Postmortem portraits, ghost photographs, and images of disfigured soldiers are just a few examples of photography from the past that might seem unsettling to modern viewers. The grainy and black-and-white aesthetic combined with the open acknowledgment of death and fascination with the supernatural world has produced many photos that now give off an eerie and disturbing feel.
For those who find this intriguing, we have a whole list of pictures from the past that are truly unsettling. Collected by the Old School Creepy subreddit, these images invite you to embark on a darker journey through history.
While you're scrolling through, don't forget to check out a conversation with moderators of this subreddit, nicknamed Seryan_Klythe and TheOddityCollector, who kindly agreed to chat with us more about old and unsettling photos.
#1 Behind The Scenes Of The Shining (1980)
Image credits: silvercatbob
#2 A Circus Performer In Germany C.1930, By Kurt Triest
Image credits: Star_Ship_55
#3 To Appear Headless While Taking A Photo, Known As "Horsemaning", Was A Popular Way To Pose In The 1920's
Image credits: silvercatbob
The Old School Creepy subreddit has been around since 2014, which means that it has invited people to share disturbing vintage pictures for more than a decade now! In this time, it managed to gather a community of 81K members—all fans of the creepy and spooky.
Bored Panda was lucky enough to get in touch with its moderators, who kindly agreed to tell us more about it.
"The subreddit was created for people who enjoy the eerie feeling of old photos. Unlike modern horror, old pictures can be creepy in a more subtle way—through strange expressions, outdated fashion, or imperfections in the photo itself," told us moderator TheOddityCollector.
#4 Behind The Scenes Of Max Reinhardt's 1935 Adaptation Of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
Image credits: silvercatbob
#5 Stills From The Very Druggish Children’s Show “H.r. Puffnstuff” From 1969
Image credits: SignorAlberto2022
#6 The Cabaret Of Hell , Paris, 1920s
Image credits: Quick_Presentation11
Its other moderator, nicknamed Seryan_Klythe, said that what fascinates them about disturbing vintage images the most is the fact that they were taken in the time of pre-technological standards and bare-bones inventions. "The world was different and saw things differently too. The fascination is part of understanding what was creepy to someone then was simplistic and played more with their blunt fascination to take things at face value or without the use of high-sophistication gimmickry."
#7 Apache Ghost Dance Ceremony, Taken By Edward Curtis Circa 1906
Image credits: Star_Ship_55
#8 Glazed Earthenware Rookwood Vase Featuring An Image Of A Skeleton, American, 1891
Image credits: chubachus
#9 A Boy On Krampus Shoulders During A Parade, Mitterndorf, Austria, 6th Of Dec 1949
Image credits: silvercatbob
Indeed, when people were taking postmortem photos with their loved ones, they weren't thinking that they were doing something morbid—they were just trying to capture a simple photo they could remember them by in the future.
When postmortem photography was popular, deaths were a frequent occurrence, which meant that many people, especially children, didn't have a photo taken of them while they were alive. So their relatives would usually take one after their passing.
#10 Martin Laurello, The Only Man Who Could Rotate His Head A Full 180 Degrees, 1930s
Image credits: Quick_Presentation11
#11 Photographed In 1880, Myrtle Corbin Was Born A 'Dipygus', Having Two Separately Functioning Pelvises And Four Legs. She Married And Had Five Children
Image credits: silvercatbob
#12 Parrot Costume
Image credits: byrobot
Having a trinket of a deceased loved one definitely wasn't a new thing by then. People would cut locks of hair from the dead and put them into lockets and rings or create death masks from wax. However, attitudes towards them and post-mortem photography have changed as our view of death has evolved.
Our comfort with corpses decreased as the funeral industry appeared, the government removed post-mortem care from family members, and hygiene and modern medicine helped people live longer.
#13 Art And Camera Magazine, 1952
Image credits: CelebManips
#14 Ventriloquist’s Family Portrait, 1950s
Image credits: mistermajik2000
#15 Actor Reggie Nadler Who Played The Vampire Kurt Barlow In Salem’s Lot, With Effects Mask From The Movie
Image credits: silvercatbob
What fascinates moderator Oddity Collector the most about old unsettling pictures is that they are able to show us a world that’s familiar but different. "The way people dressed, the way photos were taken, and the way time has changed them all add to the mystery. Some images weren’t meant to be scary, but they feel that way now, which makes them even more interesting."
#16 A Boy Named Rich Bundy In A Family Photo With His Brother, Ted, Before That Infamous Older Brother Was Caught
Image credits: Proximity
#17 My Mother In Law And Her Twin Sometime In The 60’s
Image credits: Vinbob123
#18 A Colorized Photo Of Grigori Rasputin With The Last Empress Of Russia And Her Five Children In 1908
Image credits: kooneecheewah
When asked what makes these pictures creepy in particular, moderators mention a mix of things: its focus, the subject, the color/mood, the original intent, strange expressions, and outdated medical or funeral practices. "Some photos have mistakes, like double exposures, that make them look ghostly without meaning to," said TheOddityCollector.
#19 With Father Christmas, 1920
Image credits: theanti_influencer75
#20 The “Lunatic Chair” Given To Patients Who Had Poor Behavior Or Wild Outbursts. Dutch Mental Hospital, 1938
Image credits: Several_Dream_368
#21 Edna Tichenor As 'Arachnida, The Human Spider' In Tod Browning's 1927 Silent Film The Show
Image credits: Star_Ship_55
81K people were drawn to the subreddit thanks to these unsettling and disturbing photos, so naturally we were curious to know what the moderators thought was the reason. "I think people are drawn to a life that existed without Photoshop, film effects and blunt macabre," said Seryan_Klythe.
"People love a good mystery, and these photos make us ask questions. Who are these people? What happened to them? Why does this image feel so unsettling? It’s a mix of history, curiosity, and a little bit of fear that keeps people coming back," concluded Oddity Collector.
#22 Children Going To A 12-Hour Night Shift In The United States, 1908
Image credits: silvercatbob
#23 Written On The Back: "Excuse Our Backs, Our Faces Are Dirty" (C.1899)
Image credits: Star_Ship_55
#24 The "Double Exposure Girl"... A Haunting Photo Of A Girl Shot In Double Exposure [date Unknown]
Image credits: WyldGyrl86
#25 My God, These Halloween Masks From The 1920s Are Scaring The Crap Out Of Me!
Image credits: 09997512
#26 ‘Fatso And Thin Man’— A Circus Act From Around The 1890s
Image credits: HelloSlowly
#27 Frankenstein (1931)
Image credits: Quick_Presentation11
#28 Dogon Stilt Dancers In Bandiagara, Mali, 70s, By James Morris
Image credits: Naive-Pen8171
#29 9-Year-Old Child Bride Eunice Winstead Johns And Her Husband, 22-Year-Old Charlie Johns, Sneedville, Tennessee, United States. 1937
Image credits: TheOddityCollector
#30 A Young Woman Writing A Thank You Note To Her Boyfriend In The Navy For The Skull Of A Japanese Soldier That He Sent, 1944
Image credits: HelloSlowly
#31 "The Temptation Of St Anthony." Oil Painting By Joos Van Craesbeeck, C. 1650
Image credits: chubachus
#32 My Father, Halloween, 1940s
Image credits: JordySkateboardy808
#33 The Original Ronald Mcdonald 1963
Image credits: MalibuHulaDuck
#34 Mr. Peanut In Times Square. Diane Arbus. 1956
Image credits: byrobot
#35 A Newspaper Clipping From Harper's Weekly. Jefferson Davis Is Portrayed With Deathly Eyes, Reaping Plants With Skulls On Them With A Sickle. Underneath Him Is A Snake And Above Him Is A Twisted Bare Tree With A Vulture Perched On It And A Noose Hanging From It. 10-26-1861
Image credits: reddit.com
#36 Man Carries (Mounted) Head On Wheelbarrow - C. 1910
Image credits: Star_Ship_55
#37 At 4:31 Am, An Unauthorized Photo Taken Of Stalin Inside Of The Kremlin Shows The Very Moment He Was Informed That Germany Had Began Their Invasion Of The Soviet Union
Image credits: silvercatbob
#38 Wakefield, Massachusetts. Young Members Of The Payro Family Being “Photographed” By Their Cat, 1909. Photo By Joseph C. Payro
Image credits: reddit.com
#39 Abandoned Artists House
Image credits: King_Of_Exploring
#40 ' Natural Creeping Baby Doll' Created By George Pemberton Clarke, 1871
Image credits: CelebManips
#41 These Old Toys My Friend Inherited From His Grandfather
Image credits: JankCranky
#42 "Scenes Of Witchcraft: Morning." Oil Painting By Salvator Rosa, C. 1645-1649
Image credits: chubachus
#43 Mr Noseybonk From UK Children's TV Show Jigsaw Shown In The Early 80s
Image credits: unashamedaquaphile
#44 Hedy Pfundmayr With Elektra-Mask, By Rudolf Koppitz, C. 1928
Image credits: Star_Ship_55
#45 Come Play With Us, Mickey……
Image credits: Texas1971
#46 Leslie Caron As The Sphinx In Roland Petit’s Ballet “La Rencontre," 1948
Image credits: Star_Ship_55
#47 The Real Dracula's Castle In Transylvania, Romania. Photo Taken In 1920s
Image credits: silvercatbob
#48 This Pork & Beans Set Up Is True Nightmare Fuel
Image credits: AxlCobainVedder
#49 Abandoned Mansion In The Forest
Image credits: stevejollifee
#50 Untitled (Carnaval De Huejotzingo, Puebla), 1941, By Kati Horna
Image credits: Star_Ship_55
#51 A Passing Woman Waves To A Baby In Her Cage, 1948. The Portable Baby Cage Was Patented In 1922 And Popular In Us & UK To Hang From Urban Windows Until Dwindling In The Later-1960s
Image credits: MalibuHulaDuck
#52 The Last Picture Of Vladimir Lenin Before He Died In Gorki On May 15, 1923. Beside Him Are His Sister And One Of His Doctors
Image credits: World-Tight
#53 This Mask At The Field Museum In Chicago
Image credits: reddit.com
#54 A "Two-Faced" Doll, C.1920
Image credits: Star_Ship_55
#55 An Ostrich Carriage Being Stopped By The Police For Crossing The Speed Limit, Los Angeles, 1930
Image credits: silvercatbob
#56 Photo Of Serial Killer Jeffrey Dahmer At High School With A Fellow Student
Image credits: silvercatbob
#57 Jimmy Savile Meets The Beatles
Image credits: BirthdayBoyStabMan
#58 'Halloween', Rosalind Simon, 1977
Image credits: Star_Ship_55
#59 Children Like Sanitol - Creepy Ad For Toothpaste [1911]
Image credits: SignorAlberto2022
#60 March Hares, C.1910
Image credits: CelebManips
#61 Paul Neagu At The Neolithic Stone Circle Of Calanais, 1975
Image credits: Star_Ship_55
#62 Recently Found This Random Photo Of Jerry Sandusky At My Parents House
Image credits: reddit.com
#63 Abandoned 1990’s Time Capsule Bar
Image credits: crad412
#64 Carved Ivory Memento Mori Sculpture Featuring The Face And Skull Of A Monk, C. 1525-1550
Image credits: chubachus
#65 Pewter Chamberstick Partly In The Shape Of A Head, German, C. 1905
Image credits: chubachus
#66 Plaster Phrenological Bust, English, 1821
Image credits: chubachus
#67 Those Poor Children
Image credits: Texas1971
#68 "No Substitution." The January/February Page From The Antikamnia Pharmaceutical Company's Calendar From 1900. Lithograph By Louis Crusius
Image credits: chubachus
#69 Painted Cast Iron Coin Bank Shaped As A Man Stuck In A Barrel, C. 1890. Coins Are Deposited In The Figure's Mouth
Image credits: chubachus
#70 Freckles Removal Treatment From The 1930s
Image credits: silvercatbob
#71 Came Across This Creepy Clown Painting In A Thrift Store A While Back
Image credits: chubachus
