Cursed images, as a genre, first popped up on the internet around 2015. Ever since then, they’ve become the focus point of lots of social media accounts that are exclusively dedicated to documenting and (re)sharing them.

Cursed content, often seen as the complete opposite of ‘blessed’ memes, generally depicts somewhat disturbing things. These pics are, more often than not, low-quality, which adds to the eerie atmosphere.

The @cursed.pic account has a long history of livening up Instagram users’ feeds with incredibly weird content. Let’s be honest here: these images are really odd. But it’s this fact that makes them stand out from the crowd so much.

Imagine seeing something like this in between people’s picture-perfect vacation and wedding snapshots. It’s something that grabs your attention and makes you wonder what the ever-loving heck is going on.

The Instagram account first saw the (digital) light of day way back in late 2016. Over the past 7+ years, the curator running @cursed.pic has attracted a following of 27.5k followers. It just goes to show that there’s a niche for practically everything and anything on social media. As it turns out, there are plenty of folks who enjoy getting their daily dose of cursed images.

However, let’s not be naive either. Sure, there are plenty of cursed meme fans out there in the world. They like unconventional, creepy, out-of-the-box content that’s more confusing than it is enlightening.

It’s this same lack of context that pushes other social media users away. They prefer their memes to be simple, clear, and with a couple of lines of funny and relatable text.

So, while some peeps enjoy playing a guessing game about what exactly they see in cursed and contextless images, others feel exasperated. Or, to put it more simply, they do not ‘get’ the memes. And that’s perfectly okay. It’d be a very boring world indeed if absolutely everyone only ever liked the same types of memes.

Luckily, there’s enough content out there, in the far reaches of the internet, for all senses of humor. From absurd and unconventional memes to dad jokes and everything in between. Over the years, people find themselves accidentally stumbling across entirely new subgenres of humor that they had no clue even existed.

With people’s sense of humor changing and evolving with every new generation, you can expect a lot more weirdness in the future.

Aside from the fun of guessing the story behind each picture, cursed content also draws people in with its sheer bizarreness. Whether we like to admit it or not, many of us are drawn in by spooky, creepy, weird, and unusual stuff. These sorts of images give us a dollop of novelty and make us feel slightly uncomfortable.

There’s a certain macabre fascination at play here. And if you’re skeptical, consider how many of your friends enjoy true crime shows and podcasts, or horror movies. It’s the same logic.

At the same time, you can’t post images and memes that are completely random. Sure, randomness is funny to a certain extent. However, memes are, by definition, meant to go viral. You can’t do that if you don’t make the image and the message relatable… at least on some level.

There needs to be something about the pic that stands out and resonates with the viewer. Even a short comment left by a curator can help the content creator connect with their audience.

Tell us a bit about what you think about the images featured in this list, Pandas. Are you fans of cursed content, or do you prefer more ‘traditional’ memes? Why do you personally think so many internet users enjoy looking at cursed images? Scroll down and leave a comment if you happen to have a spare moment!