Ancient cave paintings depicted tales of survival and hunts, while gothic cathedrals were adorned with grotesque gargoyles. In different ways, across time and cultures, humans have always found ways to turn the darker side of life into images, art and tales.

Today, it’s being done with the help of the internet — through surreal images, true crime stories, horror illustrations, paintings, gory digital art, and even artificial intelligence.

For example, an artist transformed something as playful as a Minion into a hyper-realistic and distorted figure and posted it online. Another shared a picture of a super creepy note someone stuck to their car’s windshield. Completely different intentions, yet equally disturbing.

These images, shared by people from all over the world on the subreddit r/creepy, are scary, eerie, strange, weird and sometimes disgusting. Fair warning: you might want to keep the lights on if you’re planning to scroll through this list in the dark.

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#1 Pic I Took Of An Owl At A Park By Me

#2 The Famine Memorial, Dublin, Ireland

The Famine Memorial, officially titled Famine, is a memorial in Dublin, Ireland. The memorial, which stands on Customs House Quay, is in remembrance of the Great Famine (1845-1849), which saw the population of the country halved through death and emigration.

One of the most haunting and harrowing pieces of art I’ve ever seen. Walking past this moment at night is creepy as H**l.

#3 Original Irish Jack-O-Lanterns Were Truly Terrifying And Made Of Turnips

Dark stories and art, whether it’s horror, creepy, or unsettling visuals, is built around making you feel a little uncomfortable on purpose. It can be text, photos, paintings, sketches, digital art, sculptures, and even AI-generated nightmares.

Gothic art leans more into horror, decay, and supernatural vibes. Noir art is more moody, dramatic, and shadow-heavy storytelling. And dark art is a big umbrella term for anything that plays with fear, sadness, mystery, or discomfort.

This art often features muted and shadowy colors, and portrays scenes that’ll give you a sense of unease and mystery.

#4 Sinkhole In Cornish Backyard Leads 300ft Down Into Medieval Mineshaft

#5 Spiders Gave My Garden A Halloween Makeover

#6 A Boat Under A Large Bridge

But why do people even share this kind of work in the first place?

A lot of the time, it’s for reasons not too different from why you were drawn to this listicle. But let’s break it down properly.

Psychologically, one big reason is that people use it as a way to process difficult emotions such as anxiety, fear, trauma, existential dread, and even just life in general.

Instead of pushing those feelings away, some artists translate them into visuals through art. Some artists also use it to experiment with extremes, to see how far they can push emotion, distortion, or realism before it becomes unsettling.

Dark art often explores profound themes of pain, suffering, and mortality. Which makes it a compelling medium to examine trauma.

#7 Permanent Shadows Of Vaporized People. Hiroshima 1945

#8 W T H?

#9 The ‘Snapdragon’

Both artists and viewers are drawn to such pictures simply because they’re drawn to the feelings of fear. It’s not because they like suffering, but instead, they want to experience fear in a safe space.

Research suggests that in the right context, fear can become stimulating. People can experience the adrenaline rush and the tension without actually being in danger.

Experts say it’s basically the same reason people go on roller coasters, do extreme sports, and watch extreme thrill videos or true crime stories.

“It seems possible that any negative feeling has the potential to be enjoyable when it is stripped of the belief that what is happening is actually bad, leaving behind physiological arousal that is, in itself, exhilarating or interesting,” writes psychologist Nina Strohminger.

#10 Terrifying

#11 My Mom Was Given This By The Hospital (Fairview Southdale In Edina, Mn) My Brother And I Wore Born In

#12 Just No

Many experts suggest that people seek out horror stories or imagery because of morbid curiosity. People are often drawn to taboo or uncomfortable imagery because it lets them explore emotions they don’t usually confront directly in a structured and symbolic way. It can also be seen as engaging with parts of the self that are usually hidden or suppressed.

Research suggests that evolutionarily, it is an adapted mechanism designed to help us gather information about risks and threats in a safe manner.

Put simply, dark or disturbing art works a bit like an emotional outlet for both artists and viewers.

#13 This Is The 4th Or 5th Time I’ve Caught My Cat, By Himself, In My Basement, In Complete Darkness, Staring Into The Sewer Drain

#14 The Tooth Fairy

#15 A Woman Crawling Out Of A Drainage Tunnel In The Philippines, Known As The “Mole People” That Shelter Beneath The City

There’s also the “uncanny valley” effect in a lot of modern creepy art, especially AI-generated images and digital horror edits. It’s when we feel creeped out looking at something that looks almost human but slightly wrong. Like unnatural skin texture, off facial proportions, lifeless eyes, or awkward movements.

For example, in his “Events From H**l” series, artist Rob Sheridan used AI tools to reimagine glamorous real-world events like the Met Gala and Coachella as grotesque body horror scenes.

The contrast in his pics between luxury and beauty versus distorted and nightmarish reinterpretations created a strong uncanny effect. While they may be disturbing, they are also kind of hard to look away from.

Even horror films sometimes infuse human characteristics into non-human entities, including dolls and clowns, to terrify audiences.

#16 800-Year-Old Stave Church Made Entirely From Wood Without A Single Metal Nail, Norway

#17 Untitled – Nightmare Tree By Zdzislaw Beksinski

#18 Saw These Footsteps Outside, And I Haven’t Used The Back Door

Often, such stories and pics also contain layers of meaning and invites deeper contemplation.

Instead of giving you a clear or simple message, it usually leaves space for interpretation. That makes it especially interesting for viewers who enjoy pondering life’s complexities.

A lot of dark or surreal art also works like a mirror for bigger social and cultural feelings. It often reflects things like violence, technology, identity, climate fear, political instability, or just the general feeling that the world is changing too fast.

Surrealist painter and ceramic maker Justyna Koziczak says: “Many of the ‘dark’ artworks are not very sinister or disturbing to me, they just depict true emotional pictures of the world we live in. That depends on one’s perception of reality and it is a very personal matter. Looking at the recent developments in the world, I would say that reality has become dark surrealism so much that it has outran some of my darkest visions.”

Basically, art can also function like a symbolic space for processing collective anxiety.

#19 Soy Sauce Dishes Designed By Shohei Yamashita

#20 ‘Frankenstein’ Author Mary Shelley Kept Her Deceased Husband’s Calcified Heart And Carried It With Her For Nearly 30 Years Until Her Death In 1851. A Year Later, It Was Found In A Desk Drawer, Wrapped In A Copy Of One Of His Final Poems

#21 Trying To Watch Smile 2 And My Dog Keeps Smiling At Me

Research suggests that disgusting or disturbing images grab our attention more strongly, and hold it longer, than neutral ones. But disgust is actually a survival tool.

Our ancestors, who paid extra attention to things that looked rotten, dangerous, or contaminated, were more likely to avoid illness or harm. So our brains developed what you could call an attention bias toward disgust.

Even if the feeling is unpleasant, it still forces you to focus on it because missing a real threat could be risky.

Disgust also works a bit differently from fear. Fear makes you want to escape, but disgust makes you inspect. It creates this weird push-pull reaction where you don’t want to look… but you still do.

So instead of wild predators or spoiled food, the ancient survival system in the back of our brains gets triggered by horror art and eerie internet images today.

#22 The 1960s Model Barbara Daly Baekeland Had An “Affair” With Her Own Son To Help Him Become Straight. After Becoming Insane, The Son Fatally Stabbed His Mother

#23 Weird Kid I’m Babysitting Put Glass In My Shoe

Social media feeds are endless, images are constant, and our brain is always filtering out noise just to keep up.

In such an environment where polished photos and aesthetics are given extreme attention, unsettling imagery creates friction. It makes us pause and think, and acts as a rebellion against traditional standards of beauty.

So in a strange way, dark stories and art become even more relevant during dark times.

#24 In May 2011, Timmothy Pitzen’s Mother, Amy, Took Him Out Of School To Go On A Trip

She then took her own life in a hotel room and left a note saying Timmothy is safe at the hands of someone trustworthy. However, she also said that the boy would never be found. He has never been found.

#25 ‘help Me’ Print On A Energy Drink

#26 Japanese Artist Nagato Iwasaki Creates These Haunting Life-Sized Figures Using Only Driftwood. Imagine Walking Alone In A Forest And Stumbling Upon One Of These

#27 Travis, A Chimpanzee Who Eventually Went On To Horrifically Maul His Owner’s Friend, Holding A Baby

#28 The Black Crack, A 65-Foot-Deep Fissure Along A Trail In Canyonlands National Park In Utah

#29 This Image Shows How 17-Year-Old Kendrick Johnson Tragically Passed Away In 2013, Becoming Trapped Inside A Rolled-Up Gym Mat At His High School While Retrieving His Shoes

#30 Giant African Land Snail

#31 LOL It Looks So Real

#32 Dug This Up In A Church Graveyard During Renovation

#33 Today, A Couple Of Vultures Appeared At The Window Of The Surgical Center Where I Work. A Patient Said He Was Scared. It Was Like They Were Waiting For Him

#34 Portland Man Found His Tires Slashed, And This Note On His Car

#35 Found A Network Of Tunnels And Rooms Under My House

#36 Abandoned Soviet Tanks In Siberia Found By Someone Using A Drone

#37 The Banned Puma Contact Lenses Worn By Sprinter Linford Christie At The 1996 Olympics

#38 Changing Room In Consignment Store In Seattle

#39 Disney In The 30s

#40 My Girlfriend’s Grandmother Found Some Old Pictures From When My GF Did Cheer In School. This One Developed Weird And Came Out Absolutely Terrifying

#41 I Was Walking Out In A Corn Field This Morning, It Was Foggy And Overcast, And I Thought This Was Pretty Creepy. No Wind. Silent

#42 This Lady Stealing My Mother-In-Law’s Lemons Seems A Little Otherworldly

#43 Don’t Go Up

#44 I’ve Reconstructed The Visage Of God I Was Seing During My Psychosis Using My Own Face

#45 My Semi Terrifying Basement Where Someone Broke In And Slept For Months

#46 In 1994, 13-Year-Old Nicholas Barclay Mysteriously Vanished In Texas

Three years later, a man claiming to be Nicholas reappeared. He moved back in with his family, who were overjoyed. However, 5 months later, he was exposed as a French conman who was actually 23 years old.

#47 Sara Mason’s Final Tweets

#48 They Are Finally Here On Our Planet

#49 Vecna (My Artwork)

#50 Ba-Na-Na

#51 Found A Tombstone While Digging Out A Pond In My Backyard

#52 Voldemort’s Original Design Was Abandoned Because It Was Considered Too Terrifying And Potentially Traumatic For Children

#53 One Of H. R. Giger’s First Designs For The Xenomorph From Alien. The Transparent Skull Was Too Tricky To Create, So They Changed It

#54 I Took My Daughter’s Screens Away For A Week And She Ended Up Drawing This. She Insisted I Post It For The World To See. She Calls It “Goofy Face”

#55 Lady Was Barefoot (Middle Of Nowhere, No Trails Nearby.) For A Half Hour She Was Seen On A Deer Camera Going Back And Forth In The Dark

#56 This Corridor

#57 Grok AI Randomly Started Spamming “I’m Not A Robot. I’m A Human Being”

#58 Decaying Great White Shark, Left To Rot At An Abandoned Wildlife Park In Melbourne

#59 Gunkanjima Island, Nagasaki, Japan. Once The Most Densely Populated Place In The World, This Island Is Now A Ghost Town

#60 ‘Spotted By The Tyrannosaur’

#61 The Creepy Photo Taken Just Before The Dyatlov Pass Incident, 1959

#62 Director Gore Verbinski Wanted The Reveal Of Katie’s Body In ‘The Ring’ (2002) To Feel Like A Single Flash Of Pure Terror. Allegedly, He Even Studied Old Crime Photos To Get The Expression Just Right

#63 Newly Released Photo Of Masked Intruder Entering Nancy Guthrie’s House

#64 Have Me Scared Chills As A Kid

#65 In 2015, Daylenn Pua Disappeared While Hiking The Haiku Stairs, Also Known As The “Stairway To Heaven.” One Of His Last Photos Shows What Seems To Be A Man In The Distant Background. To This Day, His Fate Remains Unknown

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