue why the quality of presents dropped.
Expired coupons, for places I’ve never even heard of. Why?
Not sure about given but I received coal from my little cousins one year
I spent all the money on a gift card from my ex and then gave it back the next year in a new sleeve that said it had $50. He acted really excited. He never noticed (never tried to spend it) and we were together for 2 years after that when he cheated on me. I don’t feel bad now but I regretted it while we were still together.
My brother was notoriously cheap when we were teenagers. One year, I gave him an apple core, 11 pennies, and a broken pencil.
Socks
A mug
I didn’t give either of these gifts but received them instead. One was from my at the time best friend who gave me an already scratches losing lotto ticket. And the other was from my mother and she gave me a can of coke.
A single sock. Not a pair, just one.

Lots of fun stories and answers there. As someone who likes giving gifts, I’ve never once not gotten something I thought the person would like. Now, have I missed with my picks over the years? I’m sure I have, but the intention has always been solid.

There’s only one story that comes to mind for me when talking about awkward Christmas moments. When I was a super young kid – probably no older than eight – I opened a Christmas gift and it was my own suitcase with a Lions helmet and jersey I already owned.

I thought we were so working class that I was literally being given my own stuff wrapped up on Christmas. I was beyond confused.

Well, the real gift turned out to be a trip to Detroit for a Lions and Pistons game and the suitcase was just symbolic. It was a great gift, but in the moment, I remember not having a clue about what the hell was going on.