There are just some moments in life that are far too real and far too gruesome to ever want to capture for nostalgia. Those are definitely not the times Kodak had in mind. However, we can't often control the story the camera is going to tell because, nine times out of ten, the photographer isn't psychic. So once in a while, every snapshot can be the beginning of a sordid tale that will haunt you.
Redditor u/BreakRulesRun wanted to discuss the truth behind some photos that maybe we'd rather not know by asking... What photo has a creepy backstory?***WARNING-SENSITIVE MATERIAL AHEAD***
Lights. Camera. Pose. Now what? I remember recently looking through an old photo album. And in it was a photo myself and some college friends. The moment that was captured was our last before we said a round of drunken goodbyes on a raucous New Year's Eve. In the photo one of our friends took her last snapshot. Because five minutes later, stone cold sober, she was killed by a drunk driver. In the photo, she's the only one not smiling.
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The picture of a family photo, the guy taking the picture also caught the guy about to kill him:
He was a cop and it was probably revenge from guys he arrested.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2011/01/04/132648941/chilling-image-filipino-official-takes-photograph-as-his-killer-takes-aim?t=1616066896753.
2-
The Columbine 1999 class photo
In the top left corner there's a small group of people pretending to shoot at the camera. The one in the black hat is Eric Harris and the one with the sunglasses is Dylan Klebold, the shooters of the Columbine massacre. This photo was only taken a few weeks beforehand.
3-
Air New Zealand Flight 901, a passenger caught the moment of impact on their camera as the plane slammed into Mount Erebus.
A very interesting and gruesome account. I recommend the documentary/dramatization "Erebus: Into The Unknown", which tells things largely from the side of the NZ police investigation.
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Couple having a swim, on their honeymoon if I'm correct, this is just a picture of a video on youtube actually, you can see they both get in the water, having some fun and it looks like the boy slips away and goes into a shock pulling his girlfriend with him into the water. If the video ends you can still hear the underwater screaming. It's horrible.
Edit: what makes it even more horrible, in the video the girl actually gets out but the boy pulls her back in.
5-
This picture of the BTK killer always stuck with me. It's just his overall vibe here. He's so uncomfortably close to this tree, like he doesn't really know how to stand or behave in front of a camera. Almost like he's so uncertain that he can't just "be." It'd be an absolutely hilarious photo if he hadn't killed 10 people.
Yeah, those are some pics that we'd be better off not having to scrapbook. It's amazing what moments can be caught without explanation. Let's see what other mysteries and horrors made the list.
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Although this just looks like a creepy, poorly made doll, it is actually the mummified remains of a little girl that was robbed from her grave. Anatoly Moskvin dug up her and 20 other women and dressed them up and mummified them. He was arrested in 2011 and refused to apologise to the families of his victims.
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In this photo a man took of his wife diving, you can probably see another diver on the sea floor. That's Tina Watson. A few minutes before this photo, her husband turned off her air supply and held her underwater until she drowned. He then went up to the surface and told the other divers she was "in trouble", and you can see someone else swimming to try and save her.
He did serve 12 months in prison in Australia for Manslaughter, as a plea bargain (Neither he nor the court knew if he was going down for murder). When he returned home to Alabama, the US courts tried to get him on the grounds that he'd planned the murder there, but he got off due to lack of evidence. Australian authorities refused to help with the American trial, as they'd broken an extradition clause not to push for the death penalty.
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Omayra Sanchez. It's a creepy picture but the story behind it is heartbreaking. This 13-year-old girl was trapped in the water for three days before passing away. No one could help her.
She was stuck in a kneeling position, with concrete trapping her legs under the water. The options were to amputate (under the water) which surely would have killed her, or to let her die naturally. Really sad stuff.
9-
This picture of the "Elephant's Foot" courtesy of the University of Washington
The elephant's foot is a lump of radioactive slag that was formed during the disaster at Chernobyl. It emits a high amount of radiation, even to this day, but what is especially creepy about this photo is that the man who quickly took it four years after the disaster still died from the radiation dose he received. In the words of the professor who obtained it (which you can see at the link) "this picture cost a man his life."
I first learned about this particular photo and the Elephant's Foot in more detail from this video by Kyle Hill.
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Photo taken in the black of night by Kris Kremers, Lisanne Froon, or an unknown person before disappearing in a Panama jungle. The picture is thought to be of a trail marker crafted by one of the two girls. Their bones were found months later but the cause of death remains unsolved.
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This one taken by serial killer Ben Robert Rhodes before killing his victim Regina Kay Walters:
https://www.sickchirpse.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Regina-Kay-Walters.jpg.
I knew this one would be here.
If anyone wants to read about the world of Roberts, trucker culture and teenage runaways in the 80s - this is one of the best articles I have ever read. I wish someone would make a film about this writer's experience.
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How Two Murderers Were Spotted on an Old Mark Jackson Trading Card
The Mark Jackson basketball card that features the Menendez Brothers. They brutally killed their parents for their inheritance/insurance money and then went on a spending spree, which included a Knicks game as Madison Square Garden. They sat in the front row and a picture was taken that wound up being used on NBA player Mark Jackson's trading card. Nobody made the connection until 30 years later: https://www.slamonline.com/nba/how-two-serial-killers-were-discovered-on-an-old-mark-jackson-basketball-card/.
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Scared Dog GIF
Giphy
The thing could just be a really freaky example of kenopsia, but it did help a man battle his addiction.
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https://abcnews.go.com/US/mystery-deepens-delphi-girls-double-murder/story?id=62571284
This is a case that has fallen out of popularity, sadly, though I still pray it will get solved one day.
This is the last photo of Abby Williams, 13, taken by her friend Liberty German, 14, on Monon High Bridge, in Delphi, Indiana. Quickly following the picture, a video is taken by German, an obscured one of a man, head down, quickly approaching the girls. After the girls fail to return to the location where one of the girl's father planned to pick them up, police come and search the area.
The effort is fleet as night quickly approaches. Believing the girls are in no immediate danger, it is decided to resume the search tomorrow. The girls' bodies are found the next day on the other side of the trail. Both the video and a snip of audio of their killer has been shared to the public, but no arrests have ever been made.
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Most photos of Kim Il Sung were taken at an angle to conceal the softball sized tumor he had growing out the back of his head. So, literally a creepy back story.
Kim Il Sung
I did not know this, looked up a pic for those who wanna see.
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The Pulitzer Prize winning Burst of Joy photgraph.
Lt. Col Robert Stirm, a Vietnam POW had been released after years of confinement. The family looks happy to see him, but three days before he arrived in the United States, the same day he was released from captivity, Stirm received a Dear John letter from his wife Loretta informing him that their marriage was over.
She had been openly dating other men while he was in captivity. They divorced, the kids sided with their dad, but he only got custody of the two older ones and he had to pay 43% of his retirement pay to her as alimony.
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Not exactly sure if this counts, but this is a photo of Darlene Elizabeth Ferren, one of the victims of the Zodiac Killer. the man next to her is unknown, but for reference, this is a composite sketch of the Zodiac Killer made from multiple witness statements.
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During the Ferguson riots, there were pictures going around about cops and people of color getting along. This picture here has a darker meaning to it.
https://media.heartlandtv.com/images/640x360_41129P00-XLTKK.jpg
The child went through extreme abuse and neglect and there was a homicide case involving the adoptive mothers and they haven't located Devonte's body. His tears were not because of injsutice in the country, but because of abuse and trauma.
He cried because he found someone that could protect him from the abuse and neglect he and his siblings received. He was basically the poster child for the family. There were tons of signs of abuse and neglect that came from the house. One of the daughters had a bruise, and the second adult Sarah took the blame. Basically the mother Jennifer was the abuser and Sarah was the scapegoat and enabler.
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john lennon GIF
Giphy
The last photo of John Lennon, He publishes his autograph. In the background you can see the man who will kill him a little later. Sorry for my bad English
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/05/29/22/28990138-8371155-image-a-49_1590788517803.jpg.
Now there is quite a photo gallery. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, what about the price tag on the shots that leave you breathless?
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The old wives' tales.
They are the stories of legend.
I think we all need a big DEEP Google dive though.
Where did they originate?
WHO ARE THE OLD WIVES!
You don't hear about them as much anymore.
It's like science and logic are suddenly a thing.
But they sure are a good way to keep your kids and their behavior in line.
Redditor the_spring_goddess wanted to discuss the tall tales we've all been fed through life, so they asked:
"What is an old wives tale that people still believe?"
"Wait an hour to swim after eating."
What a crock!
So many summer hours wasted.
I want revenge for that one.
Say Nothing
Giphy
"An undercover cop has to tell you he's a cop if you ask him."
LonelyMail5115
"Pretty much most advice when it comes to cops are old wives tales. I’m not even a cop but most of the advice you hear is pretty off."
I_AM_AN_A**HOLE_AMA
Say Something
"That you have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing."
Severe_Airport1426
"I really think this one is important and should be the top regardless. As it’s a piece of advice that needs to be relearned and the only way to do that is through awareness."
crappycurtains
"This used to be true. I think they changed it after some guy named Brandon went missing back in the '80s or '70s. You used to have to wait 24 hours if the missing person was an adult because they had 'a right to be missing' and then everyone realized that was stupid and stopped doing it."
AlbinoShavedGorilla
Body Temps
"That drinking ice cold water after eating oily foods will solidify the oil and permanently remain in your body. I informed my coworker that if your body temperature ever reached that point, you’d have bigger problems than weight gain."
chriseo22
"Oh, I have a cousin who 100% believed this. One of those guys who believed every early 2000s internet rumor and old wives tale. One night I chugged a big glass of ice water after dinner and he started freaking out and saying my guts were gonna harden."
"I sarcastically told him to drive me to the hospital if that happened. Obviously, nothing happened and the next morning I said something like 'Thanks for being on standby in case my guts filled with hardened oil.' He just walked off muttering under his breath."
apocalypticradish
Arms Down
"When I was pregnant, I was told by young and old alike that I should NOT raise my arms above my head or exert myself in such a manner because it could cause cord strangulation to my unborn sons and daughters."
Fatmouse84
10 Years Actually
Unimpressed Uh Huh GIF by Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Giphy
"Chewing gum stays in your stomach for 7 years."
"I remember accidentally swallowing a piece of gum when I was a kid in like 1995 and just accepting my fate like welp, gonna have this in my stomach til high school I guess."
Gecko-911
I was so afraid to sallow my gum when I was young.
This tale is haunting.
High/Low
Hungry Debra Messing GIF by Will & Grace
Giphy
"You can tell the sex of the baby by how you carry."
LeastFormal9366
"Pregnancy certainly wins awards for the most old wives tales. So much absolute BS was repeated to us by everyone we talked to."
IllIIIlIllIlIIlIllI
The Cursed
"If you’re a woman and you wear opal jewelry but opal is not your birthstone (October), you’ll never be able to have children, or will be widowed, or just generally have bad luck or something. You can counteract this by having a diamond in the same piece of jewelry as the opal, though."
"I have a nice opal ring that my parents gave me years ago, and I’ve had other women give me this 'advice' unprompted more than once when I’ve worn it. I have absolutely no idea where it started, but I’m pretty sure this little chunk of silicate rock has no concept of what month I was born in, let alone of how my reproductive organs work."
SmoreOfBabylon
Stay In
"Going outside with wet hair will make you get pneumonia. Or an earache. Or maybe arthritis. Depends on which old wife you listen to."
"Jokes on them - I haven't blow-dried my hair in decades and usually leave the house with wet hair in the morning. On winter mornings, the tips of my hair get frozen. No ear infections or pneumonia or arthritis yet."
worldbound0514
Dreams and Facts
"You never make anyone up in your dreams you've seen everyone in your dreams somewhere else before and never make anyone up entirely."
"How would you possibly prove that to be true? My partner adamantly believes this and tells me this 'fact' whenever I have a dream about someone I've never met before."
mattshonestreddit
"My late wife used to tell me that before she met me she would have dreams of standing at an alter on her wedding day but could never see the guy's face, no matter how hard she tried. After meeting me the face was filled in with mine. Don't know if it's true but one of those things I like thinking of every now and then when I miss her."
Darthdemented
Cracked
Getting Ready Episode 2 GIF by The Office
Giphy
"Some people still believe cracking knuckles causes arthritis."
Choice-Grapefruit-44
"There's a doctor (Donald Unger) that cracked his knuckles a couple of times a day for 60 years, but only on one hand, just to prove it. Both hands remained exactly the same."
MacyTmcterry
I love my knuckles.
Do you have any tall tales to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.
