How do old photos suddenly become scary/creepy (parent, father, thoughts)
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Very old photography technology meant some parts of the image faded faster. In particular, eyes seem to pop out eerily in original sepia photography that has aged. People were also often posed very stiffly as any movement would have blurred the final result, adding to the strange, staring effect.
That's a different thing entirely since those were much older than the period I'm talking about.
Well, not every photo was creepy, but a lot of them are. Some other posters have touched on the points about masks and costumes being homemade. And it was fairly normal for adults to dress in homemade costumes for Halloween parties, back in the day. So we are seeing costumes without filters, so to speak. It was OK for kids to dress up in Klan masks or adults in blackface. It is not OK to do that now.
But basically, I think you are finding them creepy because they are meant to be creepy. Perhaps the people in the oldest pics would not have used the word creepy, to describe their getups. But I think Halloween was a time in a socially constricted time, for kids and adults to be outrageous. So they were outrageous with abandon.
It's most likely not the photos themselves, it's you attaching some personal fears to them. For some reason the photos dredge up fears that the present-day you has. What are you afraid of? Do the photos remind you of these things?
No, they ARE creepy. Old-timey Halloween costumes are the stuff of nightmares, perhaps because of their primitive (compared to now) materials used to create them... if you don't believe me, take a gander at these:
Looking at a few of these images, a great deal of the creepiness for me comes from the fact that the backgrounds look like either an apocalypse just took place, or they were taken in that room from the end of "The Blair Witch Project." And then you have the Uncanny Valley effect of a lot of the masks, which look almost, but not quite, realistic.
Like this? I mean, what is even going on here... Popeye, Mickey, and Donald started a cult??
Somebody told be that photos only used to be in black and white ... don't know if it's true.
Please tell me you are joking.... or that you are very, very young.
What I find creepy are old Civil War and old West photos - finally figured it out, everyone has light colored eyes (I mean the caucasians). You don't see that as much anymore now that we have a more diverse population
They do look creepier from back then. I'm not sure why.
Maybe it's because of the black and white photos? Old B&W movies are much creepier than films made today because the director used lights and shadows rather than visual buckets of blood and gore.
Maybe it's as simple as the difference between jumping out and screaming "BOO!!!!" or remaining quiet, hidden and lightly whispering "boo!". The latter is scarier, but it's difficult to really understand or explain why.
If they are Victorian era photos, I can understand. The people in those photos look creepy even without the masks. IDK there is just something creepy about that era to me anyway.
No, they ARE creepy. Old-timey Halloween costumes are the stuff of nightmares, perhaps because of their primitive (compared to now) materials used to create them... if you don't believe me, take a gander at these:
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