While there’s still a good chunk of the year left before we get to spook each other during Halloween or until another internet sensation like Skinamarink provokes a two-week-long bout of insomnia, the internet is not short of supply when it comes to oddly terrifying material.
If you’re one of those daredevils who takes great pleasure in horror films and reading creepypastas (alone in your apartment!), then you’ll be right at home in the Oddly Terrifying community. From mysterious fingerprints on one’s ceiling to creepy, abandoned churches in the middle of nowhere, this is pure nightmare fodder that will surely give you the heebie-jeebies. And in case someone asks, you’ll find us under a well-lit blanket coloring our mandalas, trying to return to our happy place. Hopefully, there’s no creepy forests on the way back.
#1 Astronaut Bruce Mccandless II Floats Completely Untethered, Away From The Safety Of The Space Shuttle, With Nothing But His Manned Maneuvering Unit Keeping Him Alive. The First Person In History To Do So
Under the glass case inside a trapper’s store called the Banff Indian Trader Shop, an unsuspecting-looking wooden cabin located at the edge of Banff, Alberta, lies a mysterious creature. A half-fish, half-terrifying “man-beast of the seven seas,”presumablycaught in the waters of Fiji in the 18th century.
In broad daylight, this mummified monstrosity looks exactly what it sounds like: a dried-up monkey stitched up on top of a giant fishà lamerman. Something you’d imagine a 16th-century sailor spinning tall tales about to scare the bejeezus out of other sailors. And sure, it looks kind of comical under normal circumstances.
But leave me alone with it in the wee hours, and I’m pretty sure you’d find me rocking back and forth with my arms around my knees. Even though it was probably me and no one else who decided to go seek out this monstrosity, despite the possibility of a sleepless night – something that r/oddlyterrifying is excellent at, often making others like myself question why we come back here time and time again in the first place.
#2 A Month Ago I Became Friends With A Crow. Today He Brought Me The Skull Of Another Crow
Created in 2013, a few years after creepypasta’s Slenderman took internet by the storm, r/oddlyterrifying today boasts 2.6 million community members, ranking among the top subreddits for horror-related content. Honestly, it’s not difficult to see the appeal, since there’s only a few (safe) places on the net where people can act both as digital curatorsandconsumers of a cornucopia of spine-tingling, possibly cursed imagery.
Of course, considering that71% of Americansunder the age of 35 enjoy scary movies, it’s not entirely surprising why some horror enthusiasts might look for an extra thrill either on r/creepypasta or its frightening cousin, r/oddlyterrifying.
#3 I Don’t Know About You, But This Feels Weird
#4 This Ad From 1996 Was Prophetic
#5 Hi There
According to acclaimed horror novelist Stephen King, horror films often act as a “barometer of the societal anxieties that plague our collective subconscious.” While this perspective may romanticize the genre, Clark McCauley, a research professor of psychology, suggests that one prevalent reason why young adults, particularly men, seek the thrills of horror movies is to display their courage and bravado.
“Young males often compete to watch horror, to show ‘I can take it,'” McCauley explained to We in an email, noting that desensitization to feelings of disgust tends to occur faster than desensitization to feelings of arousal, leading to an increased fondness for horror among this demographic (which statistically ranges between 15-25).
#6 Chicago Metra Up-N Track, Carries 34,000 Passengers On 70 Trains Across This Bridge Every Day
#7 Civilians Taking Care Of Zoo Animals In Their Own Homes During WWII
#8 When A Kangaroo Feels Threatened, It’ll Submerge Itself Chest Deep In Body Of Water To Lure In The Threat, Then It Will Ferociously Drown It By Holding Its Head Underwater And Biting It Until They’re No Longer Putting Up A Fight
In his 1998 essay ‘When Screen Violence Is Not Attractive,’ McCauley argues that there are two key factors that influence the enjoyment of horror films (but are not limited to moving pictures). “First is that enjoyment of horror depends not upon the balance of positive and negative emotions elicited,” he wrote, “but rather upon excitement and involvement that can be associated with either positive or negative emotions.”
#9 The “Snow” In The Wizard Of Oz Movie Was 100% Pure Asbestos
#10 A Woman’s Glove From 1850’s In London, Used For Self-Defence
#11 My Friend Is A Bus Driver In Portland, Or And Sent Me This
Fear, it seems, holds as much significance in human existence as basic needs like food and water, manifesting itself in various forms such as movies, roller coasters, and unexpected tragedies. Or, in our case, the chilling images on r/oddlyterrifying.
The ability of these uncanny images to provoke reactions, then, suggests that our response to them is influenced more by our individual identities than the authenticity of the images themselves. In other words: there’s nothing wrong with you, whether you seek folkloric 18th-century mummified monstrosities or stare at the darkly-lit abyss that is r/oddlyterrifying for cheap thrills.
#12 A Friend’s Printer Broke, Here’s The Result Of Him Printing Off A Picture Of Nicolas Cage
#13 The Human Eye
#14 Thought I Heard A Noise Coming From Outside My Window A Few Nights Ago But Brushed It Off. Noticed This This Morning
#15 An Octopus With 32 Tentacles Found Off The Coasts Of South Korea
#16 A Crocodile In Australia Was Caught That Kept Eating Cattle
#17 A Rickety Old Foot Bridge Leading Into The Misty Distance
#18 Just Imagine What They’d Do To You
#19 Climber’s Shelter At The Middle Of A Cliff
#20 Microscopic Image Of A Tape Worms Head
#21 Signature Evolution In Alzheimer’s Disease
#22 This Foot Two Days After A Rattlesnake Bite
#23 And Those Are Just The Ones The Tape Caught
#24 What Rat They See That They Had To Make These?
#25 This Post Box
#26 Manute Bol, Tallest Ever Nba Player (7’7″), Swimming
#27 Weird “Are You Dreaming” Sign Found In Psychologist Waiting Room
#28 The Italian Fascist Party’s Headquarters (1934)
#29 A Drained Swamp. Really Pretty But Kinda Creepy
#30 Kidney Stone Surface As Seen In An Electron Microscope
#31 Fortune Cookie
#32 Graffiti Artists Tagging A Bridge In Mexico
#33 Basalmic Vinegar Is Not An Appropriate Substitute For Poached Eggs If You’re Out Of White Vinegar
#34 My Walk Home
#35 TV Turned Itself On At 3am To ‘Update’. This Was The Loading Screen
#36 Archaeologists Discovered The Claws Of A Moa, A Bird That Went Extinct 700 – 800 Years Ago
#37 While Filming The Exorcist, Linda Blair Was Rigged To A Mechanical Bed That Shook Her So Violently She Fractured Her Spine. The Shot Was Used In The Final Film, And Her Screams Of Pain Were Real
#38 Apoica Wasp Nest
#39 Bodies Are Probably Infected. That’s My Guess
#40 This Dark Obelisk In The Desert
#41 Staying At My Grandmother’s House For A Bit, Opened Up The Toilet And Was Greeted By This
#42 Nope It’s Not A Skull It’s A Fly Infected By Cordyceps Fungus
#43 Someone Anonymously Sent This To My Neighbor
#44 The Skull Of Mary Magdalene In St Maximin Basilica In France
#45 Robe And Axe Of Giovanni Battista Bugatti, Who Was The Official Executioner For The Papal States From 1796 To 1864. During His Tenure He Executed 514 People
#46 My (28f) Spine
#47 Baby Mute
#48 Michael Jackson’s Bedroom When He Died Had Target Ads Of Babies He Didn’t Know
#49 This Is Demodex Folliculorum. Right Now There Are 6 Of These On Each One Of You Eyebrows Hair Follicles
#50 Found My Old Teeth When Visiting My Parents (I’m 33)
