21 Downright Disturbing Pictures From The Past

It’s often said that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and if these creepy history pictures are any indication “doomed” is the right word. Seriously, the past is riddled with disturbing images of everything from horrifying events to commonplace things that just look… off. Maybe it’s the sepia tone, but even kids’ stuff is creepy—especially creepy.

Thanks to Reddit’s r/OldSchoolCreepy we’ve got plenty of freaky pics of days gone by. Here are some of the scariest.

1. “So my aunt casually tells me today that she once found a ton of skeletons in her garden.”

2. “Martin Luther King Jr. with his son, pulling up a burnt cross from the front lawn of his Atlanta home, April 1960”

3. “If you ever wondered how the American buffalo could go from 30,000,000 to 300 in 50 years, pictures like this may give some idea (buffalo skulls)”

4. “Children after working in the mine”

5. “Department store wax mannequins melting during a heatwave in 1929”

6.

Meditation room with stuffed animals and dried human heads, Tibet, 1920. from oldschoolcreepy

7.

A train shredded after a boiler explosion – there’s something about this image I find weirdly unsettling from oldschoolcreepy

8.

Halloween Costumes from the 1930s from oldschoolcreepy

9.

Oldest surviving diving suit, 18th century from oldschoolcreepy

10.

Katharina Detzel, a mental patient who built her own man out of the straw in her bed, 1910. she was murdered by the Nazi euthanasia program in 1941. from oldschoolcreepy

11.

Melted wax figures rescued from the 1925 fire at Madam Tussaud’s London museum from oldschoolcreepy

12.

A full-faced swimming mask designed to protect women’s skin from the sun in the 1920s from oldschoolcreepy

13.

A 16th century plague doctors mask from oldschoolcreepy

14.

Photo of Two Women with Super Long Hair from oldschoolcreepy

15.

Some paper mache heads from The First World War from oldschoolcreepy

16.

Old Doll Factory from oldschoolcreepy

17.

Meeting of the Mickey Mouse Club in the 1930’s from oldschoolcreepy

18.

A woman in the Wild West wearing a bonnet and a mask designed to protect skin from sun damage. from oldschoolcreepy

19.

‘Hells Cafe’ in Paris 1920s from oldschoolcreepy

20.

Humpty Dumpty 1939 from oldschoolcreepy

21.

Photograph of a Victorian baby held by their Mother. from oldschoolcreepy