
Oddly Terrifying: 50 Of The Most Unsettling Images To Give You The Creeps (New Pics) Interview
Welcome to the corner of Reddit known as ‘Oddly Terrifying' that fires up your brain with some tingly sensations. How? Well, the title says it all. This community of a whopping 2M members has people sharing the weirdest, creepiest, and most unsettling pics of random objects, from natural artifacts to computer-generated images.
The whole entertainment of oddly terrifying pictures lies in its paradox—although it’s terrifying, it’s also impossible to look away. The pics captivate you like a horror movie you never signed up for, but still watch until the end with palms obscuring the screen. You look once, you look twice, and go “this is enough for me today,” only until realizing you’d like to see some more. After all, we all need some distraction.
So scroll down through Bored Panda’s new batch of oddly terrifying pics, and be sure to check our previous post for some more when you’re done with this one.
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Corn Maze
To find out what fascinates us about the unsettling photos and videos, Bored Panda spoke with Lisa Yaszek, a Regents Professor of Science Fiction Studies at Georgia Tech where she researches and teaches science fiction as a global language crossing centuries, continents, and cultures. Lisa shared incredible insights into how our minds are captivated by them.
Best Cinema Ever
This Is True Fear
War Changes You
He was in another post recently, along with a bit of his story. Most of the four years he spent in a concentration camp.
“It’s hard for us to look away from unsettling photos and videos because they challenge our usual ways of perceiving and cataloging the world, disrupting our sense of ordered reality and even suggesting that reality might be something other than we thought it was,” Lisa told us.
She explained that “these photos and videos tend to revolve around grotesque juxtapositions of things that should not be together; they are objects that defy science and rationality and disturb our sense of scientific category. More often than not, they focus on disgusting bodies that are monstrous fusions of things that should be kept apart.”
The professor added that while these monstrous bodies are usually individual ones, they often suggest a larger universe that is seriously out of kilter as well.
I’m So Disturbed Yet Also Intrigued
This Extremely Disturbing Face Swap
Nope I definitely didn't need to see this. Unsee juice, here I come
Mahatma Gandhi's Statue After Some Prankster Added Red Lights To The Eyes Of It (San Francisco, 2019)
The professor argues that it’s no surprise that humans are fascinated by oddly terrifying images and that there are whole online groups dedicated to sharing them. “Photos and videos are supposed to give us clear and accurate representations of reality; they assure us that we document and thus know the material world around us in methodical and consistent ways.”
But unsettling images can do the exact opposite, Lisa suggests. “They can undermine our faith in reality: either the camera does not lie and it has captured some monstrous rip in our own reality, or it does lie, and we have to recognize that we cannot even trust our own technologies to accurately document the world around us! Either way, it’s disturbing.”
This Statue With A Beehive For A Head
This Abandoned Hospital Had A Visitor Last Night
Amazing Halloween Costume
So you may wonder why we keep looking at these photos—and disturbing art in general? Lisa has an illuminating explanation. “Grotesque imagery is part of every culture and goes back to the dawn of civilization. Today, we actively seek out terrifying experiences by looking at grotesque photos, watching horror movies, and even going on roller coasters,” she said and added that “as humans, we seek out these terrifying artistic and cultural experiences for at least two different reasons.”
“First, as designed experiences, terrifying art and culture give us a way to engage with things that are disturbing, uncanny, and even utterly monstrous from a safe distance. Our psychological and mental categories for understanding the world are temporarily turned upside down, but we’re not directly, physically threatened by the grotesqueries we are looking at or experiencing, and we know eventually everything will return to normal,” Lisa explained.
Biblically Accurate Angel
This Is What Running Birds Look Like
The Black Crack, A 65-Foot-Deep Fissure Along A Trail In Canyonlands National Park In Utah
Lisa argues that it leads us to a second important point. “It’s the pleasure that comes from looking at disturbing images: they give us an opportunity to exercise our minds and to play with reality ourselves. Suddenly, we become storytellers asking ourselves and each other: Where do these grotesque images come from? Who is behind them? How would I react if I encountered this object or situation in real life?”
The professor suggests that at their most provocative, horrifying images can even inspire real-world change: “And how do these images make me see my own reality differently? What do I need to do in my own world to make sure this never happens? Terrifying and grotesque events are part of the human experience, and encountering them first in safe artistic and cultural spaces provides us with excellent ways to prepare for them,” she concluded.
Sears Tower During A Blackout
Woke Up Scared Stiff Last Night When I Noticed A Victorian Ghost Floating At The End Of My Bed. Took Me A Few Minutes To Realise It Was My Clothes On The Door
Oh my god.. This is why I don't have anything hanging from my doors or have dolls, whose eyes seem to always glow in the dark...
280 Million Year Old Fossil Found In Western Australia, Photo By Tom Kapitany
A British Tourist Filmed A 'Monitor Lizard' Coming Out From His/Her Toilet Bowl In Thailand
I feared snakes biting my ass; this is a very big fear upgrade. Thank you.
A Whale Skeleton Found In The Hot Dunes Of Egypt
Mother! I Request Your Soul!
Was Playing Video Games When I Heard A Sounds To My Left. Looked Over And Saw This
He just wants to talk to you about rising energy prices
Fingers Without Nails
Imagine Seeing One In The Middle Of The Road While Driving
Pregnant With Triplets
At Vezio's Castle In Italy There Are Lots Of These "Phantom" Like Statues
Eye Injury Causes Man's Iris To Collapse
Found This In My Apartment While Living In Japan. They Are Fast!
The Tornado Showing Up Because Of The Lightning Strikes
And my father shouting about my driving faults in the adjacent seat
A Webcam Appeared In The Bottom Of My Computer Screen After It Blue Screened
A Creepy Standing Goat.
That’s not creepy that’s cute ! I give it kisses , ere come ere I giz you kisses 💃
The Remains Of This Caribou In Greenland
Oh No
My Daughter's Bat Morph Suit
They Are Evolving
This Jack O Lantern With Mold Growing From Inside
Never Letting A Cat Touch Me Again
A Doll Chillin In A Graveyard
Just Wait When Night Falls...
Found This In My Girlfriends Loft. She Only Moved In 3 Months Ago And Says She Has Never Been Up There. Guess What My Name Is...
Found This In The Basement Of My New House
Spacex Has Robot Dogs Patrolling Their Rocket Factory Now
There Is A Mutation In Frogs Where Their Eyes Grow On The Inside Of Their Mouth.
That is a lie, the eyes don't grow from the inside of their mouth because of a MuTaTiOn, they can roll their eyeballs back in to the top of their mouth to clean then with their tongue if they get dirty and so it can help them swallow.
This Corridor, Man… This Is Gonna Haunt Me On Dreams
Man Goes In Narrow Underwater Cave
All Of A Sudden You Hear Sirens
I'm guessing the floodplain of a dam? There are signs like this along the Susquehana south of Columbia PA
The Ants Are Up To Something
Pov: Polar Bear Is Trying To Eat You
The bastards look so cute and harmless, too. I have this horrible suicidal urge to start scratching his nose while saying stupid s**t like "aww, who's a Mister Cuddlebug? Yooou aRRGH!"
One Of The Last Known Pictures Taken By The Hikers Of The Dyatlov Pass Incident (1959)
I saw all the pictures (was told) from the cameras at the Dyatlov pass - I never saw this!
This Happens To My Hands At Cold Temperatures
Well That's Not A Good Sign
Robot With A Face Is Quite Creepy
Note: this post originally had 70 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
Probably should not have looked at this post. Thanks.
It was surprisingly upsetting! But also...kinda fun?
Welp imma go wash my eyes out with bleach now. Thanks, bored panda!!
Just don't go blind (I almost did when my sister accidently sprayed cleaning product in my eyes lol)
Some very scary stuff, as stated. Not going to sleep. Nope nope nope.
Probably should not have looked at this post. Thanks.
It was surprisingly upsetting! But also...kinda fun?
Welp imma go wash my eyes out with bleach now. Thanks, bored panda!!
Just don't go blind (I almost did when my sister accidently sprayed cleaning product in my eyes lol)
Some very scary stuff, as stated. Not going to sleep. Nope nope nope.