Any horror enthusiast knows that there are different kinds of scares. Jump scares, slow-build scares, gory scares, and realistic scares are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to finding that perfect fear factor.
Photographs are a little different, as you only have a single frame to spook your viewer. Though photoshoped pics tend to be a bit of a cheap scare, photos that are accidentally creepy are definitely worth your time if you’re looking to be frightened.
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The devil is in the details. Seriously, he’s right there. Look closer.
One Of Us
“Took this photo while out with my buds,” this guy writes, “My mom says she can see a man to my friend’s right, and my dad says that he sees the word ‘us’ written in smoke above.”
Life Imitates Art
Real events are often much scarier than fiction could ever be. If you don’t think so, look at the name of the high school.
Moth Man
If it were this dark out while I was walking home, I wouldn’t notice the man walking on the street in front of me either.
Just Face It.
“Was cleaning out my attic when I found this,” one man shares, “Look in the container.”
Flower Girl
Fine, Fine. As Sia would say, this one’s a bit of a cheap thrill.
All Together Now
Ah yes, I love spending family picnics with mom, dad, my three siblings, and the clown man who lives in our yard.
Sorry In Advance For This One.
See, I apologized. Everything’s all good. Can you see IT?
The Long Haul
“Thought this guy’s truck load was kinda ridiculous until I saw the kid,” one woman writes, “Went from funny to creepy real quick.”
Monster Under The Bed
I looked for this one for twenty minutes. Honestly. Sleep tight!
Tree Hugger
Nothing beats this one for me. Hidden bugs? No thanks.
Down Under
There are three people in this picture.
Three’s A Crowd
![Image credit: Reddit | [deleted]](https://static.diply.com/JUIEnRWeU18FwjhqzuJ5.jpg)
This one too. The windows always get me.
It’s surprisingly easy not to notice that big, staring eye behind this woman.
That said, it kind of takes the edge off when it’s somebody in a bunk bed. It’s more likely to be an irate roommate wondering why her buddy’s taking selfies while she’s trying to sleep.
It seems hard to believe that fluffy, adorable sheep could get creepy at night, but this photo makes that pretty clear.
I guess there’s just something about seeing exactly how many pairs of eyes are on you at one time.
It really messes with the mind when you see someone through the cracks of a door only to discover an empty room.
Granted, this discrepancy of shadows is likely the result of a weird reflection off some metal in the room, but good luck getting yourself to believe that when you catch this in your place at 3 am.
The problem with creepy spaces like this is that we usually don’t notice the skin-crawling critter until it’s right on top of us.
If you want to know where all these cobwebs came from, just take a look at the lower right of the photo next to that metal wall.
Sorry.
This man wasn’t originally lurking in the background of this photo, but the attempt to remove him only made him stronger.
Someone tried to remove Santa from this childhood photo with an app, but the one who sees us when we’re sleeping and knows when we’re awake won’t be defeated that easily.
This room doesn’t look very inviting on its own, but I’m sorry to say that whoever took this wasn’t alone at the time.
If you look around the center of the photo, you’ll see a sinister pair of eyes staring back at you.
The dirtier a window is, the easier it is to hide behind.
For instance, if I hadn’t told you that someone was peering through the window on the left, would you ever have noticed them at the bottom?
Be safe, folks.
To be fair to that person lurking in the background, what’s happening in the foreground seems like it would get people’s attention.
It also doesn’t help that a low quality photo usually has a way of making us look more evil than we really are.
I’m not sure why these two chose such a dark room to take this photo in, but it makes them seem like clueless horror movie characters.
I can almost picture myself in the theater where somebody absolutely just yelled at the screen to say there’s an evil doll behind them.
They can’t hear you, Larry. Just eat your popcorn.
This clown doesn’t seem to be causing much trouble, but I regret to inform you that it’s not the only one here.
Not only that, but I really don’t like the way that the one in the car mirror is smirking at us. What are they planning?
Since it seems like the whole family is here, it’s hard to blame anyone for being startled by that face in the window.
Unfortunately, the most plausible theory about why she’s back there is more sad than anything.
It’s possible that she was sick enough that she posed a risk to the other children, but her family still wanted to include her in the photo. Worse yet, nobody in the uploader’s family ever heard anything about her.
Considering how subtle the weird part of this photo is, it’s no surprise that the uploader passed by it every day without noticing anything.
But if you look at the little window above the garage, you’ll see what they describe as “a weird hand.”
When the background has a lot of scenery, it’s a lot harder to find the figure lurking about.
The mystery figure is indeed well-hidden, but if you look to the right of that gazebo, you’ll see a pair of legs in mid-stride peeking out.
Nice try, Bigfoot.
Before anybody points it out, this woman is aware that her car’s back window is reflecting her hair.
Beside that reflection, however, is something that looks suspicious like a mystery face peering into her vehicle.
From the looks of it, they could be someone who experienced severe burns, if there’s anyone there at all.
At no point during their hike were the pair we see here aware of the man lying behind them.
We can only see one of his legs, but rest assured that he’s up and walking in another photo.
It’s just kind of wild to think about how closely someone can walk behind us before we notice them.
This area is called the Fort Worden Bunkers and it’s apparently a popular spot for kids to play Hide and Seek and Manhunt.
While we can likely put this down to the quality of the photo, the unidentified figure at the top left would probably make the guy on the ground happy to have never noticed it.
Sure, it means he lost at Hide and Seek, but some games just aren’t worth playing.
It’s amazing how much the right outfit can help somebody blend in.
For instance, you might be able to tell there’s an “alien” in this photo now that I’ve mentioned him, but would you have spotted him before?
He probably picked that little tip up from the Men in Black.
Follow this car for long enough and you’ll start wondering whether that’s a creepy mask or a staring kid.
But although it might not seem so clear at first, we can’t deny that there’s definitely a face in that back window.
Keep in mind that this guy had simply taken this photo in front of a blank wall.
So that begs the pretty serious question of how that skeletal hand to the left appeared in his vicinity. And if that’s not what it is, what is it?
Many of the figures we’ve seen lurking in the background are potentially harmless, but this isn’t one of them.
In fact, the person who took this picture would later catch the man hiding in these bushes trying to break into her house.
The person taking this photo likely expected their cat’s eyes to turn bright, but not for a second pair of eyes to appear.
And considering how high up this porch is, I’m afraid we can’t just dismiss those eyes as belonging to another cat. Something big was in this neighborhood.
This photo proves that a photo doesn’t need a figure lurking at night to deliver a background scare.
This one even lulls us into a false sense of security. After all, these are just some storm clouds, so what’s the big deal?
If you look at the bottom of them, however, you’ll notice a tornado forming.
We’ve seen the sinister effects that a low quality photo can have on its subjects, but this is a really intense example.
When we can’t tell what something is, our minds can go anywhere from “ninja assassin” to “alien lifeform” to “ghost.”
However, eventually we can get to the point where we realize it’s almost certainly a kid in a hoodie or a snowsuit.
Sadly, these two were too busy goofing off to notice the spectre of death lurking behind them.
Upon closer inspection, it actually looks like it might be a statue. That would still make it a pretty creepy statue, though.
Got Your Back
“Looks like a friend wanted to go with her,” this man wrote, “Lucky for Brooke, he looked like his belly was already full.”
All Bark No Bite
Wait, you haven’t seen the man dressed as a tree walking downtown? Where have you been ?
Hoot Are You
You’ll want to use zoom for this one. I won’t spoil it for you, but there’s a character from Winnie The Pooh in there.