Just over four decades ago, the internet wasn’t even a thing yet, while now more than half of the world’s population are internet users. According to recent statistics, there are roughly 5.35 billion people using it worldwide, 5 billion of whom are social media users.

Brimming with cat videos, memes, recipes, and… whatever you can think of, basically, social media platforms have flourished quite rapidly with the rise of the internet; especially over the last decade or so, with Facebook reportedly being the flagship.

According to Our World In Data, Facebook has grown the most in regards to number of users, judging by data from a 14-year period between 2004 and 2018. Leaving YouTube second on the list, it also outmatched Whatsapp, Instagram, Tumblr, and TikTok respectively. (Though according to the Digital 2024: Global Overview Report, over the recent years, TikTok has been number one in terms of hours spent using the platform; a TikToker reportedly spends roughly 34 hours a month scrolling through TikTok.)

The Digital 2024: Global Overview Report also found that despite not being number one in terms of the number of users, Instagram seems to top the list as people’s favorite social media platform. And it’s not difficult to see why; with the majority of content shared on Instagram—nearly 65% to be exact—being pictures, there ought to be a little something for everyone, be it snapshots of cute animals or cursed images.

One of the sources of the latter, the ‘Cursed Images 101’ account, has already amassed nearly 34 thousand followers with its somewhat bizarre and often quite frightening content.

But if the content is somewhat frightening, why would people choose to follow an account such as ‘Cursed Images 101’, you might wonder? The answer to why that is lies within the way our brain and bodies are wired.

In a TED-Ed video lesson, the sociologist, author, and educator Margee Kerr explained that under certain circumstances, being scared can actually be fun; that’s why in October of 2015 alone, roughly 28 million people visited a haunted house in the US.

According to Kerr, fear can feel pretty good. That’s because it is linked to the flight or fight response that fear triggers, which is accompanied by a release of chemicals that change the way our bodies and brains function. This kind of automatic response makes sure we have enough energy to fight the threat or escape any harm or pain, which entails shutting down all non-essential systems, such as critical thought.

“Feeling pain-free and energized, while not getting caught up in worries and thoughts that normally occupy our brains, that all sounds great,” Kerr’s lesson continued, pointing out that this type of response is similar, though not exactly the same, to what we experience in positive high-arousal states, like excitement or happiness.

The main difference between positive high-arousal states, such as happiness, and the fight or flight instinct evoked by fear is the context in which something happens. Margee Kerr explained that when a person is in real danger, they focus on survival, which is far from fun; however, when they know that the threat is not real and the environment is actually safe, they can focus on the natural high being scared brings.

The reason every person reacts differently to the perceived threat lies in the differences in how the chemicals associated with the threat response in their bodies work; that’s why some people love riding roller coasters, while others start shivering at the thought of it alone.

That’s also likely to be the reason why some people enjoy viewing pictures of spiders and similar creatures, while others stay away from browsing cursed images of any sorts. If you belong to the former group, you might want to continue to this list of cursed images next or browse this collection of creepy content for more spine-chilling pics.