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While most of us are naturally curious and suffer from more or less pronounced FOMO, meaning we have to know, see and hear everything others do, it’s not always best for us.

Some things are better left unknown or at least not put in the nightmarishly dim light like the facts shared on the “Creepy.fact” Instagram account. Followed by 231k followers, the page calls itself “the scariest account on Instagram” so we are about to see if that’s true. We wrapped up some of the most interesting posts shared on this page, so pull your seat closer, as you may want to leave your lights on.

The truth is... nothing beats the enduring appeal of things that fall under the categories of horror, grotesque, and mystery. Just look at the recent craze around gothic and horror TV shows (I refuse to believe there exists a person who hasn’t yet watched Tim Burton’s Wednesday) and serial killer documentaries (Netflix’ spin on Dahmer, anyone?!).

So to find out more about what it is that makes us tick when it comes to horror, we spoke with Lauren McMenemy, a south London-based writer of gothic-influenced folk horror who is currently working on a novel set in the world of the Victorian occult. And she was happy to share some very interesting insights into the topic!

#1

Creepy-Random-Facts

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Hailie
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I asked my counselor about these types of thoughts! She said they're completely normal.

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“Humans are inherently morbid, whether they like to admit it or not,” Lauren McMenemy, a professional writer, journalist, and experienced writing mentor and coach told Bored Panda. “We are fascinated by death - by avoiding it, by cheating it, by embracing it, by understanding what comes next.”

“And I think the last bit is really why we love the creepy stuff; ghosts and skeletons and vampires and other creepy things help us to explore what comes after death. As for mysteries, well, who doesn't love a good mystery! As well as being morbid, we are also inherently curious creatures,” McMenemy explained.

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SydneyGirl
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Bloody huntsman. Those dinner plate sized ones creeping out from behind a picture on the wall do tend to create stained undies.

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Mahayana
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That’s good! I’m going to try that with the next ice cream truck I see!

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McMenemy argues that it's what marks out humans and has helped us to grow and develop over generations and millennia. “We want to figure out the things we don't understand, and when we can't figure them out then some of us become obsessed by them.” McMenemy still remembers her own childhood obsession with the Bermuda Triangle, and who didn’t have one!

When asked whether horror as a genre is becoming more popular lately, McMenemy said that it definitely feels like it. “A large part of that is down to social media and the growth of self-publishing. The 'establishment' publishing houses still don't seem to like much in the way of horror - though serial killer fiction used to be considered horror, once upon a time! - but there is a huge online horror community, and they love to share discoveries,” the writer explained.

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Minath
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Happened in South Africa as well. Two Orcas called Port and Starboard turned up and after they killed and ate the livers of a few Great Whites, the sharks moved out. There were a few years with basically no sightings of the sharks.

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Greta Kolding
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If they saw the c**p their laughter is used for now they would be turning in their graves.

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Moreover, “Self-publishing has made it easier for people to share their own stories, too. And then we have the visual medium, and streaming services making access to horror much easier. I think the appetite has always been there, but it's just easier to get hold of that ‘fix,’” McMenemy explained.

We were also eager to find out what makes a book or a film particularly creepy. The academic answer to what makes things creepy, McMenemy argues, lies in the concept of the "uncanny", or the psychological experience of something as mysterious and creepy in a strangely familiar way.

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Saint Thomas
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Come on BP, that's at least the 3rd time in 2 weeks that you put this pic in a list...

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“It's the strangeness of the ordinary, the field where we are unable to distinguish between pleasure and displeasure and so we become anxious. Creepiness is about the uncertainty of a threat; you think there's something to worry about, but the signals aren't clear enough to send you into action,” the writer told us.

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Ex Pat
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Locked-in syndrome." Not an isolated event. [Martin Pistorius]

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Elita One
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Think I'll just stick to pictures from the people who've been there and done that, thanks.

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Meanwhile, “in books and film, this often takes the form of things just outside of our vision, or of familiar signals such as old and dilapidated houses, cobwebs, the unkempt and unloved. It results in that tingling down your spine, the goosebumps on your arms - you can't quite figure out what's going on, but you are intrigued…” McMenemy concluded.

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Saint Thomas
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

To be more precise, it was a dead shark from the get go, and it's a tank of formol.

Katie Lutesinger
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I saw the urban explorer's video in which he discovered her! Boy did he get a shock when he shone his torch into the abandoned room and saw her outline. A few weeks later it had gone viral and other people were going to check her out (and of course some took the opportunity to trash the place and throw stuff in the tank). Thanks to the publicity, though, she was ultimately removed and restored and her tank was cleaned out, and she's now the property of... I forget the name, but a crystal museum elsewhere in Australia.

ERIKA H.
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Unfortunately, the shark, which had been perfectly preserved for a long time, is now deteriorating due to vandals breaking the glass and throwing stuff in the tank

DEW
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Okay I find this really gross!! BUT....I also find it kind of interesting! Can (sorry I can't think of the name) the fish studying find out information on this? Aaaaahhh Marine Biologist!! I finally remembered!!

SheamusFanFrom1987
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sounds like the plot of a horror movie featuring a supernatural shark... Oh wait...

Justin
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Did anyone else mistake the reflection in the glass for a giant open mouth (like a crocodile's)? No? Just me?

Kennedy Kargeaux
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Didn't they rescue this though & move it somewhere to be a tourist attraction as well as made a new tank for it?

Monster
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Rosie is gone, just checked the google reviews of this closed down place and people still go there and no kore Rosie

Greenmantle
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hang on, was this a prop in the movie "Mental" with Toni Collette and Rebecca Gibney?

Johanne Trudeau
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How sad... They could have relocated it to a better place where it could have lived out the rest of it's days...

Savannah Finn
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not the full story! I believe this shark's name is Rosie and she was killed when she swam too close to a families tuna nets :( She was preserved in a tank of formaldehyde and sold to a water theme park-type thing. The glass tank where Rosie lived was located in Victoria, Australia which closed back in 2012 due to underfunding. Because of the lack of money, the park could not afford to ship Rosie anywhere and she was abandoned in that park along with most of their other attractions. When she was discovered a few years later AGAIN, she was moved to Crystal World Exhibition Center where you can still see her today.

April Miller
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What do people think they should’ve done with a dead shark preserved in formaldehyde?

FoxgloveTea
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hope it was dead before they left because if not then I might cry.

Ali Sherlock
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When it was still running, I went there with my parents on a holiday. The guy who ran it supposedly took footage of sharks that Steven Spielberg used in Jaws

Rostit .
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Very misleading headline. Creepyfact is a terrible page. Their stuff is so lame. The shark was dead before it went on display. It was preserved. It was in a display. It's not a dead normal shark left to rot.

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