23 Vintage Photos That Are So Creepy That They'll Freak You Out While Giving You The Chills
Yes, there's a time for all things ghoulish and gory. Normally, Halloween is the ideal season for baking delectable fall delicacies and horror movie marathons.
It's also the ideal time to read through some genuinely unsettling old photographs and relive some of the spooky customs, terrifying crimes, and terrifying fears from bygone eras. It's clear that humans have always been a somewhat peculiar species.
Some people might believe that the development of the Internet and technological advancements are to blame for the downfall of humanity. But these images are here to prove otherwise.
These antique photos tell a lot about the past, from the practice of "spirit photography," which was a camera trick used to record pseudo-paranormal images, to images that may arouse a variety of phobias. Of course, a journey down memory lane wouldn't be complete without revisiting the very disturbing practice of post-mortem photography, in which families would pose with their departed loved ones.
These spooky old photos catch it all, one spooky frame at a time. So don't be in a rush because these creepy vintage photos are going to nowhere until they send chills down your spine.
Go right ahead and keep scrolling to check them out.
1. Salvador Dali embracing the weirdness we have all felt at one time or another
Charles Hewitt/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images2. An expertly taken “ghost” photo by a particular enthusiast…
FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images3. Some tribes sharpen and file down their teeth…
The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images4. Horrifying (and nearly fatal) facial injuries to a German soldier in World War I
Universal History Archive/Getty Images5. A photo from the Victorian era
Public Domain6. That is one huge crab
Robert W. Kelley/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images7. Either some kind of elephant trick…or moments before disaster?
ullstein bild / Getty Images
8. Max Factor takes precise measurements of a young woman’s head and face with his “Beauty Calibrator” (1932)
FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
9. The “human serpent” distracts other soldiers on the front (France, World War I, 1915)
Art Media/Print Collector/Getty Images
10. A mental hospital’s inmate, lost in his own mind
BSIP/UIG via Getty Images
11. A photograph of Will Thomas, taken by William Hope (1863-1933), with a ghost in the background (that they apparently really wanted to include)
SSPL/Getty Images
12. The New Year’s festival of the Sylvester Klause at Urnasch in the Appenzell region of Switzerland…which is full of its own kind of horror
Francois LE DIASCORN/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
13. A silent, suffering inmate of an insane asylum
Jerry Cooke/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
14. Well, they said this opera singer sounded just like a little bird
General Photographic Agency/Getty Images
15. When the circus visited a children’s hospital (circa 1930), clown Charlie Smith didn’t exactly make anyone feel better
FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
16. Victorian portraits
Public Domain
17. A man proudly sits with his severed head collection
Public Domain
18. The ghost wants to grab the man
Public Domain / Eugene Thiebault
19. The “giraffe women” of Burma
Harlingue/Roger Viollet/Getty Images
20. Still don't believe in witches?
Public Domain
21. A clown in a burnt-out house, USA, 1975
Jill Freedman/Getty Images
22. You can be useful even in death
Public Domain
23. We'll pass
Public Domain via wanganuilibrary.recollect.co.nz
Undoubtedly, the reason why monsters, ghouls, vampires, and ghosts are so unsettling is that they serve as a reminder of the human race. Recall that humans are among the strangest and most depraved species on earth.
Tell us what you think about this creepy collection in the comments section below and don't forget to share as well.
