These Chilling Photos Reveal a Different Side to History

Hello, brave visitor, and welcome to the Exhibition of the Uncanny! But beware. This is going to be one chilling experience for you. Even Sabrina the Witch couldn’t handle these photos... Now, if you’ve got what it takes to jump into the tunnel of oddities, let’s begin!

The first photo will take you back to 1900s Belfast. It shows fifteen females who were workers at a linen mill. If you calculate how many hands fifteen people have, it makes thirty, right? But take a good look at the photo, and you’ll see that there’s an extra hand that doesn’t belong to any of the ladies there. All the women are arranged in rows with their arms crossed over their chests and hands tucked underneath their arms.

There is only one exception to that, and it’s the lady in the second row with one hand on her hip and the other down by her side. That’s one little rebel you’ve got there! But the mysterious claw-like hand is neither hers nor does it belong to someone close to her. It’s actually resting on the shoulder of a girl on the other side of the same row. And there’s no one else who the hand could belong to

Even though it’s a century old, the photograph first appeared on the Internet on April 29, 2016. It was sent to one website by a woman named Lynda, who identified the girl with the hand on her shoulder as her grandmother Ellen Donnelly. But she never commented on whom that hand might belong to. What’s even weirder is that there’s no evidence whatsoever that suggests that the photo was digitally altered. So, where did this lonely hand come from?

Photoshop didn’t exist back then, but this doesn’t mean photographers didn’t have the necessary skills to edit their photos. Although it was not possible to add an extra hand to a photo, it was surely possible to remove any unwanted objects or people by simply cutting them out with scissors. Photographers would then draw what they wanted to be in the picture in pencil or charcoal. They could also combine multiple negatives to create a single image.

There’s one more answer to where the hand could have come from. Even though instantaneous photography already existed in the 1900s, some photographers still used the long exposure technique to capture the moment. So, it is possible that while the photo was being taken, the lady in the back initially placed her hands on Ellen and then decided to cross her arms, which makes this terrifying photo the result of long camera exposure. So, you can ease your mind that it was not Thing — the hand that lived with the Addams Family — that photobombed this picture.

In our second photo, you’ll see a young lady holding a glowing apparition between her hands — it might almost make it easy for you to believe that magic is real. But sorry to disappoint you because that is not the Expelliarmus spell she’s doing. The woman in the photo is French-born Marthe Béraud, who later changed her name to Eva Carriere. She lived between 1886 and 1943.

She was a fraudulent medium. She claimed to have psychic abilities that allowed her to communicate with people who had passed over to the other side and make their spirits materialize during her seances. At the time, such lying mediums would follow a standard procedure during their seances. They would enter a closet installed in the room to pretend to concentrate. Then they could use their “powers” at full capacity to generate ectoplasm.

When not used in the context of cell biology, ectoplasm is a term referring to an imaginary substance that would come out of the body of the medium. It then might take the shape of a face, a hand, or even the entire body of the person who is being called “back to life.” Eva Carriere was one of those dishonest mediums who would use chewed paper and cut-out faces from magazines and newspapers to make fake ectoplasm. This photo of hers, taken in 1912 by German parapsychological researcher Albert von Schrenck-Nozing, shows her in action during one of such deceptive seances.

But knowing the full story doesn’t change the fact that this photo can make your hair stand on end. But what’s even more unbelievable than the photo itself is the fact that she was able to convince big names, like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes mystery series, that she was the real thing. But you’ll be happy to know that she couldn’t trick illusionist and escape artist Harry Houdini who, unlike Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, thought her performances were nothing more than a magician’s tricks.

These owls in the third photo are not Hogwarts owls, and they are not here to bring you your acceptance letter. This photo was taken in the 1920s outside The Manchester Grammar School, which was founded all the way back in 1515 by a man named Hugh Oldham. And he is the reason why these people are wearing weird owl costumes as they’re marching. Hugh Oldham was born in Manchester. He wasn’t a serious scholar despite attending both Oxford and Cambridge universities. (Well the tuition was cheaper then.)

However, he was in Royal service, and thanks to his administrative skills, he was favored with important titles. That is what actually helped him reach high positions and become a powerful and influential figure. And through his new duties, he was able to achieve great wealth, which he later used to fund the school. The motto of Oldham’s school, which is written on its coat of arms, is the Latin phrase “Sapere Aude,” which loosely translates to “dare to be wise.” To this day, the school still has that same motto. But the choice of the owl doesn’t symbolize wisdom as you might think.

The owl on The Manchester Grammar School’s badge is carrying a banner with the word “dom” on it. If you read it as one would read emojis, you’ll arrive at “owl-dhom,” which is actually a reference to Hugh Oldham. When you look at the crest of the Town of Oldham, you’ll see that it’s very similar to that of the school. This choice was made to reflect the pronunciation of Oldham in the local accent, which is “Owldem.” Accordingly, paying respects to their founding father is why both the school’s and the town’s mascot is the owl. So, rest assured that nothing sinister and spooky is going on in this photo.

How about something sweet after all that eerie stuff? The fourth photo depicts an innocent child whose eyes are screaming, “Help me!” But don’t worry! The Boogeyman is not the one holding him! The “thing” he seems to be sitting on is actually his mother! This was called hidden mother photography, and it was actually very common in the Victorian Era.

Back in the 1840s, the only way people could have their photos taken was with a daguerreotype camera which was the first photographic camera developed for commercial use. These cameras had exposure times from tens of seconds to several minutes. So, one had to stay perfectly still during all that time to get a clear picture. But as you can imagine, it’s not easy for a child to stay motionless for such a long period of time. And you can’t say “strike a pose” to a baby, either. So, this is the reason why the hidden mother technique was born.

Children would be photographed with their mothers present. But Mommy would also have to be hidden within the frame. To achieve that, they would often stand behind curtains, under cloaks or blankets, or act as chairs.

Sometimes photographers would also remove parts of photographs where moms were visible. The hardships mothers have to go through for their children! Boy that hasn’t changed! Some of the photos turned out quite well, but some of them ended up looking nightmarish.

This practice continued to be used up until the 1920s. But as cameras became faster, there was no need for moms to hide anymore. At least until photobombing became a thing...