40 Random Creepy Facts And Pictures To Deprive Somebody Of Sleep, As Shared By This Instagram Page

Everyone says truth is stranger than fiction, but did you know that truth is also scarier than fiction? Don’t get me wrong, Stephen King is my favorite writer too, and the film adaptations of his stories are always incredibly captivating. But they don’t usually make me feel unsafe in my own home or make me feel unsettled while walking home in the dark. Some of the facts on this list, however, might make me walk a little faster with my keys between my fingers.

The Horror Facts Instagram page says it’s been rated the number one scary page on the site, and for good reason. The account has amassed nearly 84k followers, and it has posted over one thousand pics featuring spooky, disturbing and unsettling facts. And while information about scary encounters that happen today can be circulated online incredibly fast, spooky facts about historical figures or Halloween traditions of generations ago might not always be common knowledge. So if you devour every documentary Netflix makes about serial killers and unsolved mysteries, this list might provide you with some inspiration for what to scour the internet for information about next.  

To gain some insight for this article, we reached out to a real life horror enthusiast, creator, producer and performer of the Knifepoint Horror podcast, Soren Narnia. When it comes to what inspired Soren to create this spooky show in the first place, he told Bored Panda, "I started my podcast mostly as a way to work around the gatekeepers and bring the stuff I’d written directly and easily to an audience. What I’ve come to like most about it is the sense of giving someone a lift during their day, bringing a little comfort food into a rough world—and one thing I’ve learned is that yes, horror can totally be comfort food."

He also explained what kind of spooky stories he likes to share on the podcast. "All my stories are fictional, but the fears I write about are always very real," Soren explained. "I’m trying to come up with a slightly different take on traditional horror tropes every time, and unless I think of that new take, I try not to write at all."

"I think maybe my favorite story I’ve done in recent years might be 'The Smoke Child', about an old legend possibly/maybe emerging into the modern day to wreak havoc," Soren shared. "It’s got plenty of fear-of-what’s-out-there-in-the-dark stuff, which is the only really scary thing I’ve experienced personally—the very traditional and ever-persistent trepidation of not knowing what the dark holds."

We were also curious what Soren's take was on why we're so drawn to horror stories. "I’m 90% certain the reason we love horror is because it gives us a safe brush with death that we can jump back from safely and laugh about later. If that’s not the reason, then the human mind is even stranger than I think," he told Bored Panda.

Soren is also a fan of haunted houses, so if any of you pandas out there stage haunted house attractions, take note. "I have to say I’m totally digging three things: The laser effect that makes it seem like you’re up to your waist in mist; anytime you have to walk through the interior of a spooky bus; the rotating tunnel effect, which messes with my balance every time. But can we give clowns an amnesty for just one year maybe...?"

If you're looking for something frightening to listen to to get in the spooky season mood (or all year round!) be sure to check out Soren's podcast Knifepoint Horror right here.

In our daily lives, most of us don’t go out seeking horrifying experiences, but when it comes to the media we consume, many of us love true crime documentaries that are too unbelievable to be true and horror films that make us scared to turn out the lights. Just look at the Jeffrey Dahmer series that recently hit Netflix and has already become the streaming site’s second most watched series ever. But why do we have such an insatiable appetite for spooky and scary?

According to psychologists, there are several common explanations for why we are drawn to the scary and unsettling. Horror scholar Mathias Clasen believes that part of our fascination can be traced back to the fact that our ancient ancestors experienced constant danger in the environments that they lived in. They were required to be vigilant at all times just to stay alive, which has allowed us to evolve with excellent threat-detection systems. While most of us don’t encounter real threats every day, it can be fun for us to stimulate that ancient part of us that did and live vicariously through other characters. We might enjoy considering how we would react in their situations and wondering if we would be able to make it out alive.

One of the earliest psychological theories used to explain why we love being scared so much is Dolf Zillmann’s excitation transfer theory. Essentially, this theory states that horror media increases our levels of physiological arousal, due to the fear that it causes, and then after the viewing experience has ended, the relief we experience causes a euphoric high. There are studies to confirm this theory as well, at least for men. One found that the more distressed male viewers became while watching a scary movie, the happier they felt after finishing the film. Catharsis is a powerful thing, and if you’ve been sitting in a movie theater building up tension for 2 and a half hours, it might feel pretty good to finally know that you made it out safely and unscathed, and you have nothing to fear anymore.   

Another potential reason we love horror is the idea of exploring a dark side of humanity. We are naturally curious about what we don’t understand, and it can be fascinating to hear a story that is so disturbing we could have never dreamed it up ourselves. Stories of ghosts, ghouls, murderers and evil in general are captivating because, thankfully, most of us have no experiences with those things in real life that lead us to believe we should actually be scared of them. They don’t usually feel real; they just feel exciting. 

Not everyone is equally excited by horror stories, though. Some of us are more drawn to frightening tales than others. Various studies have found that people who are high in the trait of sensation seeking are more likely to enjoy a horror film than those who often avoid novel, risky or intense experiences. People with lower empathy levels also usually appreciate a horrifying tale more than those who are highly empathetic. That does not mean that empathetic people hate scary movies or that only psychopaths like watching them, but the experience of seeing a frightening film can be more painful for people who easily put themselves into the characters’ shoes.

Contrary to what many people might assume, consuming horror media can actually be therapeutic. You might not feel the same way if you find yourself squeezing your eyes shut when walking through a haunted house or if spending an evening watching scary movies sounds like your absolute nightmare, but according to one study, people who frequently watched horror movies were less psychologically distressed by the pandemic. People who were fans of the apocalyptic subgenre of horror also felt more prepared for the additional waves of pandemic. Apparently, people who are familiar with being exposed to horror and fear develop the ability to cope with stressful and anxiety-inducing situations.  

According to Irving Biederman, a specialist in cognitive neuroscience and a Professor of Neuroscience at USC, being scared can be exciting and addictive. “We like novelty, something that departs from our everyday experience,” he told USC News. “Some of the attraction of being scared comes from the deviation of having a new experience that we know is safe.” But we have to understand that what we’re witnessing is not real, otherwise we won’t gain any enjoyment from it. “Your amygdala will give you a fear response, an avoidance response to stay away from something that is legitimately frightful,” Biederman explained. “So, for a child, going to one of these haunted houses could be truly scary.”

What we find most frightening also provides some insight into our societies. Tok Thompson, an associate professor of anthropology and communication at USC Dornsife, explained that each generation and culture will create monsters that are most relevant to their fears. “There’s an interesting role these monsters play in shaping our cultures,” he told USC News. “And people are constantly reinventing these stories to talk about what they fear and are haunted by.” Thompson notes how in recent years, evil robots and internet monsters, like Slender Man and shows like Black Mirror, have been on the rise. “When these new monsters come up, that shows you people aren’t too sure about some of this new technology, that maybe there is something to be frightened about.”

Have you learned some terrifying fun facts that you’re going to share on Halloween night with a flashlight illuminating your face? We hope you’re enjoying this creepy and disturbing list. Keep upvoting the facts you find most shocking, and feel free to share any of your own in the comments. Then if you’re looking for even more spooky season content, don’t forget to check out a previous Bored Panda article featuring haunting facts right here.