Scary Websites

January 10, 2005 1:03 PM

I don't like scary movies, but I love scary websites. What's the scariest site you've found? [mi]

Back in 1999, the scariest site on the web was the twisted, creepy Blair Witch Project promotional site. I'm not linking to it because the stuff that's there now isn't scary at all...but six years ago the boys from Haxan had me pissing my pants with terror, while sitting in a bright office in the middle of the day. THAT, my friends, is scary. In fact, the website was infinitely scarier than the movie itself.

posted by arielmeadow to computers & internet (23 comments total)

Rotten.com used to be pretty scary, back in the day.
posted by Jairus at 1:10 PM on January 10, 2005

As an aside, I think bluedaniel did the Blair Witch site. I know he did the trailer (the scary part) for it.
posted by iconomy at 1:22 PM on January 10, 2005

I enjoyed visiting the website from this MeFi post despite, um, the "ending." I won't say anymore in case you haven't seen it.
posted by invisible ink at 1:26 PM on January 10, 2005

I guess it all depends on what scares you. Anomalies Unlimited has been known to freak me out, and you probably don't want to peruse the "Sabotage" section at Liquid Generation late at night. Perhaps the Horrors portion of Snopes will give you nightmares. But I think we all know what is truly the most terrifying site on the Internet.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:27 PM on January 10, 2005

Well, this scared the shit out of me.
posted by eatcherry at 1:28 PM on January 10, 2005

Google for "kikia" and go to the first result.

Or try any of these.
posted by wackybrit at 1:40 PM on January 10, 2005

Hah! Those aren't scary!

THIS is the scariest damn thing I ever read. Good for claustraphobes.
posted by tomble at 2:14 PM on January 10, 2005

More spooky than scary, but there are some eerie moments captured at Dark Passage...particularly the crumbling psychiatric hospital photos.
posted by Miko at 2:41 PM on January 10, 2005

Yeah, the caver one.

There's plenty of furry weirdo ones, livejournal guys who live with realdolls, but they're not as menacing as Ted the Caver.
posted by holloway at 3:44 PM on January 10, 2005

that haunted painting thing on ebay a while back was a bit spooky.
posted by Espoo2 at 5:09 PM on January 10, 2005

More scary websites, please.
posted by interrobang at 5:34 PM on January 10, 2005

The Dionaea House seriously creeped me out when I was first sent the link (it was posted on MeFi, but I didn't see that until after).

Of course, this was in the weeks leading up to Halloween so having to wait for the next update was just awful, since my mind just kept going back to it. I don't know if it will be as unnerving as a completed story, but it sincerely weirded me out for a while (just remember, Live Journals are sequential from the bottom up).
posted by nelleish at 6:13 PM on January 10, 2005

invisible ink actually beat me too it, with the local link and everything, whoops!
posted by nelleish at 6:15 PM on January 10, 2005

I'll second tomble's recommendation.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 7:16 PM on January 10, 2005

Not sure if this is what you were looking for, but my most chilling online experience was listening to "The Man in the Well". It's the second act of This American Life Episode 27 - The Cruelty of Children from June 21 1996. It starts at about 30:40, and lasts for about 17 minutes.
posted by marsha56 at 7:20 PM on January 10, 2005

Technically a web site: The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft online.

Shorter favorites include:
From Beyond
The Statement of Randolph Carter
The Terrible Old Man
and
The Outsider
posted by agropyron at 7:57 PM on January 10, 2005

I second that "This American Life" episode. That was one of the most compelling stories I've heard in a long time.

They don't explicitly say it in the episode, but it's fiction.
posted by Laen at 9:31 PM on January 10, 2005

tomble's was the scariest
posted by quarsan at 10:03 PM on January 10, 2005

tomble's was the scariest

Absolutely. I've been passing that link around to my now-frightened friends.
posted by agropyron at 10:39 PM on January 10, 2005

some creepy (but not really scary) flash:

brittlebones
oculart
99 rooms

(pretty ludicrous load time on the oculart one).
posted by juv3nal at 10:59 PM on January 10, 2005

Creepy 3-D Stereogram art

This is one of those 3-D stereo images. If you don't know how the work, there are 2 pictures of scenery in which you look at for a few seconds then slowly cross your eyes; your brain 'merges' them into a single image, but because they differ slightly, a 3-D effect is produced.

It took me about a min or two to get it, Once you see the images coming together, then you can see the full 3D effect. I tried leaning back, but getting closer seemed to work better for me. There are some folks that just can't do it, though.

I think in this case the scariness of the effect was produced by the eerieness of the 3-D image that emerges, contrasting with the peaceful scenery of the 'background' image. It is quite a contrast.
posted by ikkyu2 at 3:14 AM on January 11, 2005 [1 favorite]

I hate you, tomble.
posted by electroboy at 10:53 AM on January 11, 2005

Deep down you love me, Electroboy.
posted by tomble at 1:03 AM on January 20, 2005