A tree-lined walkway leading to a beautifully decorated tree might sound like a good festive addition to the White House this Christmas.
But Melania Trump’s vision didn’t quite capture the traditional holiday spirit she was hoping for, according to Twitter.
A picture shared by her director of communications was mocked for being more Halloween than Christmas and looking like “a super creepy funeral”.
The holidays are upon us!! Right now: flotus is seeing to every last detail here at the @WhiteHouse pic.twitter.com/TglHYDVUx1
— Stephanie Grisham (@StephGrisham45) November 27, 2017
The twiggy addition was likened to the Upside Down of Stranger Things, and the stick labyrinth from the end of True Detective.
I wasn't sure whether Melania's White House Christmas decorations were more Pan's Labyrinth, It, or Stranger Things, so I combined them all. pic.twitter.com/FKkcVHcxlM
— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) November 27, 2017
Why do the White House Christmas decorations look like the stick labyrinth at the end of Season 1 of True Detective pic.twitter.com/jl0mHJjgRb
— Super Deluxe (@superdeluxe) November 27, 2017
These White House decorations look like a Slender Man murder scene. Pity the fool that walks down that hallway pic.twitter.com/TtBqJd99Ma
— Jerome Coleman (@wjeromecoleman) November 27, 2017
On Twitter, Goth Melania and director Tim Burton all received a nod for the inspiration of the anti-Christmas scene.
I guess Tim Burton did the mood boards for Melania Trump's @WhiteHouse Christmas. https://t.co/3leyx7nuRK
— Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) November 28, 2017
Wow. How very Tim Burton. ☠
— Pendulum🏴Swinger (@PendulumSwngr) November 27, 2017
God, I love Goth Melania. https://t.co/sdFpvgakjs
— Brooke Rogers 🌻 (@bkerogers) November 27, 2017
The twigs were ripe for a game of hide-and-seek with Pennywise and the twins from The Shining.
White House Christmas decorations looking good. pic.twitter.com/OXVZ3FX6QE
— Matt Goldberg (@MattGoldberg) November 27, 2017
Come and play with us, Barron
Forever
And ever
And ever pic.twitter.com/G2ld524ZKU
— Yung $uicidal Tho✟s (@ZANTrav) November 27, 2017
“This is like the last walk of the condemned,” wrote Twitter user @soapachu.
Christ. This is like the last walk of the condemned. https://t.co/LhVV1HN0HC
— badly drawn bee 🐝 (@soapachu) November 28, 2017
Author Joanne Harris noted the “Freudian symbolism” in the decor, calling it “so bleak, so sad.”
Note the Freudian symbolism of Mrs Trump's Christmas decor:The leafless trees, so bleak, so sadThe virgin snow, so very coldThe twinkle of the fairy lights, right at the end of the tunnel, promising so cruelly, but never *quite* delivering… https://t.co/AdKJdSttWd
— Joanne Harris (@Joannechocolat) November 28, 2017
Other people were drawing their own analogies about the use of the twigs to deliver a message of Christmas cheer.
Google image search believes this pic of the Trump White House Christmas decor is…
A) a dilapidated warehouseB) National Pantheon of KazakhstanC) 90 tons of waste for an architecture exhibit in ViennaD) All of the above 👈
Your tax dollars at work, folks. Merry Christmas! pic.twitter.com/MMmde3SCxx
— Kaz Weida (@kazweida) November 28, 2017
I’m so sorry for your loss. Prayers for whomever died. Props for the super creepy funeral tho
— Greg Cope White (@eatgregeat) November 27, 2017
What in the name of…?!
😮😮😮
I'm waiting for Angus Scrimm's Tall Man to lurch out of the shadows, bellowing "BOY!!!" and sending silver spheres down the hall.
That.
Is.
CREEPY.
— Mouth of Sauron (@simon_lindsell) November 27, 2017
In Trump’s defence, she was also getting a lot of love for the overall decorations which mark her family’s first Christmas in the White House.
Also included this year are wreaths hanging from the exterior of every window and the First Family’s own Christmas decoration.
Elsewhere there’s an 18ft (5.5m) fir tree in the Blue Room, and a 350lb (159kg) gingerbread White House which carries the sign “Do not eat”.
Even the twigs don’t look that bad in daylight.