89 Photos That Make You Desperately Want To Know What Happened Five Minutes Earlier

The internet is an overwhelming place. You can find anything and everything there, which can be a blessing and a curse. If you want to pick up a new hobby or learn a new skill, YouTube’s got your back. If you want to bake a niche recipe, you won’t have any trouble finding it by searching the right combination of words. And it’s nearly impossible to bury your head in the sand when there are news headlines hitting you from all angles.  

But sometimes, you just want to see something unexpected. Because we’ve become so desensitized to everything online, it’s become rare to actually be shocked or surprised. That might be why so many people are drawn to these bizarre, absurd images. They’re certainly not what you expect to see, and they might get the wheels turning in your head as you wonder how in the world they came to be.

When it comes to why people can’t look away from cursed images, Emma Grey Ellis at Wired says it likely has something to do with the morbid curiosity that all humans have. When we see something disgusting, disturbing, upsetting, or downright confusing, we may turn away at first. But curiosity often gets the best of us, and we can’t help but keep watching to find out more about what we don’t understand. 

According to Colton Scrivner, a PhD student at the University of Chicago who studies humans’ interest in violence and creepiness, the desire to look at cursed images is similar to the desire to enter a haunted house. You may feel creeped out, but you want to go inside and investigate. “It’s a mixture of what’s comfortable and what’s uncertain,” Scrivner told Wired.  

While every absurd, cursed image is unique, Gabriel Conte wrote a piece detailing some of the most common aesthetics present in these photos. The first thing that stuck out to him was the types of cameras used to capture these images. He noted that many of these pics came about in recent years, as digital cameras and smartphones have made it much easier to snap and share these strange photos.  

Another feature that Conte noticed of many cursed images is that they have a “snapshot aesthetic.” By this, he means that they look like they were taken quickly, without the eye of a professional photographer. There weren’t 100 versions taken of the same pic; they were just quickly snapped and shared. They’re often not of the highest quality or something that would be considered aesthetically pleasing. But what they lack in beauty, they make up for in personality. 

As far as what makes a “perfect” cursed image, Már Másson Maack at The Next Web attempted to put his finger on what makes a cursed image pop. He narrowed it down to a few key traits: defamiliarization, high-contrast flash photography, and recasting food as a reminder of mortality and lack of agency. While not every cursed image will have all of these features, this seems to be the ideal recipe for creating a cursed pic that audiences won’t be able to take their eyes off of. 

A great cursed image defies expectations. It may take place in a familiar environment, such as a fast food restaurant or a grocery store. But something will be off. Perhaps there’s a person wearing a minion costume while shopping for produce, or a group of men who are all dressed identically eating hamburgers together. The elements that we’re used to contrasted against the ones that are strange, bizarre, or surprising can create a cursed masterpiece. 

Another aspect of many classic cursed images is food. While most photos of food on the internet are meant to have audiences drooling, these pics do the exact opposite. They might be disturbing or disgusting, and they might send your appetite into hiding. There’s something so fascinating about placing food into environments where it really shouldn’t be. And while it may make you never want to eat spaghetti, hot dogs, or baked beans again, it can certainly be amusing to look at.  

Are you enjoying these strange photos that we’ll probably never understand, pandas? Keep upvoting the ones that you’re content to never have context for, and let us know in the comments below if you’ve seen anything equally absurd in your life recently. Then, if you’re interested in checking out another article from Bored Panda featuring random, cursed images, we recommend reading this list next!