23 Vintage Photos That Are So Creepy That They'll Freak You Out While Giving You The Chills

Warning: These images are disturbing.

Maryjane

• Published in Weird
• March 31, 2024

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

2. An expertly taken “ghost” photo by a particular enthusiast…

3. Some tribes sharpen and file down their teeth…

4. Horrifying (and nearly fatal) facial injuries to a German soldier in World War I

5. A photo from the Victorian era

6. That is one huge crab

7. Either some kind of elephant trick…or moments before disaster?

8. Max Factor takes precise measurements of a young woman’s head and face with his “Beauty Calibrator” (1932)

9. The “human serpent” distracts other soldiers on the front (France, World War I, 1915)

10. A mental hospital’s inmate, lost in his own mind

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)

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

13. A silent, suffering inmate of an insane asylum

14. Well, they said this opera singer sounded just like a little bird

15. When the circus visited a children’s hospital (circa 1930), clown Charlie Smith didn’t exactly make anyone feel better

16. Victorian portraits

17. A man proudly sits with his severed head collection

18. The ghost wants to grab the man

19. The “giraffe women” of Burma

20. Still don't believe in witches?

21. A clown in a burnt-out house, USA, 1975

22. You can be useful even in death

23. We'll pass

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.

Maryjane