Dmitry Kataev Sometimes there’s nothing better than a good old fashioned scare, it’s like riding on a roller-coaster just to feel that chill that runs down your spine and solidifies into a lump of ice in your stomach.
For those of us who love a scare there’s nothing quite like it. So if you’re feeling brave, why not watch some of the creepiest videos available online? There are ghosts, monsters and other spooky goings on. But is everything that goes bump in the night paranormal activity, or are there always more mundane causes?
The Teleporting Cyclist
Commuting can be a pain in the arse – especially when you’re a cyclist, but one bloke in Russia seems to have solved the problem by materialising out of thin air in the following video.
As exciting as it the first time you watch it, repeated views make it painfully obvious whats actually happened. It’s pretty clear that the cyclist was just standing behind the man at the front of the screen, then decided to ride off on his bike. You can even briefly see the cyclist’s jacket in the beginning of the video behind the man in the foreground. So unfortunately we can’t capture him and learn the secrets to cutting down the commute.
The Most Haunted Shop In England
What do the Tower of London and Barnsley Antiques Centre have in common? If you answered they’re both reportedly haunted, then give your self a pat on the back! Barnsley Antiques Centre is reportedly the most haunted shop in England and is home to a number of mischievous spirits called poltergeists. Poltergeists enjoy nothing more than smashing the shit out of stuff and this video released earlier this year seems to catch the spiritual vandals in the act.
The event was captured on CCTV and the owners claim to have been plagued by ghostly goings on. The business partner, Danny Parker and Rachel Archer, said they were ‘shocked and scared’ after reviewing the footage that showed the glass door of a large display cabinet opening in an empty room before exploding into tiny pieces. One medum who visted the shop said described seeing a similar man sitting at a bar.
There’s no easy answer to this one, but a quick google does reveal that spontaneous glass breaking is a thing that can happen to furniture especially if it’s old. But who knows maybe it was the old man sat at the bar.
The Rake Monster
Since 2003 there have been reports of a hideous and hairless, humanoid creature that crawls along the ground. Reportedly the Rake stalks its victims at night time. Reports of the creature were compiled by the media in 2003, but were mysteriously destroyed. However video’s of the creature emerge all the time, like the following video.
As creepy as this new urban legend is, the rake is a ‘creepy pasta‘, a fake online story designed to scare people. He was created by the online image board 4Chan, after one user asked the other users to help him create a new monster. It then became a game among people from the internet to create realistic photo’s and video’s of the creature. Other news organisations have gone on to report the faked beast as being real a number of times.
Giant Spider Creatures Invade Russia
Arachnophobes should probably avoid this next video which shows giant spiders secretly invading Russia. The huge menacing black creature clings to the side of a block of flats before climbing to the top and crawling off into the distance.
As unsettling as this is, there’s no need to panic. The monsters are the work of an insomniac graphic designer. Dmitry Kataev created the monster and placed it on the clip making it appear as if it had been filmed on a mobile phone.
Kataev, said after putting the video on you tube and going to be he woke to discover it had already notched up thousands of views.
He also explained creating his insectoid monstrosity wasn’t hard, saying: “It was really easy, I based the monster on a stick insect with a few modifications, and after that it all went crazy.”
After the video became a viral hit, the 37-year-old is now hoping to cash in on it by making a follow-up and added: “Who knows, I might even go into the movie business.”
The Blinking Mummy
Rosalia Lombardo was a little girl in Italy who unfortunately died of pneumonia in 1920. Rosalia’s father, was so devastated by her death that he approached Alfredo Salafia, an incredible embalmer, to preserve her forever. After she was preserved her body was placed in Capuchin catacombs of Palermo in Sicily, where she was nicknamed “sleeping beauty”.
However this is where things get weird. Salafi’s embalming technique was so incredible that she’s remarkably intact even now, researchers have noted that she’s only just begun to show signs of decomposition. In fact Salafi’s technique was so good that it may have kept even more of the poor girl intact, because this mummy has been recorded blinking.
Don’t worry though the curator of the catacombs has confirmed that this little girls ghostly spirit isn’t blining. In fact it’s an “optical illusion produced by the light that filters through the side windows, which during the day is subject to change.” So there we go nothing to be frightened of. We hope.
So after all that you’ve nothing to worry about, ghosts and ghouls aren’t real, and that the feeling of breathing on the back of your neck is probably nothing either.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.