10 REAL Photos with Creepy Backstories

Real, rare historical photos. From children doing emergency drills for bombing raids to the staking of an alleged vampire’s heart, join us as we take a look at these 10 real photos with creepy backstories.

10. Liverpool School Children with Gas Masks

This unsettling photo was taken in Liverpool, England in 1941.  After persistent bombing from German air forces during early phases of World War 2, all UK citizens were issued with a gas mask. Rampant fear of a gas attack on Britain lead many schools to run drills with their students. This photos shows young school children learning how to put on a gas mask and file, hand in hand to a nearby meeting area.

9. Hit by a Meteorite

This is Ann Elizabeth Fowler Hodges. She is the first documented human to be hit by a verified extraterrestrial object.

Known as the Sylacauga meteorite, this 5.5 kg (12 lbs) space rock fell into the living room of Hodges on the afternoon of November 30, 1954.  She lay on her couch having an afternoon snooze when the meteorite crashed through the roof of her house. It bounced off a large wooden radio then smashed into her left hip, causing significant bruising.

The event garnered worldwide media attention and soon a bitter ownership battle broke out between Hodges and her landlord as to who owned the meteorite. Offers of up to US$5000 were being made to purchase the rock. After a lengthy one year dispute, Hodges finally settled with her landlord by paying US$500 for the chunk of meteorite but by then public interest had diminished and buyers were no longer interested.

8. Horatio Robley’s Severed Head Collection

Taken in 1895, this photo shows Horatio Gordon Robley sitting with his collection of severed heads. Known as Mokomokai, these are the preserved heads of tattooed Maori tribesmen. During the 19th century Musket Wars in New Zealand, violent clashes broke out between arriving Europeans and the native Maori. The war saw the severed heads of natives used as a form of currency which could be bartered for other goods and even firearms.

7. Andersonville Prison Camp Survivor

During the American Civil War the Andersonville Prison Camp was notorious for its poor treatment of inmates. The prison was built around a swamp. Prisoners were often forced to bathe and drink water contaminated with the faeces of thousands of sick and dying men. Diseases like dysentry, diarrhea and scurvy were rife throughout the camp.

This photo is of a Union soldier who managed to survive the horrific conditions at the Andersonville Prison Camp. His emaciated figure gives insight into the appalling treatment the prisoners of war had to endure.

6. Staked Heart of Alleged Vampire

This is the mummified heart of alleged vampire August Delagrange. It is said that he was responsible for the deaths of more than 40 people in the early 1900’s. In 1912, Delegrange was murdered by a catholic priest who drove a stake into his heart.

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