‘Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’ Creator Pauses Season 2 for Holiday Special

Tis’ the season to be witchy as the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa drops off an early holiday present with the special A Midwinter’s Tale, which apparently wasn’t meant to happen in the first place.

Aguirre-Sacasa said in an interview that the upcoming standalone holiday episode was created out of an epiphany while in the middle of the production of part 2 (via The Wrap). He realized that after covering holidays like Thanksgiving and Halloween in part 1, the show also needed to be part of the Yuletide spirit.

The pitch came in the middle of the production of April’s premiere episode, which worried the show’s producer. But then Netflix, in perfect timing, asked if there could be a standalone in between season 1 and 2.  Hence the manifestation of the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: A Midwinter’s Tale, which was shot right after episode 12. Although it may be a happy afterthought, Aguirre-Sacasa assures that the special is both self-contained and still connects with the rest of the series.

The trailer for the upcoming special was released last Tuesday, which featured Sabrina (Kiernan Shipka) in her new witchy look. As Greendale celebrates the wonderful Christmas known to humans, the trailer offers a sneak peek behind the coven’s holiday of Winter Solstice, gathering around the chimney fire that was lit to ward off the jolly big guy. It seems Sabrina has yet severed ties with the human world, as friends Rosalind (Jaz Sinclair) and Susie (Lachlan Watson) were with her in the trailer. Sabrina also gives a present to ex-boyfriend Harvey (Ross Lynch).

And of course, it wouldn’t be a Sabrina episode without a little scare. With a mysterious ghostly figure featured around Ambrose (Chance Perdomo) and other weird catastrophes happening around the Spellman house, this is bound to be one hell of a holiday special. Here’s the trailer in case you missed it:

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: A Midwinter’s Tale special drops Friday, December 14th on Netflix.