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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One of the main reasons why we find vintage costumes and masks so creepy is that they evoke the uncanny valley effect. In the modern world, the uncanny valley is most often something you notice in robots, animations, and generative AI, Verywell Mind notes.
Essentially, this effect refers to the fact that some things look almost human, but they have some non-human, mismatched traits that are very unsettling. In other words, you feel creeped out because there’s too much ambiguity or inconsistency in what you’re looking at. You’re not quite sure if it’s a threat or not because your expectations and reality don’t match up.
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Many of the vintage photos that we’re featuring here today feel unsettling, confusing, and even disturbing. We understand that there are clear, logical, rational explanations for these images. The subject matter itself might be slightly eerie, or we see creative and fun-loving people goofing about with masks, costumes, and photo-editing. And yet, our imaginations still get the best of us.
Fear, while unpleasant, in and of itself plays a vital function in your survival. It’s what helps keep you safe from threats, real, potential, and imagined. Even though these photos don’t threaten you directly, they can still evoke similar feelings to seeing these figures approaching you in real life. That being said, if you live with chronic anxiety or things evoke a disproportionate fear response, it’s far from healthy.
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It’s also important to distinguish between fear and anxiety. They are, of course, related and can occur together. And yet, the context behind both is different.
Namely, fear is related to known or understood threats, Verywell Mind explains. On the flip side, anxiety arises from unknown, unexpected, or poorly defined threats.
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Fear is usually short-lived. It’s how you respond to clear, definite threats. To put it simply, if the danger is very real and immediate, and there’s a clear subject related to the threat, this is most likely a fear response.
Meanwhile, anxiety is ambiguous and tends to last longer. It’s the vague and unpleasant sensation of uneasiness that something bad might happen. Anxiety has its roots in how you interpret potential dangers.
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As Verywell Mind stresses, fear and anxiety are interrelated and can experience similar physical reactions. Furthermore, fear can cause anxiety and vice versa.
The most common signs of fear are a racing heartbeat, sweating, shortness of breath, nausea, a dry mouth, trembling, and chills.
Meanwhile, the most common symptoms of anxiety include things like an accelerated heart rate, chest pain, cold chills or hot flushes, dizziness or feeling faint, and depersonalization. Other signs are things like excessive sweating, headache, muscle pain or tension, numbness and tingling, ringing in your ears, shaking and trembling, shortness of breath, and an upset stomach or nausea.
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If your fear and anxiety are out of control and directly negatively affect your daily life, you may want to reach out to your doctor or a mental health specialist. They’ll be able to diagnose you and come up with a treatment plan so that you’re more in control and feel less scared and anxious all the time.
For example, they might suggest that you start cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, or even put you on anti-anxiety medication.
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But of course, you don’t necessarily need therapy or meds to create a healthy relationship with fear and anxiety. However, that’s easier said than done. It requires changes in your lifestyle, habits, and thinking patterns.
One of the best ways to get over a fear is to face it. Repeatedly. Eventually, through exposure, you’ll feel more comfortable in otherwise challenging situations.
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In the meantime, it’s essential that you take care of your physical, mental, and emotional health. When you feel well-rested and meet your body’s needs, you’re in a much better position to react to stressful situations in a healthier way.
That means developing healthy habits like getting enough sleep, eating nutritious food, regularly moving your body, staying hydrated, fostering your positive relationships, spending time outdoors, practicing gratitude, etc.
On top of that, you can practice mindfulness, take up meditation, and practice relaxation techniques like deep breathing or guided visualization. The end goal is to feel calmer and less fearful.
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The ‘Happy Weird Day’ account, based in Hungary, has been active for more than a decade. It was first started back in 2013, and, throughout the years, the curator has shared 200 “strange photos from history.” At the time of writing, the account has 27k followers who are big fans of the bizarre atmosphere found within these vintage photos.
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Which of these photos genuinely creeped you out the most? Which ones did you find so bizarre that you couldn’t help but spam your friends with? Do you think that modern horror content is better at inducing fear than these images or the opposite? What’s the creepiest thing you’ve experienced in your life?
Once you’ve finished upvoting the most cursed and weird photos of the lot, swing by the comments to share your impressions.
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