A terrifying picture captivates you like a horror movie you never signed up for, but still watch till the end with palms on your face hiding from the screen. You look once, you look twice and then think, “This is enough for me today,” only to realize you’d like to see some more. Thus, we’re going to give you some more scary scenes of unsettling images.
We've listed 50 terrifying images from the scary corner of Reddit known as ‘Oddly Terrifying.’ This community of 2M members has people sharing the weirdest, creepiest, and most unsettling pics of random moments and computer-generated images. These creepy pics promise to fire up your brain with some tingly sensations. So, scroll down through Bored Panda’s new batch of spooky pictures, upvote the ones that you find the creepiest, and frighten your friends by surprisingly sharing these disturbing images.
Image credit: mountainmorticia
The Fun Behind Unsettling Images
First things first, a terrifying picture isn't meant to be a horror scene. Unsettling images capture moments, and places from people in their daily lives that shift our reality’s perspective by evoking a disturbing, scary, or fearful emotion. The fun in oddly terrifying pictures lies in their paradox—although terrifying, it’s also impossible to look away and miss the fun of finding scary things hidden in pictures.
Many people love them, and if you’re one of them, you must read the expert’s insights. 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.
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Corn Maze
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.
Unsettling Images Fascinate Us. Why?
“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)
A Terrifying Picture Offers A Different Perspective
The professor states 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
Why Do People Keep Looking at Creepy Pics?
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
The Impact of Photos With Disturbing Backstories
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
Welp.... Another topic to Google: Are some people born without fingernails? UPDATE: Anonychia congenita is a condition that affects the fingernails and toenails. Individuals with this condition are typically missing all of their fingernails and toenails (anonychia). This absence of nails is noticeable from birth (congenital).
We all count fingers and toes, but finger and toenails...
Load More Replies...More likely from burns or just a birth defect. When you lose a nail from chemo you still have a nailbed.
Load More Replies...I had a nightmare that my pinky nails are spilt open and blood was everywhere
It's congenital, usually noted at birth - sad huh? I hated working in the NICU - so awfully depressing!
Load More Replies...My mum had her toe nails removed due medical issues and it was very very gross to watch.
I saw that procedure in dr foot and even it looked a little gross, it helps a lot of people with their toenails problems, hope your mum is doing better.
Load More Replies...I had this happen on my feet as a kid. Frostbite's a bi*ch, and my nails are fine now. This happens on toes, too.
Seems sad to loose a common feature for human body, but there are good purposes.
I bet this makes a lot of normal daily life difficult... can't scratch an itch, or use fingernails to pry up the pop top, can't grab a splinter and pull it out... I guess if they never had them they can't miss them
Mine are small enough to not use my nails for pop tops.
Load More Replies...I thought the person had latex gloves on, until I looked really close...
I'd like to have no nails, I have Plaque Psoriasis - it ITCHES really BAD, no nails no scratching! I file them down so I have nothing to scratch with anyway so. I don't do the Rx thing-all natural ways, to help heal!!!
I recently ripped a whole nail off the bed. And this picture messes with my PTSD and let me tell you it is quite difficult to do every day normal stuff without a nail. I didn't even realize how difficult until I did it to ONE. Can't imagine a whole ass hand. (oh, and it hurts too nothing to protect the nerves at the end of the finger...also something I never realized.)
I have a friend with this condition. The sad part is that she used to buy a lot of make up and for some reason she always received free nail polish. 🤦🏻♀️
Am I alone in having read this as " Eighteen Fingers Without Nails" THEN actually saying - ok so where are the eighteen fingers? Ohhh boy if this is me at 65 I am dreading my 70's.
There are several tattoo artists in the US who specialize in covering up body issues with brilliantly illusionistic tats. Scars, no nails, all the range of body damage. Me in this position, I would get nails inked on permanently.
Load More Replies...I'm so curious how his hands feel to himself. Have you ever ripped your nail off & as it heals it has that weird sensation when you touch the area? Creepy looking but intriguing!
I imagine that would be incredibly frustrating for so many things: the difficulty of a really good scratch, removing a splinter, picking your nose...
No, no, no, NO!! THIS will haunt my dreams more than Kuojo 2.0 further up!
I' ve always wanted my nails to disappear, this nail care steals so much time and is very boring. We basically do not need the nails, because we invented a bunch of tools that replace the nails.
I think it's very practical: You never have to care for your nails or dirt under your nails. So hygienic, I like it :)
Eeeewww, I can take a LOT, but this requires unsee juice! Uuuggghhh!!!!
So how's about fingerprints. And I can see where it might be a more gentle assault on those nasty boogers but I can't imagine not scratching my head in those moments that nothing else works to get that light bulb to appear above your skull and everything makes sense
Having an itch much be a b***h. Also everyone else we use our nails for... they do protect our fingers.
Wow. I wasn’t aware of this condition. I’m curious if it has any negative impacts on this persons abilities beyond scratching and itch?
Before I had to have an ingrown toenail removed this would have freaked me out like nothing else. Now I don’t mind and I am wondering if at some point in evolution will we lose our nails altogether? I saw an article a few years ago that stated it is possible that in about 50 generations or so we might not have toes but a sort of paddle like a ducks foot
Just imagine, you can play the piano from either side of your finger.
Is this person also missing a navel? That would be kinda cool in a weird way.
This is photoshopped, but imagine it would look like this if it were real
Yeah! This is what I was looking for! :) but people on bored panda are too stupid to appreciate a joke like this.
Load More Replies...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
...I didn't know the iris could collapse and now I'm completely freaked out
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.
It was surprisingly upsetting! But also...kinda fun?
Load More Replies...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)
Load More Replies...Some very scary stuff, as stated. Not going to sleep. Nope nope nope.
I looked at all the pictures and don't have a sense that they were creepy at all!
Same, there was nothing that I would consider "oddly terrifying" - I think it is a very, very subjektive feeling.
Load More Replies...not me actually trying to do this to prove i am not scared. I AM BTW
I clicked for the innocent lemon picture and couldn't make it through the entire list.. these are genuinely terrifying, not "oddly".. definitely not for the faint of heart!
How to gauge one's intelligence: Do they look at this post at 12am and genuinely wonder why they don't want to turn out the bedside lamp? They're probably a sleep-deprived idiot. I'm a sleep-deprived idiot.
Counted at least 6 posts I've seen recently in other BP posts. I'm sure there's newer creepy stuff but other than that the creepy ones are some of my fav posts! These, comedy, history/facts and art are my favs to look through.
It was surprisingly upsetting! But also...kinda fun?
Load More Replies...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)
Load More Replies...Some very scary stuff, as stated. Not going to sleep. Nope nope nope.
I looked at all the pictures and don't have a sense that they were creepy at all!
Same, there was nothing that I would consider "oddly terrifying" - I think it is a very, very subjektive feeling.
Load More Replies...not me actually trying to do this to prove i am not scared. I AM BTW
I clicked for the innocent lemon picture and couldn't make it through the entire list.. these are genuinely terrifying, not "oddly".. definitely not for the faint of heart!
How to gauge one's intelligence: Do they look at this post at 12am and genuinely wonder why they don't want to turn out the bedside lamp? They're probably a sleep-deprived idiot. I'm a sleep-deprived idiot.
Counted at least 6 posts I've seen recently in other BP posts. I'm sure there's newer creepy stuff but other than that the creepy ones are some of my fav posts! These, comedy, history/facts and art are my favs to look through.