95 Creepy Pictures Of The Past, As Shared By This Online Group (New Pics)

Chills run down your spine, the little hairs standing up as if to applaud a wonderful performance, all the while a beating drum plays in your ears, your heart picking up the pace. You stare unblinkingly, eyes wide, forehead scrunched up in flustered unknowing. Should you run? Should you hide? Should their smile be as wide? 

A sense of the creeps is both unsettling and intriguing. It brings forth a sense of morbid curiosity, leading into a dark hole that is difficult to escape from. And so, dear readers, Bored Panda’s back to bring you more of the creepiest pictures from the recent past, as shared by the Reddit community called Creepy Old Pics

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They’re joyful, they’re satisfying, and they make you question the reality you live in. What could be better? Make sure to upvote your favorites as you’re scrolling through this list. What’s the creepiest thing you’ve ever seen? Let us know in the comments below! But now, grab your teddy bear, turn off the lights, and let’s get into it!  

More info: Reddit 

#1 Still From British Movie “First Men On The Moon” From 1919. Now A Lost Film

Image credits: Feiruzz

The past holds a lot of lessons and a lot of nostalgia, but there’s something about the pictures shared on r/oldschoolcreepy that make you do a double take, realizing the amount of disturbing yet oddly fascinating things our ancestors partook in. Such as having demons sitting on you whilst you sleep halfway off your bed. Seems like this would give you a sore back, love…

However, ‘creepy’ doesn’t mean the same thing as ‘scary,’ although they belong to the same family of feelings. So what actually defines the sensations we get when we look at these pictures: the limbo between deciding whether to fight, fly, or just ignore and move on with life? To answer this, we need to hit the history books (not literally). 

#2 On The Feast Of St. Nicholas In The Town Of Bad Mitterndorf, Austria. St Nicholas Parades Through The Village On A White Horse Followed By The Krampus, Who Warn The Kids To Be Good, Or Else

Image credits: JankCranky

#3 A Baby Found During The Clean Up Of The Chernobyl Accident Is Pushed In A Carriage By A Liquidator, 1986

Image credits: keeperofthecan

Charles Dickens is credited with the first use of the phrase “the creeps” in his 1849 novel David Copperfield, to mean an unpleasant, tingly chill up the spine. The phrasing of such feelings quickly caught on in society, with psychologists and thinkers of the time putting on their thinking hats to try and figure out the core of creepiness, as well as its existential value. 

Ernst Jentsch set out the concept of the uncanny, which was later elaborated on by Sigmund Freud in his 1919 essay ‘Das Unheimliche,’ which explores the eeriness of dolls and waxworks. For Freud, the uncanny locates the strangeness in the ordinary. What does that mean exactly? Well, let’s dive deeper. 

#4 She Waits For The Second Coming

Image credits: PleasantChaos0_0

#5 My Wife Grew Up Staring At This Picture. No One Can Remember If There Was A Person Behind The Kids, Or A Trick Of The Light

Image credits: Kombucha_drunk

#6 1930’s Baby Rattle

Image credits: carmensax

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One of the most recent studies conducted was by Frank McAndrew, professor of psychology at Knox College in Illinois. He decided to explore the boundaries of this very familiar feeling by conducting a preliminary survey, which asked more than 1,300 people “what is creepy?” Surprisingly, the answers were fairly straightforward. 

Subjects felt more creeped out when a person was not able to follow social norms and cues, with the biggest factor of whether someone was considered creepy being unpredictability. “So much of [what is creepy] is about wanting to be able to predict what’s going to happen, and that’s why creepy people creep us out—because they’re unpredictable,” explained McAndrew. 

“It’s about the uncertainty of threat. You’re feeling uneasy because you think there might be something to worry about here, but the signals are not clear enough to warrant you doing some sort of desperate, life-saving kind of thing,” McAndrew stated, continuing to say that being creeped out is different from fear or revulsion. 

#7 New Year In A Psychiatric Hospital, Moscow, 1988. Photographer: Pavel Krivtsov

Image credits: Star_Ship_55

#8 My Grandpa And His Sister 1946

Image credits: SirSmokeALot4200

#9 The Twins That Inspired The Twins Of Tim Burton’s Miss Pergerine’s Home For Peculiar Children, C. 1900s

Image credits: MissNightTerrors

When you’re creeped out, your brain and your body are telling you that something is not quite right and you’d better pay attention because it might hurt you, as compared to feelings of fear/revulsion that manifest clear responses of fight, flight, freeze, and fawn, all thanks to hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. 

However, the physical sensations that come with the creeps sometimes mimic those of the spooks. In 2012, researchers from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands found that when subjects felt creeped out, they felt colder and believed that the temperature in the room had actually dropped. The chills anyone? 

That physical response further heightens your senses and, as McAndrew stated, “You don’t know how to act but you’re really concerned about getting more information… It kind of takes your attention and focuses it like a laser on this particular stimulus, whatever it is.”

#10 Department Store Mannequins Wearing Disney Character Costumes, 1937

Image credits: cosmicmoods

#11 Old Photo Of (Twins? Sisters?) With One Scratched Out. Cant Help But Wonder At The Context – Likely Late 1800’s Early 1900’s

Image credits: gwynsbooty

#12 Penny Auction At Foreclosed Michigan Farm (1936). At Penny Auctions Farmers Would Conspire To Offer Low Bids, Resulting In A Low Return To The Creditor. The Final Buyer Would Then Return The Property To The Destitute Farmer Hangman Nooses Served As A Warning To Squirrely Bidders

Image credits: carmensax

From a developmental perspective, this sort of deduction could be useful in elongating our existence. McAndrew explained: “We’re predisposed to see willful agents that mean us harm in situations that are ambiguous, but this was an adaptive thing to do. Our ancestors saw a saber-toothed tiger in every shadow and a slithering snake in the motion of the swaying grass because it was better to be safe than sorry.” 

Therefore, we avoid things that give us the chills. Unless, of course, we’re playacting as such, similarly to the way we enjoy horror films. “It’s going to trigger a lot of things that scare and startle you, but deep down you know there’s no danger,” McAndrew said. “You can have all the creepy biological sensations without any real risk.” 

However, humans have proven time and time again that we can’t fully trust our judgment. Psychologist Julia Shaw argues that, when it comes to creepiness, one important feature to note is attractiveness. People that are conventionally attractive are seen as trustworthy overall, which, as we’ve seen in the cases of Ted Bundy and Richard Ramirez, is a very big oversight. 

#13 Patient Brutally Restrained In A Mental Institution, France Circa 1900

Image credits: Runoco

#14 This Isn’t How It Looked In My Memory-1980s

Image credits: LoneShark81

#15 Vibration Therapy, A Treatment For Headaches In The 1890s

Image credits: Torquemada1970

Should we or should we not trust our feelings of the jeepers creepers? It depends on your situation, but I will always say, a gut feeling is not one to be ignored. But for now, dear reader, I hope you’re safe and sound, snuggled under some blankets with a hot cup of cocoa, enjoying these creepy pictures.

Don’t forget to upvote the spookiest ones, and I shall see you in the next one! Have a good one! 

#16 Cleaning Day At A Church In Leipzig, Germany (1920)

Image credits: reddit.com

#17 Dressed As The Michelin Man, Pre -1920s

Image credits: MissNightTerrors

#18 Bizarre Old School Disney Cosumes

Image credits: WhoAmIToday451

#19 Colorized Photo Of Rasputin With Tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna, Her Children And Their Nurse, 1908

Image credits: Star_Ship_55

#20 A Trio Of Contortionists, London 1894

Image credits: Star_Ship_55

#21 Austro-Hungarian Sailors Wearing Anti-Flash Protection Gear, Designed To Protect The Wearer From Short-Duration Flame Exposure And Heat, 1916

Image credits: Star_Ship_55

#22 Three French Circus Performers From Around 1900-1930

Image credits: Star_Ship_55

#23 Santa Got Ahold Of The Good Snow This Year

Image credits: PleasantChaos0_0

#24 “Man Shrouded In A Cloak Standing On A Tiled Floor” From The Clonbrock Collection Circa 1890

Image credits: Hermitically

#25 Found This Old Photo Inside The Wall In The Attic

Image credits: Kosmosaik

#26 Not Sure What Was Going On Here

Image credits: jasonvoorhees2582

#27 Jacob Miller (1829-1917), Shot In The Head At Chickamauga In 1863 And Walked It Off

Image credits: Star_Ship_55

#28 Strange Picture Of A Girl & Her Doll

Image credits: Valkyria1968

#29 “Peregrinación” By Graciela Iturbide. Chalma, 1984

Image credits: Star_Ship_55

#30 Father And His Twin Sister, Halloween Early 50’s

Image credits: alcobain1967

#31 Lon Chaney In ”he Who Gets Slapped” (1924)

Image credits: Pleasant-Medicine739

#32 Ted Bundy With Carol Bartholomew As He Helped With The Dishes After A Birthday Party, 1975

Image credits: JankCranky

#33 Old Halloween Photo

Image credits: gghostwiththemost

#34 Violet “Queen Of Sinking Ships” Jessop Who Was On The Olympic When It Crashed, Titanic When It Hit An Iceberg, And The Britannic When A Mine Sank It, All Within The Span Of 5 Years. Coincidence?

Image credits: chomskyhonk69

#35 Bad Santa

Image credits: mistermajik2000

#36 The Original Cast Of J.b. Priestley’s 1939 Play “Johnson Over Jordan”. It Is About A Dead Man Looking Over His Life From Limbo, And Requires The Cast To Wear Elaborate Masks

Image credits: Star_Ship_55

#37 The Catholic Church With The Nazi Third Reich

Image credits: reddit.com

#38 The Michelin Man

Image credits: byrobot

#39 Reminds Me Of The Shining… 1910s

Image credits: MissNightTerrors

#40 I Wouldn’t Want To Find Myself Driving Next To This Unholy Trinity, Caught On Film In 1938

Image credits: MissNightTerrors

#41 1957

Image credits: Elron-Cupboard

#42 Portrait Of The Dancer/Choregrapher, Bronislava Nijinska By Man Ray. 1922

Image credits: Familiar_Big3322

#43 Disney Sends This Guy Out Everytime Some Kid Talks About Bruno

Image credits: PleasantChaos0_0

#44 Glasgow School Of Art Student Performance – Early 1900s

Image credits: Star_Ship_55

#45 Mole People?

Image credits: Pleasant-Medicine739

#46 A Suffragette Is Force-Fed In Hm Prison Holloway In The UK During Hunger Strikes For Women’s Suffrage, Circa 1911

Image credits: Scaulbylausis

#47 Prussian Landwehrmann Tanning Rat Skins In A Dugout During Wwi. C. 1914-1916

Image credits: DiosMioMan63

#48 Denken Sie An Die Kinder

Image credits: Familiar_Big3322

#49 Barney At One Of My Birthday Parties In The 90s

Image credits: goodomensupply

#50 ‘andor Weininger As Clown’ (Name Of The Photograph, Taken By Irene Bayer-Hecht), 1926

Image credits: MissNightTerrors

#51 Psychiatric Asylum – Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA (1870)

Image credits: gghostwiththemost

#52 Older Picture Of A Clown Giving Us The Kubrick Stare Is A Bit Unnerving

Image credits: jacks_Paranoia

#53 Circus Clown, 1934

Image credits: justchuck1070

#54 ?????????

Image credits: Familiar_Big3322

#55 My Grandmother Was Once Hunted By Ed Gein

Image credits: Proximity

#56 Roger Waters, 1980’s

Image credits: gaycuddling

#57 ? I Thought He Liked Shakes. ?

Image credits: Texas1971

#58 Model Of A Plague Doctor

Image credits: chubachus

#59 Old Ronny

Image credits: Frallallerofrallalla

#60 Audrey Hepburn Photographed By Richard Avedon In New York, 1967

Image credits: MissNightTerrors

#61 Weird Pumpkin Dude (From The Pearl And The Pumpkin)

Image credits: Ok-Scale1423

#62 Pagan Dancers From Stravinsky’s Rite Of Spring, 1913

Image credits: alinearis

#63 The Mask Worn By Edward Paisnel, The Notorious ‘Beast Of Jersey’ When Attacking His Victims, C 1957

Image credits: MissNightTerrors

#64 Baby Cage – 1934

Image credits: Familiar_Big3322

#65 My Guy Aint Mcfrickin’ Around

Image credits: PleasantChaos0_0

#66 Go To Sleep….if You Can

Image credits: Pleasant-Medicine739

#67 The Kamloops Indian Residential School Ran By The Catholic Church (1937)

Image credits: reddit.com

#68 Halloween ‘77 ?

Image credits: Texas1971

#69 Mickey Mouse Club House Just Got A Whole Lot Sexier Guys 😉

Image credits: jacks_Paranoia

#70 Creepster Bunny

Image credits: who_ate_my_brownie

#71 The Snake Woman Saite Layton, Cole Bros. Circus, 1947

Image credits: hapax_legomenon_v1

#72 Scarecrows Playing Football, 1976

Image credits: Star_Ship_55

#73 “A Woman Fast Asleep With Her Head Hanging Down, A Devil Is Sitting On Her Stomach And A Horse Peeps Through A Curtain; Representing Her Nightmare. Stipple Engraving By M.j. Schmidt After J.h. Füssli (Fuseli).”

Image credits: chubachus

#74 First {known} Photo Of A Human

Image credits: Upper-Hour5631

#75 Supper Heroes

Image credits: Texas1971

#76 Buster Brown Ad, 1907

Image credits: TopangaTiki

#77 Ay, What The Frog Doin? Haha, Funny Vine Joke. I’m Sorry For That

Image credits: jacks_Paranoia

#78 Child Labor Workers In The Early 1900’s ;

Image credits: Valkyria1968

#79 Cleaning Out My Grandma’s House – Some Old Halloween Costumes

Image credits: TheDivine_MissN

#80 Diane Arbus: ‘Child With A Hand Grenade, Central Park’, 1962

Image credits: MissNightTerrors

#81 A Photo By Charles Van Schaick, Taken In A Small Turn-Of-The-Century Wisconsin Town

Image credits: Crepuscular_Animal

#82 The ‘Face’ We Show The World

Image credits: Valkyria1968

#83 Children Reaping The Harvest. Finland, 1930s. [563×725]

Image credits: flora-clara

#84 Getting Wet Feet?

Image credits: arne_dev

#85 A Very Unsettling Ticket Booth At Casino Pier In Seaside Heights, New Jersey (1978)

Image credits: TheBitterSeason

#86 My Face When The Cereal Hits Different

Image credits: jacks_Paranoia

#87 Dripping Dolls’s Heads In A Factory, Photographed By Merlyn Severn, 1947

Image credits: MissNightTerrors

#88 Adorable Then, Terrifying Now

Image credits: Texas1971

#89 Sad…..pic From Circa 1948

Image credits: Valkyria1968

#90 Bookmark Promoting The Novel *666* By *amityville Horror* Author Jay Anson. 1980

Image credits: invasiveorgan

#91 A Sign Featuring A Grinning Peanut Is Held Up By A Jimmy Carter Supporter At The 1976 Democratic National Convention

Image credits: TheBitterSeason

#92 The Tinman, Dorothy, And The Scarecrow From The 1902 Stage Production Of The Wizard Of Oz

Image credits: Ok-Scale1423

#93 Police Search Through Serial Killers Leonard Lake And Charles Ng’s Property In Wilseyville, June 1985. The Bunker/Dungeon Where The Female Victims Were Held Is On The Right. Ng Was Already On The Run By Then As Lake Was Already Dead From Swallowing Cyanide While In Police Custody

Image credits: Chrislondo110

#94 Mark Coulthurst Stands On The Bow Of His Boat, The Investor, Early September 1982. After This Picture Was Taken, He Along With His Wife, Children And Four Crewmen Would Be Later Killed During The Night Of The 5th. Then The Boat Was Soon Found Engulfed In Flames Once The Fog Had Cleared

Image credits: Chrislondo110

#95 Some Family Members From Way Back In The Day!!

Image credits: RealRobc2582

Source: boredpanda.com

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