Scary Pictures Experts Are Struggling to Explain

What is more frightening: having a terrifying experience that you are never quite sure was real, or capturing a photo that allows you to relive the experience forever? The people who took these scary pictures that even experts can’t explain probably wish they had never pulled out their cameras.

10. Scary Pictures – Restaurant Selfie

Many of us enjoy taking photos when we have a night out on the town; however, they rarely turn out to be scary pictures. Ian Wrin and April Russ were certainly surprised by what they saw in the background of the selfie they took while dining at Tujague’s, one of the oldest restaurants in New Orleans.

Just above Wrin’s left shoulder, you can spot a semi-transparent face that appears to be watching the couple as they enjoy their meal. Who is this mysterious figure?

According to local legend, the spot is haunted by Julian, aka “Vesta Tilley.” Julian was a drag performer who was something of a local legend. Julian was a famous actor in the silent age of film, even starring alongside Rudolph Valentino, and had his own line of cosmetics. His photo hung in Tujague’s until 2013 when it was removed to the attic. Apparently, Julian wasn’t happy about the move, as he has been haunting the restaurant ever since.

Could this photo really be of Julian? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

9. The Father of the US

Anyone who has lived in the United States has probably seen dozens of portraits of George Washington. However, it is unlikely that you have seen him pop up in scary pictures. That’s why this couple was so surprised when they started to see the face of the first US president appearing on their bedroom wall.

In this photo taken in the couple’s bedroom, you can clearly see a ghostly face that almost appears to be painted on the wall. Yet, the couple insists that the wall is blank. The person who shared the photo online didn’t even believe his girlfriend when she insisted she had seen the president’s face on the wall until he saw the evidence in the photo.

When the photo was first shared, many thought the image had to be fake, however the couple have staunchly defended the image, swearing that, for some reason, they’re haunted by George Washington.

8. Scary Pictures – Ghost in the Parking Lot

This photo, submitted by Slapped Ham viewer Vakri Baldrson, is just a cute dog acting silly in the front seat of a car, right? That’s what the dog’s owner thought when he decided to capture the moment on camera. Little did he know that these scary pictures would show up on his camera.

In the background of the photo behind the car, taken in Hemel Hempstead, we see what appears to be a blurry figure walking through the parking lot. At first glance, you would probably assume that it was just a person walking by when the photo was taken. However, the person who captured the photo insists that they and the dog were alone in the parking lot when the shot was taken.

Believing that a ghost might have photobombed them, they took to the internet to do research and hopefully shed light on the mysterious picture. Much to their surprise, they discovered that a man named Adam Watt had been stabbed in the area in 2017. Watt, unfortunately, died as a result of his wounds. Could he have been the mysterious figure that appeared in the background of this photo?

7. Face in an Abandoned Building

This photo, submitted by Slapped Ham viewer Nick Carter, was taken when Carter was exploring a former RAF base at Manby Hall in the UK. He had no idea that the photos he took while exploring the base would turn out to be such scary pictures.

On its face, this photo is a little creepy. The run-down room has an eerie aura that makes you glad that you’re only looking at a photo of it. However, if you look closely at the doorway on the far right of the picture, you’ll see something truly spine-chilling: a ghost-like face peering out from around the doorframe.

In an old building like this, there are surely countless stories of tragedies and creepy events that could explain this terrifying face peeking out. As of right now, the identity of this spirit remains a mystery.

6. Scary Pictures – The Hidden Man

We all take photos of ourselves. Usually, the worst thing to happen is that we’ll hate the way we look in them and instantly delete them. This woman, however, was probably terrified when she looked at this particular shot.

The photo doesn’t look particularly frightening at first. The scary part is in the shadows behind the woman’s face, where there appears to be another face staring out into the camera.

What makes this photo particularly terrifying is how the photographer spotted the mysterious man. According to him, the photo editing software that he was using has facial recognition capabilities to help the user focus on the faces in the pictures. When he was editing this photo, the software kept focusing on the face in the shadows instead of the woman’s face.

What could explain this demon-like photobomber?

5. A Lady in the Photo

A man named Mark moved into a new house in Crew, Cheshire. He was often alone in the house decorating when he would hear strange sounds: footsteps, light switches, and toilets flushing on their own. He thought he must be imagining things. Even when he discovered that the woman who had lived in the house previously had died suddenly, he never expected that the house would yield such scary pictures.

Then, he took this photo of four of his friends posing with their drinks during a get-together in the house. If you look closely at the photo in the background, you will see what appears to be a woman’s face looking out from the photo.

Mark was unnerved by this apparition in the picture. He tried several times to replicate the effect in the original photo, but without success. Could it be the spirit of the woman who died in the home?

4. The Brown Lady

In the 1700s, Lady Dorothy Walpole of Raynham Hall in Norfolk, England met with an unfortunate fate. She was accused of adultery by her abusive husband and ordered to live out the rest of her life behind the closed doors of her home. She remained within the walls of Raynham Hall until 1726 when she died of smallpox. According to legend, her sentence of home imprisonment extended even until the afterlife. Visitors to the hall believe that she remains there, even in death.

This eerie photo captured the infamous “Brown Lady of Raynham Hall” as she descended a stairway in the building. She is dubbed the “brown lady” because each time she appears, she is wearing a brown brocade dress. There have been numerous sightings over the years of this notorious spirit who seems destined to wander the halls forever.

3. The Boy in the Woods

The ghosts of children who appear in scary pictures are even more eerie and tragic than your average ghost photo. In this case, the sad face of a young boy seems to be staring out from the photo as if asking for help.

The photo has circulated on paranormal websites for years, but no one has been able to explain or identify it. The unknown photographer snapped a photo in a cemetery. Behind one of the tombstones appears the disembodied head of a young boy who appears to be looking out from the trees.

Who is this child? So far, no one has even been able to identify the cemetery in which the photo was taken. Without even this basic information, it has been impossible for ghost hunters to begin searching for the identity of the forlorn spirit. Perhaps finding his identity would be enough to put the young spirit at peace.

2. The Gettysburg Ghost

Battlefields are a common haunting ground for spirits; this is understandable, as thousands of people typically lose their lives on every battlefield. However, some battlefields are more popular for ghosts than others. The Gettysburg Battlefield in Pennsylvania is considered one of the most haunted spots in the world. On this battlefield, which was a turning point in the American Civil War, over 7,000 soldiers lost their lives. Many of these soldiers apparently stuck around long after the battle ended.

While there are countless stories of ghosts haunting the town of Gettysburg, scary pictures of the ghosts are less common. In this photo, one tourist seems to have captured evidence of one of the battlefield’s many resident spirits.

The photo was taken of a group touring Devil’s Den: one of the bloodiest locations on the battlefield. On the second day of the three-day battle, thousands of soldiers were killed as the Union Army defended the high ground atop the rocks. Apparently, one of the officers of the Confederate Army is still trying to storm the spot. Toward the back of the photo, you can see the image of a uniformed Confederate officer marching past the rocks, seemingly determined in his quest for victory. The tour group doesn’t seem to notice the phantom, but his presence in the photo is haunting.

1. The Reaper

Nursing homes can be frightening places, especially at night. In a place where people are often sick and dying, it can be hard to avoid feeling a little creeped out walking the halls. This photo of a darkened hallway in a nursing home will do little to quell that anxiety.

On this particular night, a patient passed away. While sad, the death was a routine part of working in such a place. Fifteen minutes later, the staff and residents in the building heard doors mysteriously opening and closing. In addition, the call light in the now vacated room began turning on and off on its own. One resident went into the hallway and snapped this photo. They were horrified by what they saw.

Floating at the end of the hallway is a terrifying black figure. Coupled with the other events of the evening, the resident believes this apparition could be the recently departed resident or perhaps the reaper that came to collect them. Either way, this mysterious photo is certainly spine-chilling.