If you think that the horror genre is at its strongest right now, you might be surprised by what you find by looking further back in time. Black-and-white photography used to be wild in the past, and some of the images evoke such a strong aura of dread and fear that they’ve become iconic.
‘Happy Weird Day’ is a niche Instagram account that curates some of the strangest photos ever taken throughout history. We’re featuring some of the most bizarre, creepy, and unsettling ones to show you that fear can wear many masks. Keep scrolling to take a trip down the uncanny valley and to spook yourself out. Just be sure to grab a vial of holy water first.
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Alfred Hitchcock. Made some good films. Also harassed a lot of his leading ladies.
What's racist? I see a guy with a puppet. Oh wait there's a white person so, it has to be racist, oh okay sure
Josephine Myrtle Corbin, born 1868, had a condition known as "dipygus". She married, and had five children, although only one survived infancy. She dǐed in 1928.
When his mum called him a little monkey, she wasn't speaking metaphorically
These were a fad in the '50s designed to keep city dirt away from your complexion.
Hollywood publicity photo. There were guys who were paid to think this stuff up.
George and his friends tried a desperate last attempt to start his aging ford....
Even the Kremlin wasn't immune to the great flatulence plague of 1932
Experiment showing how electricity can cause muscles to contract.
Famous photograph of "Stanley" by Roger Ballen. He captured real people in marginalized communities in South Africa during apartheid. Such haunting images.
Is it the law that all ventriloquist dummies have to be nightmare fuel?
Sure, just like the movie Batman & Robin. You can see the nipples you don't want. And not see the nipples you do want.
The saw has likely been added to the picture to show that the child is a boy. It was fairly common to add a masculine toy into the picture for this purpose... the saw is pretty unusual, however. Little boys wore dresses into the first part of the twentieth century.
Old movie still. If I remember correctly this had Peter Graves in it.
Vincent Price? Does anyone know what the film was? Instagram wants my personal details just to try to reference these pics!
I think I saw this man on the Jerry Springer show, wearing a nappy.
Best legs or similar contest. They don't want the judges distracted by the women's faces. Glad this is mostly a thing of the past.
Phineas eventually found a way to enjoy the smell of his own farts without annoying everyone else
The hand print on the wall is probably the strangest thing in this photo....
Recognise this one.... A still from the 1989 avant-garde horror movie, Begotten. 100% would not recommend, unless you have a 2 litre bottle of eye bleach and a scouring pad. Number 2 on my list of movies I regret watching. Once seen, never forgotten!!
Watership Down, the play. Not sure which one was supposed to be Fiver.
Half of these are mostly because until the mid '60s we didn't buy costumes for Halloween, you made them; the others could do with a bit of explanation.
Also early photographers liked a bit of photo trickery, it's not something that just became popular with photoshop. The others mostly seem to be from old films.
Load More Replies...I think it's an uncanny valley thing, which is stronger because it's unfamiliar for us.
Load More Replies...Half of these are mostly because until the mid '60s we didn't buy costumes for Halloween, you made them; the others could do with a bit of explanation.
Also early photographers liked a bit of photo trickery, it's not something that just became popular with photoshop. The others mostly seem to be from old films.
Load More Replies...I think it's an uncanny valley thing, which is stronger because it's unfamiliar for us.
Load More Replies...
