https://twitter.com/cursedimages_2https://www.instagram.com/cursed_images/
i: a lot of photo by flash (but not all) ii: much reflective gleam of animalian cornea (but not all) iii: it is often quite lynchian (but not always) iv: it overlaps with creepypasta but is much broader (and imo more subtly imaginative) v: double ditto "lurking clown" photos, which would obviously belong but actually don't often featurevi: triple ditto blobismus! vii: the shadowland liminality (liminalism?) of various psycho-affective border-territories: man-beast, "non-sentient" objects with vivid character, would you eat this, creepy visual puns via juxtaposition, sinister twee peril, suburban darkness, awareness/lack of awareness, daft rando performativity that scares the fkn bejesus out of you (cf coulrophobia and v)
this (and https://twitter.com/WorstBlobby) are the only things that comfort me any more: i am happy to accept this is a decadent pathology and an indication of despair
over to you
proposed name for the aesthetic:
― mark s, Thursday, 9 March 2017 10:03 (nine years ago)
oh yes, the curator ask that images be sent him/her/them/whatever, and selects from that according to i guess "cursedness" -- one stipulation is NO SHOPS
― mark s, Thursday, 9 March 2017 10:07 (nine years ago)
vii encompasses uncanny valley also obv
― mark s, Thursday, 9 March 2017 10:49 (nine years ago)
vii is key. a lot of mundane scenes made jarring by having some sort of jarring animalistic/death-drive presence. there's a lot of meat
― ogmor, Thursday, 9 March 2017 11:05 (nine years ago)
jarring? jarring
yes i'm not sure if jarring is quite the right word, seems to suggest too abrupt a realisation, too step-change: what's unsettling is that this realisation (that you stepped across a border into a world you really don't want to be in) is simultaneously gradual AND quick, beginning slight ending up intense -- this was ordinary and funny and NOW THERE'S NO WAY BACK
(and partly it''s unsettling partly bcz "gradual AND quick" isn't a real-world category?)
there *is* a lot of meat (shd dig out adorno's stuff on animals and meat, feel it's surprisingly pertinent, esp. as you wouldn't tag TWA as a connoisseur of this kind of stuff)
― mark s, Thursday, 9 March 2017 11:17 (nine years ago)
also, bananas
― attention vampire (MatthewK), Thursday, 9 March 2017 11:45 (nine years ago)
the mapping of the immanent liminality of the banana is an epistemic breakthrough all on its own
― mark s, Thursday, 9 March 2017 12:12 (nine years ago)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C2lryuOUsAAbiEp.jpg
― mark s, Thursday, 9 March 2017 23:03 (nine years ago)
(not actually what i was looking for, but i can't resist the expressions)
― mark s, Thursday, 9 March 2017 23:04 (nine years ago)
https://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_480w/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/in-the-loop/Images/spicerbunny.jpg?uuid=VmUOcpe2EeK2j9xcS0flGQ
― devvvine, Thursday, 9 March 2017 23:06 (nine years ago)
lmao
― Le Bateau Ivre, Thursday, 9 March 2017 23:08 (nine years ago)
it's a cursed image world we just etc
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CsmxaFfVIAMExAO.jpg
this is closer to what i was after: people in a CI picture where you absolutely can't tell (bcz artful? bcz we are just intruders in their realm?) if this is a performance or verité
(the kid's performing but what about the woman pushing the trolley…)
― mark s, Thursday, 9 March 2017 23:21 (nine years ago)
I get Diane Arbus like vibes from some of them.
― MaresNest, Friday, 10 March 2017 00:05 (nine years ago)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C6XUu05UoAArI1B.jpg
^ Actually dreamed this in a nightmare about four years ago
― Never changed username before (cardamon), Friday, 10 March 2017 00:32 (nine years ago)
Loved the truck with the "flames" paint job, on fire.
― Sanpaku, Friday, 10 March 2017 00:52 (nine years ago)
feel this is outside the standard guidelines:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C69END7WYAA07ym.jpg
― mark s, Wednesday, 15 March 2017 11:25 (nine years ago)
a crucified easter bunny made of toast, outside tooting station (stolen from @andrewbloch)https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9R4c7XXgAEmkkJ.jpg
not officially cursed: i can't decide if it fits the aesthetic (perhaps too well made)
― mark s, Friday, 14 April 2017 20:21 (nine years ago)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DDXmc0dVwAA_WDg.jpg
― mark s, Wednesday, 5 July 2017 22:08 (nine years ago)
it plays "Let It Go" when you open the lid
― more polls about food and reactionary art (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 5 July 2017 22:09 (nine years ago)
Mark, you need to follow the Facebook group called Theories of the deep understanding of things.
― Jack-et potato? (jed_), Wednesday, 5 July 2017 22:13 (nine years ago)
https://www.facebook.com/Theories.of/photos/a.336231093415.155746.300760038415/10155393945428416/?type=3&theater
― Jack-et potato? (jed_), Wednesday, 5 July 2017 22:17 (nine years ago)
https://www.facebook.com/Theories.of/photos/a.10155364989723416.1073741850.300760038415/10155387237713416/?type=3&theater
― Jack-et potato? (jed_), Wednesday, 5 July 2017 22:20 (nine years ago)
http://img.over-blog-kiwi.com/1/47/69/47/20150928/ob_12d4c5_0lbwsph.jpg
― Heavy Doors (jed_), Wednesday, 5 July 2017 22:35 (nine years ago)
^is that it? that's it
so not gonna happen
― mark s, Wednesday, 5 July 2017 22:40 (nine years ago)
omg
― gin and chronic (Ye Mad Puffin), Thursday, 6 July 2017 10:58 (nine years ago)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DGt74NfVoAADSRP.jpg
― mark s, Tuesday, 8 August 2017 15:39 (nine years ago)
i liked this one https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DGgSkxxVYAANrnj.jpg
― ogmor, Tuesday, 8 August 2017 15:42 (nine years ago)
Imagine: you've called round on some errand and the entire family is dressed like this. No explanation offered.
http://i.imgur.com/MuRaz.jpg
It's the perfect contrast of the mundane and the inexplicable, the ordinary suburban backdrop combined with whatever the hell it is these people are doing.
Another weird detail I've just noticed is "Lisa" isn't holding a saxophone but a large pipe(?)
― Pheeel, Tuesday, 8 August 2017 16:06 (nine years ago)
#nofilter
― mark s, Tuesday, 8 August 2017 16:08 (nine years ago)
man every single one of those "real life Simpsons" photos/mock-ups creeps the hell out of me
― frogbs, Tuesday, 8 August 2017 16:11 (nine years ago)
lol @ all the comments that just say "Russia"
― brimstead, Wednesday, 9 August 2017 02:08 (nine years ago)
https://68.media.tumblr.com/66d6482455e5702d0bd84945b6031567/tumblr_otwkho8JzF1w22gauo1_1280.jpg_
― for sale: clown shoes, never worn (bizarro gazzara), Monday, 14 August 2017 18:52 (nine years ago)
https://68.media.tumblr.com/66d6482455e5702d0bd84945b6031567/tumblr_otwkho8JzF1w22gauo1_1280.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBBv2keV0AAW2vN.jpg
― mark s, Friday, 1 September 2017 22:23 (eight years ago)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DJTZ2McUEAAgnc9.jpg
― mark s, Saturday, 9 September 2017 18:47 (eight years ago)
the gigeresque uh 'aperture' on the tree really adds to the effect
― Wesley Shackleton explained "look at that beast." (bizarro gazzara), Saturday, 9 September 2017 19:07 (eight years ago)
feel like the twitter acct deviates from the aesthetic a lot now for just Funny Images though the ones reposted here are mostly on point
― ciderpress, Saturday, 9 September 2017 19:09 (eight years ago)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DNexeoFU8AA8R8l.jpg
― soref, Tuesday, 31 October 2017 17:37 (eight years ago)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DNZxj0vV4AAlJHy.jpg
― mark s, Tuesday, 31 October 2017 20:29 (eight years ago)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DNffpu0WsAI8YCT.jpg
― Le Bateau Ivre, Tuesday, 31 October 2017 21:04 (eight years ago)
gahhhhh
http://78.media.tumblr.com/d96b5221996b8802b15a84e1494cff96/tumblr_ozlormlKdN1vdgpnbo1_500.jpg
― It happens sometimes. People just explode. Natural causes. (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, 22 November 2017 17:56 (eight years ago)
DAIRY CULTURE HAS GONE TOO FAR pic.twitter.com/ZI60j0pWoU— rahel aima (@cnqmdi) December 15, 2017
or click through: http://batheinmymilk.com/
― mark s, Friday, 15 December 2017 15:07 (eight years ago)
I'm upset to find out at the bottom of that page that is not real ;_;
(well, the photos are real, but it's by some dude)
― ♫ very clever with maracas.jpg ♫ (Le Bateau Ivre), Friday, 15 December 2017 15:25 (eight years ago)
https://www.facebook.com/kfcnz/photos/a.10150159153207139.337298.165461127138/10151097965637139/?type=3&theater
:o
― frogbs, Friday, 15 December 2017 15:34 (eight years ago)
idgi
― Susan Stranglehands (jed_), Friday, 15 December 2017 16:43 (eight years ago)
long fingers
― frogbs, Friday, 15 December 2017 16:44 (eight years ago)
https://78.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m231sn5cxQ1ql8xx7o1_500.png
― dipso inferno (bizarro gazzara), Friday, 15 December 2017 16:52 (eight years ago)
Only just realised the teletubbies pic is in a hospital ward, not some kid's bedroom. I guess that kind-of explains it? Maybe?
― Pheeel, Friday, 15 December 2017 21:18 (eight years ago)
ugh ban me i think that's ai
― five six seven, eight nine ten, begin (map), Tuesday, 22 April 2025 01:20 (one year ago)
I think that's an actual photograph of a real event.
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Tuesday, 22 April 2025 03:07 (one year ago)
the cover of the new Wet Leg album feels v cursed to me:
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1814951076_16.jpg
― better than ezra collective soul asylum (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 30 April 2025 16:28 (one year ago)
https://scontent.fslc3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/32187717_1469106063193653_5732573956133617664_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=nR48k-Pcn-IQ7kNvwGNnXr7&_nc_oc=AdnUfIpT20K9r1kLVVWpApvwNe6VuBaHYJtTd_7lZSvuKqME4SPXZ0KkBqI9mOwLhqY&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent.fslc3-1.fna&_nc_gid=pUO16O-52ThYLmtarvN1ow&oh=00_AfIfztmOs8Krl9fgsrtu3bdjyQKZvD3HXSbfBFSMSOKWcg&oe=6849536B
― five six seven, eight nine ten, begin (map), Monday, 12 May 2025 12:49 (one year ago)
that's wonderful
― corrs unplugged, Monday, 12 May 2025 13:03 (one year ago)
thought for a second i was in the literal album covers thread
― scanner darkly, Monday, 12 May 2025 22:58 (one year ago)
https://scontent.fslc3-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/499692779_10230998335234921_2179869258135988345_n.jpg?_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=aa7b47&_nc_ohc=mTxThEw0tQ0Q7kNvwHQ1C66&_nc_oc=AdkvmYF4_3xdKNuTrZQoMaO2HbHMLUwhya41DTGu71-nJsz2Hu1IvV6VrWw3Bz73wOSzXx55kMLwcGKuHJqVpes8&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent.fslc3-2.fna&_nc_gid=GpuGOvJotS0y5cID3D0b8A&oh=00_AfJz_Ex4RWlxqOrvHK6AA5hxXlXN73edU7KXqordtm4KHA&oe=683AA7AD
― five six seven, eight nine ten, begin (map), Monday, 26 May 2025 20:56 (one year ago)
https://imgur.com/a/5pD9TtS
― Andy the Grasshopper, Friday, 4 July 2025 21:49 (one year ago)
fuck it
― Andy the Grasshopper, Friday, 4 July 2025 21:50 (one year ago)
yeah seems to be cursed
― Proust Ian Rush (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Friday, 4 July 2025 22:06 (one year ago)
it’s not just the cursed images you see, it’s the cursed images you don’t see
― z_tbd, Friday, 4 July 2025 23:30 (one year ago)
https://scontent.fslc3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/527980442_122123691326895255_7505363419652842853_n.jpg?_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=aa7b47&_nc_ohc=0emyECfXqQgQ7kNvwGoWWdP&_nc_oc=AdmIdldaY2zpewumhxmAOjKy-jZcX64XAcJNyFUDFKifbT93aC53hXBr52DLXFL8l7sX9EJyh_5eEvBciAg89Sm1&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent.fslc3-1.fna&_nc_gid=QnXgtHOGcW8jz_ZZkNsiaw&oh=00_AfVDDK5Z1JO-2vQVderhBXIFTYATqRjl0t41vyObTNLPGQ&oe=68988FBC
― five six seven, eight nine ten, begin (map), Wednesday, 6 August 2025 00:31 (one year ago)
What wouldn't be improved by drinking it through a hotdog straw?
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Wednesday, 6 August 2025 00:55 (one year ago)
https://scontent.fslc3-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/570932321_1150099027257670_1036503522329525793_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=833d8c&_nc_ohc=wKSXp00fHxEQ7kNvwHr5WG5&_nc_oc=AdknURbE806LZct-XXJKOoHAaZjLiY6IcivWIY2LHT9HCEczrDJzEgvfuvhHEG8bKqDSQ866HwZC9Jq03FjaPJx4&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent.fslc3-2.fna&_nc_gid=j1o0WPj7tgT9eKcN0uUM6w&oh=00_Aff-Nv7RoWi4mX0KWrHPhyLlFGsFIdCw5jrkeu6v0llFug&oe=6904402E
― she freaks, she speaks (map), Sunday, 26 October 2025 20:45 (nine months ago)
The great imgur abeyance has cut a swathe through this thread. It's shattering, I tell you, shattering.
― I would prefer not to. (Chinaski), Monday, 27 October 2025 09:50 (nine months ago)
https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:einmhyt3mfu77m3xsfwwgldh/bafkreih3hozluw5ux66mhaoitxngytcf3nstjij3vzdza72ivn57xekelm@jpeg
― Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson), Friday, 16 January 2026 19:55 (seven months ago)
https://i.postimg.cc/C1RwnbFT/shoots.jpg
― Tracer Hand, Friday, 16 January 2026 23:10 (seven months ago)
https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:e3cyxeqboiqsybc3u6wvzysz/bafkreibinmsyjolk5wk6abmqg2tazibxbiebfik6hbrsv6qc2mx6i7hbde@jpeg
― wipes chooser (unperson), Friday, 6 March 2026 04:46 (five months ago)
Probably upthreadhttps://img.pastemagazine.com/wp-content/avuploads/2025/01/05192742/brett-ratner-trump-feature.jpg
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 14 May 2026 15:30 (three months ago)
who are the guys on either side of Trump?
― whimsical skeedaddler (Moodles), Thursday, 14 May 2026 16:38 (three months ago)
Brian Grazer, Brett Ratner
― Hans Holbein (Chinchilla Volapük), Thursday, 14 May 2026 16:54 (three months ago)
https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:zju7gpf2woz5vwegmzdg2acl/bafkreig2zbzvdl6nffy5xgkdwpcpz5sla4npkokvfg3jfkfs33ad26lsre
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 14 July 2026 12:32 (one month ago)
the fuck is a “bottle parade”
― Luigi No...No!!! (Boring, Maryland), Tuesday, 14 July 2026 12:41 (one month ago)
I assume it means they lined up and put bottles in each others butts
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 14 July 2026 12:59 (one month ago)
Just the worst fucking losers on the planet.
― Nina in the broadcast booth (stevie), Tuesday, 14 July 2026 13:16 (one month ago)
It's like those pick-up artists in the 90s but somehow even worse
― rameau in the main room (dog latin), Tuesday, 14 July 2026 13:19 (one month ago)
I'm weighing all the awesome stuff I've learned about through ilx the last 19 years against the fact that I learned someone named Clavicular exists through ilx.
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Tuesday, 14 July 2026 13:24 (one month ago)
i didn't realize kanye west had a song called heil hitler
must have been some amazing separating the art from the artist kind of convos after that one
― …at Cordell and Cordell. Cordell and Cordell is... (z_tbd), Tuesday, 14 July 2026 16:52 (one month ago)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/20/sculptor-charlie-kirk-statue-new-york
― a hoy hoy, Monday, 20 July 2026 22:02 (one month ago)
https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hf4htawd64uqbftoudxcicrp/bafkreifi5hlybdi5yhqojzeaunkcaobuhcbg5pswoh2s4sr5xc2wpvhahyBari Weiss (in a lab coat for some reason) and Sheryl Sandberg (clutching two copies of John Fetterman's book)
― jaymc, Wednesday, 5 August 2026 12:23 (two weeks ago)
Not to be a thread cop, but I feel the cursed images thread is going off the rails.
― Cow_Art, Wednesday, 5 August 2026 14:24 (two weeks ago)
turned into the pictures of shitty people thread
― whimsical skeedaddler (Moodles), Wednesday, 5 August 2026 14:53 (two weeks ago)
We need a 'Complete Assholes You Never Thought You'd See Together' thread
― Andy the Grasshopper, Wednesday, 5 August 2026 18:23 (two weeks ago)
nsfw
― z_tbd, Wednesday, 5 August 2026 18:25 (two weeks ago)
Yabbut terrible people are often photographed together, it's hardly remarkable
― leprechaundriac (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 5 August 2026 18:26 (two weeks ago)
https://i.ibb.co/w5QgnkP/80add042d8e05d96ba0edb3f8334a9788b798e48.jpg
― pplains, Thursday, 13 August 2026 19:52 (one week ago)
:|
― shaking babies (map), Thursday, 13 August 2026 19:56 (one week ago)
Is that a deleted scene from Backrooms?
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 13 August 2026 20:05 (one week ago)
deleted scene from Bathrooms
― pplains, Thursday, 13 August 2026 20:09 (one week ago)
Bathrooms: The Director's Cut
― shaking babies (map), Thursday, 13 August 2026 20:22 (one week ago)
i bet if you got down and inspected the carpet around the base of that toilet you'd find.. a lot of lovely memories of release
― shaking babies (map), Thursday, 13 August 2026 20:23 (one week ago)
Bathrooms: The Director's Curtain
― Happiness is a warm gurn (Tom D.), Thursday, 13 August 2026 20:23 (one week ago)
at least the carpet is brown
― Andy the Grasshopper, Thursday, 13 August 2026 21:02 (one week ago)
it looks like a crust, like there;s some delicious apple crumble underneath
― brimstead, Thursday, 13 August 2026 21:05 (one week ago)
you're ten and visiting Aunt Carol in her trailer and you don't shit for three days as this is your only option
― Andy the Grasshopper, Thursday, 13 August 2026 21:10 (one week ago)
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
― stick your cheffing job (ledge), Thursday, 13 August 2026 22:33 (one week ago)
I've got a buddy, and when him and his family moved into their house it needed some work that they were going to get around to doing eventually. There was a little carpeted bathroom. His two young sons had been using it for a few months after moving in and it was fragrant.
― Cow_Art, Friday, 14 August 2026 01:40 (one week ago)
did it smell like apple crumble?
― shaking babies (map), Friday, 14 August 2026 03:12 (one week ago)
If your main ingredient in an apple crumble is piss, then yes.
― Cow_Art, Friday, 14 August 2026 10:01 (one week ago)