“Oddly Terrifying”: 50 Times People Spotted Creepy Things And Just Had To Share Them (New Pics)
Interview
Even though we are way past Halloween and should be focused on all that Christmas cheer, it’s hard to avoid having some chills going down our spines every now and then. And no, not because of the cold winter nights crawling on us, we mean real creepy stuff.
The internet is famous for its random and disturbing content, so we cannot help but spread the most interesting bits we find! So let’s plunge into the subreddit r/oddlyterrifying, a place that, as you might have guessed, is dedicated to sharing strangely terrifying images. It has 2.5M members, which isn’t that surprising considering the pictures there are weirdly enticing to look at.
Scroll down through the newest stack of tingly scenes and don’t forget to check out our previous posts here, here and here.
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Hate Waking Up To This
The More I Learn About Mushrooms The Less Comfortable I Am With The Idea Of Mushrooms
A Screaming Dead Sun
Glancing at these images, we experience a paradox. It’s terrifying to look at them, however, it’s also hard to look away. To find out what fascinates people about the unsettling photos, Bored Panda spoke with Francis McAndrew, Cornelia H. Dudley Professor of Psychology at Knox College and Coltan Scrivner, behavioral scientist and expert on the science of horror and morbid curiosity.
A Schizophrenic Patient’s Last Drawing Before Suicide
Instead Of Carving The Jack-O-Lantern Myself This Year
I poked a bunch of small holes in a pumpkin and stuffed the holes with peanut butter. I then let the squirrels go at it for two days. The result is something truly disturbingly.
Just A Little Reddit Before Bed
Prof. McAndrew told that there are different types of creepiness, but they all have one thing in common: ambiguity. "In its most extreme form, it is about the uncertainty of threat or danger. We can get creeped out by a spooky place because it is uncertain if the place contains hidden things like predators, ghosts, or badly intentioned people who mean to do us harm. Similarly, we can be creeped out by a person who is behaving strangely and not obeying the usual rules for interacting with a stranger. Our uncertainty about whether the person is dangerous or just awkward leaves us wallowing in discomfort and feeling 'creeped out.'
Sometimes, we can get creeped out by things that we know are not dangerous, but they still make us uncomfortable because we do not know how to categorize them or react to them. For example, dolls or robots that are too lifelike trigger responses that we would make to an actual human being, but the fact that we know they are not human creates an uncomfortable tension that we need to resolve. We do not like uncertainty."
These Bathroom Tiles
If We Drew Modern Animals The Way We Draw Dinosaurs, Based On Bones Alone
For all I know, Dinos could be fluffy big birds with rainbow feathers and Christmas sweaters.
Seems Like A Stone Giant Is Waking Up
C. Scrivner explains creepiness as the feeling that something might be dangerous. “When we are sure we are facing something dangerous, we feel afraid. When we are facing something that is more ambiguous, we feel creeped out.”
People are attracted to learning about danger, particularly when they can safely learn about danger (in this case, looking at these oddly terrifying images). C. Scrivener explained that things that are unsettling are creepy, which means we aren't sure if they're dangerous or not. “This uncertain danger is particularly attractive for our minds. We want to learn more about the unsettling thing so that we can know if it's dangerous or not.”
Signature Evolution In Alzheimer’s Disease
My mum has alzheimers. Her writing is still fine but she used to be an English teacher and every time I see her spelling, crossing outs and grammar it breaks my heart. This is one of the very small ways the disease has effected her. She is now delusional and paranoid most of the time; nearly always terrified and anxious.
A Sweet Potato Dug Up From A Garden
A Bat Nursery
C. Scrivener continued: “Creepiness differs a bit from individual to individual, just like fears. However, just like there are some things that are more likely to be feared (e.g. heights, snakes), there are probably some things that are more likely to be creepy. Things that have both elements of danger and safety might be more likely to be creepy, like a life-like doll or an abandoned house. Dolls are cute and safe, but maybe not if they're alive. Houses are places of refuge, but maybe not if they're abandoned.”
Appears I Had A Visitor While Working Alone In A Large Abandoned Basement…
I hope it's just the lighting that makes it look like bloody footprints.
Why Even Need This Is What Scares Me
but WoULD YoU KNoW IF YoU WERE DREAMING RIGHT NoW
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Most people who wake up in Sheffield assume they're in a nightmare and so the council came up with a way to further ruin their day
Reading is the thing. You can't read properly in your dreams. Not long passages. Although after 20+ years of trauma-induced nightmares, I'm always trying to wake myself up.
You can learn to take control inside those nightmares. It's not fun at first, but if you lean into it instead of trying to wake yourself up, you can start remembering that you are safe, and in charge. It starts with just remembering to stay nice and still instead of trying to jolt yourself awake to escape. I realize you weren't asking for advice, but this worked for me, and I'm getting better sleep even when the most vivid dreams show up.
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I nearly always have lucid/semi-lucid dreams (i.e. I know I'm dreaming). Last night something in my dream made me laugh and my dream self firmly informed me that I can't laugh at my own jokes, even while asleep. It seems my subconscious is turning meta on me!
It's one of THE BEST feelings in the world ---- to wake yourself up laughing. I was laughing and laughing SO HARD in my sleep one time, but when I woke up I could hear myself and this is what my uproarious laughter sounded like: "heh heh heh heh," very soft and dull. Too funny.
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Dream checking can actually be pretty cool and useful. You can get yourself out of nightmares or get lucid dreams. I usually check clocks, my hands (fingers usually look weird) or try to turn on lights (they rarely work in my dreams). I can ofen go into lucid dreaming because of this
I often have lucid dreams and one of the way I know I am in a dream is because if I don't like how it goes, I go back in time and have a re-do. It never works when I am awake. Reality sucks.
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OMG I LOOKED AT THE TIME AND IT SAID 5:32 AND THEN I LOOKED BACK AND IT SAID 5:33 OMG IM DREAMING!!!
I like your sense of humor! I'm wondering why a city council would print up a sign like that in the first place, some sort of Inception type issue there?
Load More Replies... Your not able to count as well. If you don't know if you're dreaming, trying to count your fingers if you can't you're dreaming.
I can count in my dreams, it's usually reading that gives it away. Like I can read a few words, but if I try to read a paragraph I start losing vision and eventually wake myself up.
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Apparently it was a street art project : https://www.expressandstar.com/news/uk-news/2020/01/30/would-you-know-if-you-were-dreaming-mysterious-posters-appear-in-sheffield/
I always try to touch a wall... in a dream, my hand will pass through it and that's how I know I'm dreaming
That's the method I was told. If you are not sure you are awake or dreaming try to put the tip of one index finger onto the back of your hand/arm where your wrist flexes. Typically your finger will go "through" because we seem to not be quite as capable of the fine motor skills when asleep
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I looked at a clock 5 minutes ago, and then I just looked now, AND IT WAS 5 MINUTES OFF! I'm in a dream!
I know I'm not dreaming because I can find a clean usable bathroom on the first try
I was having a dream the other night and I checked my watch but the numbers were incoherent. No sooner had “oh cool I’m dreaming” crossed my mind that I find myself in a different dream and forget all about it
please stop i ahte this so much stop get uout get out gheto utg etoufwake up wake up wake up wake up wakeu piwpa ekwa up euwake up wajkuep
It is said that people don't read in their dreams. Try reading something!
Just gotta make sure we aren’t stuck in a dream again, perfectly normal sign
My brother used to sleep walk, probably still does. But would a sleep walker stop to read a sign?
This is actually a good way of leaving regular dreaming and entering lucid dreaming, where you have some concious control over the dream. I've tried repeatedly counting my fingers in real life, which made me instinctively count them in the dream. They were 4 or 7, and this allowed me to realise it's a dream, get excited and teleport in another place
If u have nightmares,pretend ur an invulnerable superhero and beat the bad guys up
*sigh* I really wish that worked, the only thing I have ever found to reliably work is to just let the bad thing happen and once it's over I usually wake up otherwise I just end up in an endless dream loop playing out the same dream until the bad guys eventually do get me.
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Another tip to see if you're dreaming: Pinch your nose shut and try to breathe. In a dream, you will still feel yourself breathing even with your nostrils closed. I was able to do it in a dream and it worked!
This is so not true, though. Neither is the other version of this that I see a lot, which is “you can’t read in your dreams.” I assure you, I have dreams ALL THE TIME that involve reading both words AND clocks.
So look at me watch, look away then look at my watch...if it takes me more than a second to look away it will be a completely different time.....just sayin
Sheffield City Council - Roads, Rates, Rubbish and REM.
Here's what I want to know about my dreams: Where do all the people come from? I have dreams where I see and often interact with people ----- complete strangers. No one I've ever seen before. How does my brain conjure up all of these body types and faces and voices? Everyone is real, individual. It's spooky.
Would you be reading that, and do what it says, if you were actually dreaming?
But what if you aren't wearing a watch in your dream? And during my sleep paralysis I know I'm dreaming but my body won't let me open my eyes and so my brain drifts back to my dream for a few minutes before I try to wake up again.
My smartphone is a sure bet. I have it on me 24/7 (weirdly I am no active user of any social media, it's mostly work-texting-learning-games for me). No dream can ever recreate it to 100% function. Two clicks and I know.
I chose to believe in dream theory because I know this can't be reality.
If this is for real, it must be so comforting to the people of Sheffield, knowing their council taxes are being spent in such a worthwhile way,,,
Not only do they have posters for this that they've posted around town, they have now made the entire town paranoid and not sleeping. The bigger question is how do they know this?
um, I know when I'm dreaming because often people who have been out of my life for a long time will be there and things will not make sense
You're supposed to count your fingers & if you have anything other than five per hand you're dreaming.
Nothing ever works for me in my dreams - my watch, my phone, cars, etc. It's a recurring theme.
this has happened to me, but it was just a couple of minutes behind what it said when I last checked it
Did Angels of Venice come through Sheffield on tour? Did they buy sharp pointy metal things?
Your watch would display a completely different time every time you check it anyway, as long as it took you at least a minute to go through the steps. Next please!
How the hell would I know. Everytime I check my watch/phone I immediately forget what time it said and have to check again. Is THAT a sign I'm dreaming?
I find it odd that people have to check when they are dreaming. Don't you just know?
I had to teach myself how to wake up while I was still dreaming. It wasn't until I was in my 20s that I found out about sleep paralysis and realized that I had had it my whole life
This really works. Or look at anything and try to read it. It will look like jibberish.
It's not the actual council. It's just street art in Sheffield Hallam University campus
The age of philosopher-kings has apparently given way to an age of philosopher-council members.
I never dream a watch being in my dream. I'm not sure how I would make myself do that.
I'm more bothered by the fact that city council came up with that poster
It would kind of work for me until my sleep mind would see the time difference and think "that's not right." The look again at time and it will be corrected. Yes...my dreams can freak me out to but as long as they aren't evil I can have a good time in dream land.
If I looked at my watch to see if I was dreaming...I would be dreaming as I do not wear a watch.
If you develop a habit of constantly checking to see if you’re dreaming, then you may be able to lucid dream since you’ll know when you are dreaming
If I *was* dreaming right now I would be reading that poster in a dream so it wouldn't be real and couldn't be trusted. Also, I'm somewhat concerned about the Sheffield City councillors.
The View From My Grandmothers Sun Room…
Lake Mead 1983 vs. 2021
According to prof. McAndrew, things that are novel or strange automatically attract our attention. "For good evolutionary reasons, we need to figure out new things we encounter in case they are a threat to us or possibly a good thing that we can take advantage of. That is why we can't look away until we have figured them out."
"Some people are more comfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity than others, and the people who are least comfortable with it are the people who will be most easily creeped out."
Mother Centipede Cradling Her Children
A 4-Year-Old Boy Named Bobby Dunbar Disappeared While On A Trip With His Family
8 months later, they found him and reunited him with his family, and they lived out the rest of their lives together. Nearly 100 years later, DNA evidence proved that the boy they rescued was not Bobby Dunbar.
This Banana Blossom
What changes in us when we are creeped out? According to C. Scrivener, feeling creeped out has similar effects to anxiety. “Our mind prepares the senses for information gathering and we are more on alert than usual. This helps us efficiently learn about the potential danger. In the case of images, there is no actual danger. There are likely no long-term negative effects of viewing unsettling images.”
Prof. McAndrew added that they raise our arousal levels and focus our attention. "They create an uncomfortable emotion that will keep us motivated to keep processing information about the images until we resolve them, much the same way hunger or thirst (unpleasant feelings) motivate us to engage in behaviors (eating and drinking) that will eradicate the feeling."
An AI's Interpretation Of The Word "Religion"
Meanwhile, In Australia
Civilians Taking Care Of Zoo Animals In Their Own Homes During Wwii
Lighthouse By The Coast Of Iceland
How does the keeper go up there? I see no stairs or cableway there.
This Is Point Nemo, The Spot Farthest Away From Any Land In The World. You Are Closer To Astronauts Aboard The Iss Than Humanity
If only you could get some solid land (volcanic island?), internet and food delivery there, I'd move in a heartbeat.
Woman’s Neighbor Sprays Raid, Peeks Through The Slits In The Fence…
Walking Home 4 Miles In Abandoned Railroad Tracks
No other way to get home unless I want to walk through gang run drug areas. that's the scary part, this is safer.
So sorry, you have to deal with that and have no safer way to get home.
Antheraea Polyphemus... Basically A Tarantula With Wings
A Disease That Has No Cure
Imagine Going To Explore Your Ski Resort On Holiday And Running Into This
My family owns a ski area in Colorado, and we have quite a few signs like this. People stop, read it, and duck under the ropes anyway. Then my brother and his crew find the bodies when the snow melts.
My Spine. I Went In For Surgery At 5'10", Came Out 6'2", I'm Supposed To Be 6'7"
Bugs Escaping From A Flood
A Three-Legged Dog Licking Its Back
Every Single Frog Is Looking Eerily In The Same Direction
Known Locations Of Bodies On Mt. Everest
So, Did You Like The Zoo?
Stevn King In The 70's vs. Steven King In His 70's
Remindes Me Of Attack On Titan
This Amazon Warehouse In Tijuana, Mexico
This Is The Last Source Of Light For 600 Miles
This Past Thursday Marked The 13th Anniversary Of John Jones Death In Nutty Putty Cave
Jones found himself in a situation no man could help him and after being stuck upside down for 26 hours he died of cardiac arrest while his wife and daughter stood hundreds of feet above.
I understand curiosity, but what makes you go like "Hmmm i think i will go in this narrow cannal in this part that is not explored where i can barely squeesse and pass, that seems like a smart idea"
Inside A Hong Kong Coffin Home
And They Were Never Seen Again
Ponte City Apartments In Johannesburg, South Africa. The Tallest Residential Building On The African Continent
My Wife Found This Trail-Cam Pointed At The Back Door Of The Restaurant She Manages
This Warning Sign
We Hired A Chimney Specialist Today And They Found This. They Said “Well, This Is A First”
My Father In Their Home Right Now During Ian
I didn't even see the water till I read the comments, just thought it was a really tall guy standing in a really messy room lol
My Friend Went Into A Fugue State And Wandered Into The Countryside At 3am
Phoned me at around 5am explaining that he had no idea where he was, soaking wet to the bone and covered in cuts, bruises and this bite(?)
This Statue Of The Devil Defeating The Archangel Michael On Top Of A Tomb That Is Caged Off
Chinese Ghost City. Huge Skyscraper Areas That No One Lives In
Copied from Reddit, because this is important: "I hate to break everyones party here. But this area is called: Meixi Lake park right outside Changsha. This picture was from 2015 when these buildings were new. This area is populated with its own metro system and a new mall. Type the area on youtube and you can see multiple videos of the area to get a gauge on how many people have since moved in and live there. HERe https://youtu.be/YPvjPllLp5o"
Note: this post originally had 115 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
I cannot explain how uncomfortable I felt this entire time. I think I might go to bed now, or at least try.
I shouldn't read this kind of stuff before going to sleep. Need a Barbie-movie now.
It says based on user votes it shortened it, but has anyone ever actually voted to do that?
No that's not it. It means based on the articles that got the most votes they are displayed while the rest are optional to view. This was something they did awhile back to shorten articles because - some - users were complaining about how long articles were.
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Not sure how it works! Tried watching videos but couldn't get thru it!
I cannot explain how uncomfortable I felt this entire time. I think I might go to bed now, or at least try.
I shouldn't read this kind of stuff before going to sleep. Need a Barbie-movie now.
It says based on user votes it shortened it, but has anyone ever actually voted to do that?
No that's not it. It means based on the articles that got the most votes they are displayed while the rest are optional to view. This was something they did awhile back to shorten articles because - some - users were complaining about how long articles were.
Load More Replies... Not sure how it works! Tried watching videos but couldn't get thru it!
