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We all have a strong survival instinct, one that kicks in the moment that we sense danger. For some of us, our 'fight or flight' mode can be a little too sensitive to perceived threats, and we end up scaring the hell out of ourselves for no particular reason.
But hey, better safe than sorry, am I right?
This list, compiled as a part 2 to this one by Bored Panda, is a series of times when people's hearts skipped several beats because of optical illusions, coincidences or just simple misunderstandings. From ghostly apparitions that turned out to be the delivery guy, to a seemingly sawn-in-half dog, you're sure to sympathize with the people who took these scary photos!
Scroll down below to check these horrifyingly cool photos out for yourself, and let us know what you think in the comments!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
This Freaked Me Out. Turns Out It's A Sunset Reflection
Optical illusion photos challenge our sense of reality; they make us realize that what we see is simply our brains' best interpretation of the visual cues our eyes provide. Our brains have adapted not to see what is actually there, but what we deem as useful to see.
These eye tricks occur when a visual scene unfolds that is different from what our brain has decided is the norm, and it will respond in odd and often confusing ways until finally arriving at a conclusion.
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#2
Had To Look Twice
According to Exploring optical illusions, there are 3 main types of optical illusion:
Literal illusions create images that are different from the objects that make them, like most of the entries on this list. For example, if 3 birds are flying, 2 above one, it can form the illusion of a smiling face.
Physiological illusions, such as afterimages following bright lights or adapting stimuli of excessively longer alternating patterns (contingent perceptual aftereffect), are presumed to be the effects on the eyes or brain of excessive stimulation of a specific type - brightness, tilt, color, movement, etc. The theory is that stimuli have individual dedicated neural paths in the early stages of visual processing, and that repetitive stimulation of only one or a few channels causes a physiological imbalance that alters perception.
#3
Wife Left The Gloves To Dry, I Almost Had A Heart Attack
#4
So Last Night I Was Positive There Was A Ghost Baby In The Bed With My Son
I was so freaked out, I barely slept. I even tried creeping in there with a flashlight while my son was sleeping. Well, this morning I go to investigate a bit further. It turns out my husband just forgot to put the mattress protector on when he changed the sheets. I could kill him.
#5
Cat Gave Me A Scare This Morning. It's Paprika
Cognitive illusions are assumed to arise by interaction with assumptions about the world, leading to "unconscious inferences", an idea first suggested in the 19th century by Hermann Helmholtz. Cognitive illusions are commonly divided into ambiguous illusions, distorting illusions, paradox illusions, or fiction illusions.
1. Ambiguous illusions are pictures or objects that elicit a perceptual 'switch' between the alternative interpretations. The Necker cube is a well known example; another instance is the Rubin vase.
2. Distorting illusions are characterized by distortions of size, length, or curvature. A striking example is the Café wall illusion. Another example is the famous Müller-Lyer illusion.
3. Paradox illusions are generated by objects that are paradoxical or impossible, such as the Penrose triangle or impossible staircases seen, for example, in M. C. Escher's Ascending and Descending and Waterfall. The triangle is an illusion dependent on a cognitive misunderstanding that adjacent edges must join.
4. Fictional illusions are defined as the perception of objects that are genuinely not there to all but a single observer, such as those induced by schizophrenia or a hallucinogen. These are more properly called hallucinations.
#6
Whoever Did This Gave Me A Heart Attack
Avital Pilpel 6 years ago
Whoever did this is an a-hole. A GENIUS a-hole, but still an a-hole.
#7
My Dog Is Trying To Scare The Hell Out Of Me
#8
Housemate Was Drying His Fishing Waders. Almost Had To Add The Pants I Was Wearing To The Laundry Pile I Was Carrying After I Opened The Door
#9
The Snail In Our Office Fish Tank Freaked Me Out Today
#10
Gives Me A Heart Attack Every Time, But He Loves To Sleep Like That!
#11
Scared The Hell Out Of Me When He Moved
#12
Emergency Light In The Hallway Scared The Hell Out Of Me Earlier. Meet The New Source Of My Nightmares
#13
Son Woke Us Up Around 3 AM To Tell Us Some Guy Was On Our Porch With A Stick
After almost dying of a heart attack, we realized it was the paper delivery guy. With a branch. Trying to retrieve a mis-thrown paper from our roof while looking [friggin] terrifying.
#14
My Grandma Taking A Nap. Scared The Hell Out Of Me At First
#15
That Spooked The Hell Out Of Me
#16
My Aunt Got Her Dog Groomed. The Groomer Only Has Half Of His Right Arm. It Looks Like He's Elbow Deep Into The Dog, And It Freaked Me Out When I First Saw The Picture
#17
These Bacon Slices Look Like An Evil Clown...
#18
My Cousin Woke Up In The Middle Of The Night, Randomly Looked At The Baby Monitor And Saw This. She Said It Scared The Hell Out Of Her
#19
I Bought My Wife (Who's A Professional Photographer) A Thermos In The Shape Of A Camera Lens. It Always Gives Me A Mini Heart Attack When I See It Like This
#20
I Didn’t Realize My Wife Left The Kids’ Presents In The Car Until I Checked The Rear View Mirror
#21
When You Walk In Your Room And Have A Mild Heart Attack
#22
This Ultrasound Photo Scared My Husband
#23
Someone Spilled Their Smoothie In Class, And Now It Looks Like A Crime Scene
David Martin 6 years ago
I'm genuinely curious now, what flavor smoothie even makes that spot-on, blood red color?
#24
I Put My Son In A Halloween Onesie Without Thinking Much About It And Gave Myself A Heart Attack At 2AM
#25
Ancient Whale Bone Over Top Of What Used To Be A Well
#26
My Wife Had A Mini Heart Attack As We Drove Past This House. Nobody Lives There
#27
I Had A Mini Heart Attack When I Saw This. Spotted In NYC
Avital Pilpel 6 years ago
Apparently they're selling clothes for the underpromoted market of 15' men.
#28
Sister Just Freaked Out, She Thought Someone Was In Her Flat. It Was Just Some Clothes Hanging Up In Front Of The Window
#29
Scared The Hell Out Of Myself
#30
Nearly Gave Me A Heart Attack Upon First Glance
#31
I Was Looking Up References Of Broken Glass, And I Accidently Scared The Hell Out Of My Boss
#32
The Employees Of 'Xplor' Were A Little Freaked Out When They Saw My Girlfriend And Her Family's Cave Exploring Picture
#33
So I Work At UPS And I Had A Mild Heart Attack When I Saw This Box
#34
Turned On A Light In The Basement Of An Old House And Freaked Out For A Second
#36
Thomas The Tank Engine Kidnapped? Good, That [Bastard] Scared The S**t Out Of Me The Other Night
![Thomas The Tank Engine Kidnapped? Good, That [Bastard] Scared The S**t Out Of Me The Other Night](https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/5d0886a18b7b6_HP3GdB99fKmKTlRaK7P5azfjYribpWDf3CY4SI95g-Y__700.jpg "Thomas The Tank Engine Kidnapped? Good, That [Bastard] Scared The S**t Out Of Me The Other Night")
#37
Almost Gave Me A Heart Attack
#38
Scared The Living S**t Out Of Me!
Dog-sitting for my friend. I got there today and it looked as though someone may have broken in while I was gone so I decided to search the house. Walked into one of their rooms and saw this (his wife is a hairdresser). Scared the living s**t out of me!
#39
My Son Freaked Out And Asked Who Was In The Hallway
#40
Delivering Pizzas At 2 A.m. And This Just Scared The S**t Out Of Me
#41
This Reflection Gave Me A Heart Attack
#42
I Walked Into The Staff Locker Room When The Lights Were Off, Saw This... Shat My Pants
#43
Had A Mini Heart Attack When I Walked In To A Customer's House Today
#44
This Scared The Hell Out Of Me Today, Until I Realized I Was Actually The Creepy Guy Peeking In Through The Bathroom Window
#45
Whenever I Go To The Hardware Store, This Scares The Hell Out Of Me. Every Time
#46
My Spiderman Ps4 Pro Scared Me When The Sun Reflected A Shadow Of A Spider
#47
So I Left My Gloves On My Shower To Dry Last Night, Forgot About Them And Walked Into The Bathroom At 1am To Take A Piss. Lets Just Say Sleeping Wasn't Easy...
David Martin 6 years ago
Did you make it to the toilet to pee after that, or did you need a change of pants?
#48
The Arrangement Of Hats On My Cousin's Coat Rack Scared Me Half To Death
#49
Found This While Shopping. Store Clerks Almost Gave Me A Heart Attack
#50
Well I About Had A Heart Attack Taking Out The Trash This Morning
#51
Wife Has Fallen Asleep Beneath The Paper. This Freaked Me Out For A Second
#52
Scared The Hell Out Of Me
#53
I Had To Go Do An Inspection For Work, And Damn Near Had A Heart Attack
#54
Saw This Today On The Highway While Driving To Breakfast, Freaked My Girlfriend And I Out Before We Realized What Was Happening
Erratic Logic 6 years ago
Personally I think these vehicles with realistic people printed on them are a work of a-hole design. Distracting & scaring drivers isn't funny. Sorry to ruin the mood, but it's far too easy to cause an accident this way.
#55
My 9-Year-Old Left A Surprise For My Wife. Scaring The S**t Out Of Her When She Checked The Rear View. Kids
#56
Scared The Hell Out Of Me When This Rolled In The Shop
#57
Almost Got A Heart Attack This Morning. I Was So Sleepy Yesterday I Forgot I Put My Lashes On The Sink And I Freaked Out When I Saw This
#58
This Scared The S**t Out Of Me When I Walked Into My Room (Pants Were On A Fan To Dry I Guess)
#59
This Scared Me A Little
#60
My Boyfriend’s Niece Tried To Tell Me Goodbye From Her Window And Almost Gave Me A Heart Attack
#61
This Scared The S**t Out Of Me
#62
Drove By A Bush And Nearly Had A Heart Attack Because Of This!
#63
My Sister Left A Hair Clip In The Shower. Scared The Crap Out Of Me
#64
Accidentally Used The Qtip My Wife Used Today For Her Make Up, In My Ears, And I Almost Had A Heart Attack
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Pittsburgh rare 6 years ago
Pile of clothes on a chair looking like a serial killer at 2am, anyone?
Pretty Pangolin 6 years ago
I had a 5-foot tall mango tree in my bedroom that I finally had to give away because of it's resemblance to a creepy hunched figure at 3 AM.
Load More Replies...
John 6 years ago
I love that these are labeled in the 1st person. Like the person poster is just in a constant state of panic.
Lee Schofield 6 years ago
I always hang my coat on the edge of a door then jump out of my skin at it seconds later. Then again seconds after that.
xXKittensweetXx 6 years ago
i loved these, but ive done so many things like this by accident its not even funny XD my towel was a main source of this problem..
misteriosa 6 years ago
I dye my hair blood red and I do it by myself at home, so whenever I rinse the dye, even though I know what the color and water and shower look like and I've been doing it regularly for years, my heart still skips a beat after I open my eyes for the first time during the rinse, thinking wtf happened to me and where is this blood coming from.... guess I'll never learn -.- That and my little kids with crayons on their face, why is it always the red one, why oh why...
Remy Ellis 4 years ago
#27: What tf is THAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I wanna climb through my screen and punch it in the face. Oh, wait. IT DOESN'T HAVE ONE! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHA WHAT PANTS ARE THAT LONG?!
SEBASTIAN ALDANA 4 years ago
while i was sleeping my clothes once looked like a black figure so i turned on the light moved it and went back to sleep
It's me NOT mario 6 years ago
My dog is white so i can see him pretty good so when i look at him he looks like a ghost one of then was walking at me.....
mermaidgirl960 6 years ago
A few years ago I left boots in the hall and everyone, including me, thought it was our pet dachshund, Eddie. Also, my dogs sleep in bed with my dad and sometimes they'll be laying in an odd position and out like a light making my dad think they're dead. He freaks out every time XD My dogs are heavy sleepers (And my bulldog is a heavy snorer LOL)
María Hermida 6 years ago
A former flatmate brought several crazy things from a trip to London. One of them was an inflatable, 2-metre tall alien and she placed it in the living room. You know, the stereotype: big head, enormous eyes... She can't read English, so she didn't read the labels... Two or three nights later I woke up with her screams. She woke up to go to the toilet when she bumped into an ugly creature. She had bought an inflatable, 2-metre tall, FLUORESCENT alien.
Renee Gauthier 6 years ago
I hated when my kid would bring home a helium-filled balloon & it would bounce around the house until it lost too much helium. I would always thing it was a head. Then my daughter went to cosmetology school & started bringing home actual hair-styling heads. For some reason, one got in the laundry basket & totally freaked me out.
Fixin'Ta 6 years ago
So ... I know people use the term "had a heart attack" casually just to mean they were scared as, but as someone who actually had a heart attack a few years ago ... I wish they wouldn't. It's a wee bit PTSD triggering...
Night Owl 6 years ago
You can still click on and see the whole list with 64 images
Load More Replies...
Pittsburgh rare 6 years ago
Pile of clothes on a chair looking like a serial killer at 2am, anyone?
Pretty Pangolin 6 years ago
I had a 5-foot tall mango tree in my bedroom that I finally had to give away because of it's resemblance to a creepy hunched figure at 3 AM.
Load More Replies... John 6 years ago
I love that these are labeled in the 1st person. Like the person poster is just in a constant state of panic.
Lee Schofield 6 years ago
I always hang my coat on the edge of a door then jump out of my skin at it seconds later. Then again seconds after that.
xXKittensweetXx 6 years ago
i loved these, but ive done so many things like this by accident its not even funny XD my towel was a main source of this problem..
misteriosa 6 years ago
I dye my hair blood red and I do it by myself at home, so whenever I rinse the dye, even though I know what the color and water and shower look like and I've been doing it regularly for years, my heart still skips a beat after I open my eyes for the first time during the rinse, thinking wtf happened to me and where is this blood coming from.... guess I'll never learn -.- That and my little kids with crayons on their face, why is it always the red one, why oh why...
Remy Ellis 4 years ago
#27: What tf is THAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I wanna climb through my screen and punch it in the face. Oh, wait. IT DOESN'T HAVE ONE! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHA WHAT PANTS ARE THAT LONG?!
SEBASTIAN ALDANA 4 years ago
while i was sleeping my clothes once looked like a black figure so i turned on the light moved it and went back to sleep
It's me NOT mario 6 years ago
My dog is white so i can see him pretty good so when i look at him he looks like a ghost one of then was walking at me.....
mermaidgirl960 6 years ago
A few years ago I left boots in the hall and everyone, including me, thought it was our pet dachshund, Eddie. Also, my dogs sleep in bed with my dad and sometimes they'll be laying in an odd position and out like a light making my dad think they're dead. He freaks out every time XD My dogs are heavy sleepers (And my bulldog is a heavy snorer LOL)
María Hermida 6 years ago
A former flatmate brought several crazy things from a trip to London. One of them was an inflatable, 2-metre tall alien and she placed it in the living room. You know, the stereotype: big head, enormous eyes... She can't read English, so she didn't read the labels... Two or three nights later I woke up with her screams. She woke up to go to the toilet when she bumped into an ugly creature. She had bought an inflatable, 2-metre tall, FLUORESCENT alien.
Renee Gauthier 6 years ago
I hated when my kid would bring home a helium-filled balloon & it would bounce around the house until it lost too much helium. I would always thing it was a head. Then my daughter went to cosmetology school & started bringing home actual hair-styling heads. For some reason, one got in the laundry basket & totally freaked me out.
Fixin'Ta 6 years ago
So ... I know people use the term "had a heart attack" casually just to mean they were scared as, but as someone who actually had a heart attack a few years ago ... I wish they wouldn't. It's a wee bit PTSD triggering...
Night Owl 6 years ago
You can still click on and see the whole list with 64 images
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