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 source: silvercatbob
#2 To Appear Headless While Taking A Photo, Known As “Horsemaning”, Was A Popular Way To Pose In The 1920’s
Image source: silvercatbob
#3 Apache Ghost Dance Ceremony, Taken By Edward Curtis Circa 1906
Image source: Star_Ship_55
#4 Glazed Earthenware Rookwood Vase Featuring An Image Of A Skeleton, American, 1891
Image source: chubachus
#5 Martin Laurello, The Only Man Who Could Rotate His Head A Full 180 Degrees, 1930s
Image source: Quick_Presentation11
#6 My Mother In Law And Her Twin Sometime In The 60’s
Image source: Vinbob123
#7 A Boy On Krampus Shoulders During A Parade, Mitterndorf, Austria, 6th Of Dec 1949
Image source: silvercatbob
#8 Behind The Scenes Of Max Reinhardt’s 1935 Adaptation Of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
Image source: silvercatbob
#9 Stills From The Very Druggish Children’s Show “H.r. Puffnstuff” From 1969
Image source: SignorAlberto2022
#10 The Cabaret Of Hell , Paris, 1920s
Image source: Quick_Presentation11
#11 Actor Reggie Nadler Who Played The Vampire Kurt Barlow In Salem’s Lot, With Effects Mask From The Movie
Image source: silvercatbob
#12 A Boy Named Rich Bundy In A Family Photo With His Brother, Ted, Before That Infamous Older Brother Was Caught
Image source: Proximity
#13 Children Going To A 12-Hour Night Shift In The United States, 1908
Image source: silvercatbob
#14 Photographed In 1880, Myrtle Corbin Was Born A ‘Dipygus’, Having Two Separately Functioning Pelvises And Four Legs. She Married And Had Five Children
Image source: silvercatbob
#15 A Circus Performer In Germany C.1930, By Kurt Triest
Image source: Star_Ship_55
#16 A Colorized Photo Of Grigori Rasputin With The Last Empress Of Russia And Her Five Children In 1908
Image source: kooneecheewah
#17 With Father Christmas, 1920
Image source: theanti_influencer75
#18 Parrot Costume
Image source: byrobot
#19 Ventriloquist’s Family Portrait, 1950s
Image source: mistermajik2000
#20 Dogon Stilt Dancers In Bandiagara, Mali, 70s, By James Morris
Image source: Naive-Pen8171
#21 The “Lunatic Chair” Given To Patients Who Had Poor Behavior Or Wild Outbursts. Dutch Mental Hospital, 1938
Image source: Several_Dream_368
#22 Written On The Back: “Excuse Our Backs, Our Faces Are Dirty” (C.1899)
Image source: Star_Ship_55
#23 Edna Tichenor As ‘Arachnida, The Human Spider’ In Tod Browning’s 1927 Silent Film The Show
Image source: Star_Ship_55
#24 The “Double Exposure Girl”… A Haunting Photo Of A Girl Shot In Double Exposure [date Unknown]
Image source: WyldGyrl86
#25 Art And Camera Magazine, 1952
Image source: CelebManips
#26 “The Temptation Of St Anthony.” Oil Painting By Joos Van Craesbeeck, C. 1650
Image source: chubachus
#27 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 source: silvercatbob
#28 9-Year-Old Child Bride Eunice Winstead Johns And Her Husband, 22-Year-Old Charlie Johns, Sneedville, Tennessee, United States. 1937
Image source: TheOddityCollector
#29 My God, These Halloween Masks From The 1920s Are Scaring The C**p Out Of Me!
Image source: 09997512
#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 source: HelloSlowly
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