The ‘Creepy’ social media project has been wildly successful so far. Created just a few short months ago, in February 2023, the page has already racked up 143.3k followers.
The founder of the 'Creepy' Twitter account told us that they're a frequent reader of Bored Panda. "I have a great passion for creepy things in general, but what inspired me to create a community in this niche was when I bought the domain name http://creepy.org last year through an auction," they told us the story behind the page.
"My first thought was to create a site about morbid curiosities and oddities, but due to lack of time, I abandoned the project and focused on a Twitter account instead. That's how the 'Creepy' Twitter page was born, and now I use the http://creepy.org domain to redirect to it," they said.
We were curious to get the curator's thoughts on why the Twitter page became so popular, and how they choose what content to feature. They told Bored Panda that the number of followers they got in just a few months "is incredible."
"I think I was kind of lucky that my page became so popular because many big accounts started following me and retweeting my posts right from the beginning," they were very humble.
"About how I choose the images and videos I post, I must say that I'm an avid redditor and also a moderator of some large subreddits and from there I choose most of my posts."
Finally, the creator of the 'Creepy' project on Twitter shared their thoughts on why so many people are fascinated by dark and weird things. "It happens because when we are terrified, the brain releases a hormone called dopamine, which some people find thrilling," they told Bored Panda.
"Also, creepy stuff is often intriguing: is the devil real, are ghosts real, does hell exist? Humans have a tendency to find solutions to everything, but these are questions humans don't have a definitive answer for yet."
It’s easy to see why it’s so popular—the curator of the page has a single-minded focus. They invite Twitter users to “explore the dark corners of the world through weird videos, historical oddities, and unexplained mysteries.” The account is a window into some of the most peculiar and uncomfortable aspects of life on Earth. And we’re here for it.
As we’ve analyzed on Bored Panda previously, our brains actually prefer hearing negative information to positive stories. So tales about anger, greed, promiscuity, and depravity are going to stimulate us more than those about kindness. It’s how we’re wired. (And it’s why good news stories don’t do as well as the opposite, in the media.)
Some people also enjoy hearing about the darker aspects of humankind because it can help contextualize and normalize their own negative traits. And since none of us are perfect, it makes sense that content that shines the spotlight on some of the less-than-savory aspects of humankind can make us feel better about our own mistakes and shortcomings.
What’s more, dark internet content and true crime shows can also let the audience experience fear in a completely safe environment. Meanwhile, some folks enjoy temporarily exploring the minds of those who have done horrific things. It’s a way to explore the worst parts of people who go beyond social norms, without having to descend into madness.
There’s an evolutionary reason why we enjoy creepy and scary content, too. Throughout the majority of humankind’s history, there was a constant threat to people’s lives. So human beings were naturally very aware of any potential dangers. However, in many parts of the world today, folks are rarely threatened. True crime shows, for instance, help people explore fear and evil while still staying in their comfort zones. After all, in small doses, scary photos and unsettling stories pose no real danger.
Mysteries and bizarre content also offer the audience a problem that needs to be solved, whether that’s figuring out the historical context for a peculiar photo or putting the clues together along with a show’s detectives in order to see justice done. It’s an emotional rollercoaster that temporarily makes people forget about all the anxiety and problems in their real lives.
