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.
1-
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.
4-
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.
6-
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.
7-
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.
8-
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.
10-
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.
11-
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.
12-
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/.
13-
Scared Dog GIF
Giphy
The thing could just be a really freaky example of kenopsia, but it did help a man battle his addiction.
14-
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.
15-
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.
16-
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.
17-
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.
19-
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.
http://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.
20-
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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Or so you would think.
Do people still knit to pass the time? Are people actively collecting stamps?
It depends on who's asking.
Curious to hear about hobby trends, Redditor gizehgizeh asked:
"What are once popular hobbies that are slowly dying these days?"
Before we've become conditioned to living on our phones, these activities used to keep people occupied.
Before Texting, There Was This
"Letter writing."
– littlekingMT
Literal And Tangible Joy
"Well the internet killed pen pals for sure. I do remember I had a Japanese girl for a penpal maybe back in 2007 or so. I honestly don't remember how it started, pretty sure some website, but that was a fun experience. But now I can just straight up talk to foreign people real time, lol. But yea getting a physical letter that someone took the time to write and mail still is hard to beat feelings wise."
– skyburnsred
Model Trains
"When I was growing up, every town had a model train store in it. Now I have one in region and everything else has to be bought online."
– Hairy_Effective1172
Pretty Rocks
"Don’t see anyone playing marbles anymore, I had an awesome collection in school."
– sheeple85
"I had some marbles as a kid in the 90s. My grandma got them for me and I had no idea what I was supposed to do with them. I always imagined them as a thing kids in the 40s played with."
– Ryoukugan
People Were Moving Canvases
"Paintball has been dying a slow death since 2006. Sad, really."
– hobo_recycler
Before the general population began hating clutter, collecting was once a "thing."
Precious Coins
"Coin collecting... I'm a silver/gold nut and I'm always hunting for precious metal coins. whenever I go into a shop they get all excited because 'no one under 70 collects coins anymore.'"
– ThatFishySmell99
Post It
"Stamp collecting."
– spooky_scully_mulder
"Collecting in general, really. Of course there are still prominent collectors but it's slipped more into enthusiast and niche territory than being a popular hobby that you might expect anyone to have."
– iuytrefdgh436yujhe2
What A Gem
"Rockhounding was immensely popular back in the 1950's and 1960's. Personally, I think it's a fascinating and fulfilling hobby, but when I go to a meeting at a rock and gem club, I'm usually the youngest one in the room by several decades."
– filthy_lucre
People once enjoyed making things.
Admiring The View
"Stained glass. I learned how to make it from my old man, and my junior high art class teacher also taught it. Very few artisans are still around."
– brobeanzhitler
Metal Vocation
"Black smithing."
– kenworth117
"I bought a forge to try. It’s insanely hard work, and crazy expensive. I still haven’t finished a piece."
– DSentvalue
Scrapbooking
"Yeah. I'm watching the arts and crafts stores around me completely uninstalling their racks for specialty paper. Now the only thing they have is mega packs of repeating colors/images. To boot all the inclusions like papercraft/die-cut things, washi tape, scissors, stickers, etc have gotten so expensive I would rather go buy $5 bags at value village to get an assortment of things versus buying anything new. I really, really miss yard sales for the same reasons."
– Phantasmai
I envy people who have jobs that are basically their hobbies.
Not everyone gets paid doing what they actually enjoy and have a profound level of passion for.
If they do, kudos to them.
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While the process could take time, some people make our jobs much easier after spotting instant red flags.
Curious to hear about our general radar of people, Redditor xxFluffie asked:
"What is something that makes you immediately dislike someone?"
Some people just think they are absolutely hilarious and never realize they're the only ones laughing.
Next In Line
"They laugh about having screwed someone else over. If you think you're not next, well, you'll learn."
– whiznat
Unfunny
"when you mention you don't like a thing and they immediately do that thing 'as a joke.'"
– wayfinder
Playing Devil's Advocate
"Kneejerk contrarians. People who, no matter what you say you like or believe, just have to dismiss it and say they like or think the opposite."
– BubbhaJebus
People who put others down get slammed here.
Bad Parents
"When they treat their kids sh**ty in public. I don't mean handling tantrums, setting a rule, having to hurry to the train etc. I mean perfectly normal-behaved kids getting in trouble for trailing along peacefully, looking at things, asking questions etc."
"If you don't like tiny humans who learn the world, why have them??"
– raxeira-etterath
Public Humiliation
"Treating people sh**ty in public for laughs. Like being rude to service workers because they think it’s funny. Big red flag."
– Ok_Personality_1080
Simply Uncalled For
"Someone who is a d*ck to other people or animals for no reason."
– xebt1000
Those with ulterior motives rubs people the wrong way.
The Scheme
"If they try to get me to join their MLM scheme."
– spazmcgee1
Hard Sell
"A guy I used to be friends with in high school reached out a couple of years after graduating about a business opportunity he wanted my opinion on because 'you've always been smart', then he set up a Skype call and brought some other dude into the call and they started trying to sell me on what was clearly an MLM scheme. The guy went from friend to 'I'm never talking to you again' in a matter of 10 minutes."
– Mental-Afternoon-164
A Timeline
"Good gawd, this! I've had more than one exposure to this abject bullsh**tery..."
- Back in the late 80's/early 90's I was invited to a meeting of literally the OG "Pyramid" where you're recruited to pay in, and then you go out and recruit others to pay in, and the last in line got f'kall.
- In 1995 I had a coworker try to reel me into Amway, which was a hard no.
- In 2000 it was Pampered Chef, though to be fair they did have useful products.
- In 2009 a coworker tried to get me into some stupid video calling service that was obviously stupid from the description. He even got offended when I called bullsh*t.
– Mystical_Cat
Too much ego is a no-go.
I Can Do Better
"Being a b*tch just to stroke their own ego."
"We get it, you can lift 5lbs more than the 12 year old, you don't have to rub it in their face just because you're slightly better"
– Livia_Pivia
Can't Top This
"Oh, you did <story that's been told>? That's nothing! I did <implausible story>.
"I get the whole empathy through relating common experience, and I'm someone who does that (which drives some people crazy on its own), but there's a big different by empathising through common experience, and one-upmanship."
– Tisarwat
Lacking Conversational Etiquette
"Starting to talk over me when I was already talking."
"Stop it you rude, arrogant jerk."
– R33Gtst
If one or more of these traits sound familiar to you, you're not alone.
We don't have time for braggadocios, pyramid-schemers, and conversation interrupters.
And that's just for starters.
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Pleading to deaf ears...
"My dad told me he had hearing loss and couldn't hear me if I whined because my pitch would get too high."
"Would completely ignore me until I asked him questions in a normal voice."
"Trusted him implicitly until I was 12 and he yelled at my younger brother for whining."- Tyrion_Stark.
Get it while you can.
"That they took everything off the shelves when the supermarket closed."- fgyfddg.
venezuela empty shelves GIF by euronewsGiphySilly superstitions.
"My grandfather used to tell me that if I played with the fire, I'd pee the bed."
"I believed him for a while, until I got older."
"I think he was just trying to protect me from the fire."- teddypa1981.
"Rain, rain go away..."
"That if it was raining where I was, it was raining everywhere in the world."- morningshartz.
Age is just a number.
"My parents used to seem really old to me, so much so I believed they grew up like cave people as children, wearing giant leaves for clothes and what not."- Laleena_.
Hammer Floor GIF by VPROGiphySo that's how they're made!
"That smokestacks from the power plant created clouds."- Scaniarix.
An instant cure.
"The sun gives you sunburns, therefore, moonlight should heal them."- velocipeter.
Better safe than sorry.
"Don't drink and drive meant all drinks."
"My dad was super confused when I told him he wasn't allowed to have any soda until we got home."- hulagirlslovetoparty.
Don't believe everything you see on TV.
"There was an episode of Mickey Mouse where Mickey couldn’t reach something at first, so he tried again and somehow his arm was long enough to reach it."
"As a small kid I believed that if I couldn’t reach something, I should just try reaching for it again and my arm would then somehow be long enough to reach it."- That-Dutch-Person.
love him one piece GIFGiphyThe miracle of childbirth.
"That babies are pooped out."
"When I was like 7 I was listening to my aunt as she explained that childbirth was pretty intense and painful for her, and I was all solemnly like, 'yeah, sometimes just my poops are painful, I don’t think I could get a baby out' and she went 'um, WHAT?' and her reaction made me realize real quick that I had f*cked up somewhere and I tried to change the subject while my mind was just reeling lol."- thesoundingfurrows.
Oh to be a child again.
And to believe literally everything you're told.
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People are not always who they appear to be.
"I dated a guy who’s ex left him randomly one morning, kissed her goodbye for work and came back and her sh*t was gone."
"Changed her number, and moved back home."
"He never talked to her again, I thought it was super sad and messed up for what she did."
"He use to wake up in the morning crying over her, I pathetically just comforted him."
"But one day I woke up to him emailing his ex girlfriends mother saying he was going to come down to Seattle and kill them all!"
"It wasn’t much later I found out he was served a restraining order from the family."
"Now I see why she left without saying goodbye."- Tay14073.
"We were making out at his house and he kept pressuring me to have sex."
"I was still a young, naive virgin so I refused."
"We started watching a movie instead."
"I went to the bathroom and he stole my car keys."
"Once I was back on the couch he started trying to take off my clothes."
"I was scared so I grabbed my purse to leave."
"That's when he jingles my keys."
"He said I could have them back once I slept with him. I just ran outside and called my dad."
"My dad showed up and threatened to beat his a** if my keys weren't returned."
"Got my keys and got the f*ck out."
"He continued to stalk me for the next 7 years."- UnicornQueefsGlitter.
happy in love GIF by LifetimeGiphyCouldn't wait to get married.... to someone else.
"She stole my car, drove it from Washington to Las Vegas, and married a guy she met on Xbox Live so he could get residence."- Reverend179.
Came back an entirely different person.
"She went on vacation to have a spiritual awakening by doing drugs in the jungle and came home accusing me of being a demon."- Modifiedpoutine.
"There was a lot of crap but this was the final straw."
"I locked the door before going to bed one night when he was out late with friends."
"He had lost his house key and never bothered to mention it, which was somehow my fault."
"He woke me up by banging on the window and when I let him in began screaming and throwing things at me."
"Telling me to pack up my sh*t and leave and locked me out of our bedroom."
"I slept on the couch."
"Next morning he acted completely normal, like nothing had happened."
"I was gone that day because I no longer felt safe."- swiftsafflina.
More than they could handle
"I woke up at 3am to my partner of 11 years muttering at me when he thought I was asleep."
"His tone was so dark and disturbing I felt that if I hadn't woken up to hear him I may not have woken up at all."
"He wasn't loud so maybe it was the way he was speaking that made me wake up like I did but my brain was immediately on high alert."
"I snapped awake and alert in an instant and just knew that I should just stay still and quiet and not let him know I was awake."
"What came out of him where all sorts of wild accusatory delusions spat at me with so much venom that 6 years later I still clearly remember the feeling of dread that washed over me."
"My whole body was weighed down with it."
"Our relationship wasn't a great one by any means but it was the first time I genuinely felt afraid of what he would do."
"I was afraid to speak up but also afraid that if I stayed quiet and let him keep on his rambling that it could progress into something worse and if it came to it I could never have fought him off."
"That's when it really clicked to me how seriously he needed professional intervention and that I was not only unable to help him but also that I needed to get out from under the same roof as him as soon as possible."
"Paranoid schizophrenia is a b*tch and the available mental health care in our area is a joke."- Wonkeynut.
Delayed validation.
"She crawled through my doggie door at 1:30 am, went through my phone, and then asked me why I was talking to another woman."
"Oh, I forgot to mention that I broke up with her a month earlier."
"We were not in a relationship when she pulled that stunt."- OLPopsAdelphia.
On My Way Cat GIFGiphyOver sharing?
"My ex would tell me about all the dreams he was having about killing me in vivid detail."- slightjudgment_.
Gaslighting, much?
"My ex would lie about sh*t and make me question my own reality."
"F*ck you bruh."- Suwaveh.
sally kohn gaslight GIF by The Opposite of HateGiphyLack of sympathy.
"Ex wife started an argument with me one morning when I was headed to the funeral of a childhood friend."
"I asked if she could not do this right now."
"Her response was “ohhhh, poor you.”
"That was the beginning of the end."- Slydermv.
There are those who look for a sign, as to whether or not they should stay in their relationship.
And when their sign is as bizarre and unsettling as several of the above stories, it might make them all the more grateful to have gotten out when they did.
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