A witches cackle replaces “ho ho ho” in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Christmas Special: A Midwinter’s Tale.

Unlike many of the other Christmas specials coming out this holiday season, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’s doesn’t actually have all that much to do with Christmas. Instead, the main focus rests on the celebration of the Winter Solstice.

The witches of Greendale, along with witches all over the world, celebrate the Winter Solstice by building up the Yule fire and warding away malevolent souls as the shortest day and the longest night approaches. However, there is a bit of the mortal holiday in things like the annual reading of A Christmas Carol done by Ambrose (Chance Perdomo) and the decorating of a Christmas tree, which Zelda (Miranda Otto) vehemently refers to as a Yule tree. Even these mortal aspects aren’t entirely without a witchy side, though. The eggnog, a secret recipe of Hilda’s (Lucy Davis), has witchy side-effects, and the Christmas presents are filled with more than just love.

Although you would think it preferable that this latest episode stayed true to the storyline of the first season, that fact made it almost less special than if it had been more removed from the first season. The relationship between Harvey Kinkle (Ross Lynch) and Sabrina (Kiernan Shipka) simply picked up where it had left off. As did Sabrina’s relationships with her friends. Either way, it was nice to get a good dose of Sabrina Spellman between the ending of the first season and the release of the second one.

The correlation with the first season, mixed with the lack of traditional Christmas festivities and an almost rushed feel to this episode, makes for probably the most un-Christmas Christmas edition ever. For this reason, I struggled with liking this episode as much as all of its predecessor. However, without the title of “Christmas Specials” placing pressure on the episode, I would have found it to be a rather enjoyable watch. As always, I loved the portrayal of the characters, the unique shots, and the scary- but not too scary- aspect of the show.

The many side stories continued to intertwine throughout this special just as they did in the first series. I found myself once again enjoying the stories of Sabrina’s friends, Ambrose, Harvey, and even the aunts, Hilda and Zelda. Each story took the episode one step deeper in depth of both character and plot.

Like any good spooky show, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina went out with a mysterious and question-inducing end. The meaning of the three figures in the ending scene caused me to stop and wonder before deepening my desire for the second season to come out as soon as possible to answer all of my many questions.

Although this wasn’t a perfect Christmas Special, it was also a first for The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. And I have high hopes that as the show progresses and develops, many more chances to mix magic, the sound of a witch’s cackle, and the ringing of jingle bells awaits Sabrina.