History Main / SpookyPhotographs

* In an EasterEgg in ''VideoGame/Yakuza6'', taking pictures in certain areas around Kamurocho will get you a ghostly photobomb from deceased characters from past games, such as [[BloodBrothers Akira Nishikiyama]], [[ParentalSubstitute Shintaro Kazama]], [[TheDon Sohei Dojima]], [[VideoGame/Yakuza3 Yoshitaka Mine]], or [[VideoGame/RyuGaGotokuIshin Yoshinobu Tokugawa]].

* Creator/StephenKing's novella "The Sun Dog" from the collection ''Literature/FourPastMidnight'' features a very... ''special'' camera. Pictures taken with it don't show what it was pointed at, but have a large black dog in the background that gradually comes into focus, getting closer and closer, and looking more and more menacing. Despite this, a character keeps taking pictures with the camera (it's established that doing so is not entirely voluntary). Three guesses what ends up happening.
* In Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/{{IT}}'', several photographs physically move when they're looked at, and one of them actually cuts a character's hand. They also bleed.

* ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'' has a variation on this: Protagonist Tsukasa's photographs are always blurry and overexposed which he explains by saying [[DimensionalTraveler he's not from that world]]. When he takes pictures of people from the other ''Franchise/KamenRider'' universes, they have ghost images that show the true nature of things; for example, a picture of a girl and her grandmother shows the girl's brother[[note]]Who isn't around because he's {{Mode Lock}}ed in SuperSpeed[[/note]] watching over her.

* The mysterious Polaroid camera in the ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' book ''Literature/SayCheeseAndDie'', whose photographs foretell imminent disaster for those in its lens.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS2E46AMostUnusualCamera A Most Unusual Camera]]", three small-time hoods unwittingly steal an instant camera which takes pictures of a given scene, five minutes into the future.

* The ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' books "Say Cheese and Die!" and "Say Cheese and Die - Again!" both have an evil camera that curses people and prints photos predicting their fate. And in 2009, there was ''Say Cheese - And Die Screaming!''
* The Creator/StephenKing story ''The Sun Dog'' involved [[AWizardDidIt a cursed or otherwise enchanted]] Polaroid Camera (the 1980s Sun model) which would produce pictures of the same ravenous, malevolent dog. As the camera was used, the dog progessively approached the "viewer" as if attempting to escape from the photograph itself. [[spoiler: Eventually, it does, but is immediately re-captured when the protagonist takes its photo.]]

* ''Series/AreYouAfraidOfTheDark'', "The Tale of the Curious Camera": InspiredBy ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' example, a gremlin haunts a camera and destroys everything it shoots, depicting just how in the photographs. TheHero tries to get rid of the camera, only to discover it's also a ClingyMacGuffin. TheHero manages to destroy the camera, but the gremlin just transfers itself to a ''videocamera'', which destroys everything it points at. When ''that'' gets destroyed, the ending shows that [[spoiler: the gremlin jumped into ''a computer'']].

* There's a special variant of this in ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'', in that it's not the pictures themselves which are frightening but the circumstances behind them. In the HalloweenEpisode "Sugar Frosted Frights," Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt end up being chased after by the Hopping Hessian (a one-legged parody of the Headless Horseman). The following year, Filburt's shocked when he goes to Rocko's house and finds Rocko, Heffer, and the Hessian laughing at photos of themselves taken during last Halloween. Just as everyone's about to leave, Filburt stops them all [[ArmorPiercingQuestion asking an important question]] that leaves everyone, including the Hessian, completely horrified.
-->'''Filburt''': ''[[RiddleForTheAges Who took those pictures?!]]''
[[/folder]]

* In Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/{{IT}}'', several photographs physically move when they're looked at, and one of them actually cuts a character's hand.

[[quoteright:998 [[WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/untitled_0264.png]]]]

[[quoteright:998 [[WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/untitled_0264.png]]]]

[[quoteright:998:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/untitled_0264.png]]
[[caption-width-right:998: Legends say whoever looks into this picture for a period of time will sh*t their pants.]]

[[caption-width-right:998:"Glad I'm wearing a diaper."
-->-- '''"Baby" Brent''', ''WesternAnimation/CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs'']]

[[caption-width-right:998:''"Glad I'm wearing a diaper."''

[[caption-width-right:998:->''"Glad I'm wearing a diaper."''

[[quoteright:998:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/untitled_907.png]]
[[caption-width-right:998 ->''"Glad I'm wearing a diaper."''

[[quoteright:200:[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Lady_of_Raynham_Hall https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ghost_photo.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:200:The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall, the TropeCodifier for the phantom caught on film.]]

* A non-horror example in ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', where Marty travels back in time to 1955 with a photo of himself and his siblings. As his actions unintentionally prevent his parents from getting together - and thus, his conception - he notices that he and his siblings seem to be gradually vanishing from the photo. Once everything is set right at the end and his parents get together after all, the photograph is restored.

* Anyone who has seen video in ''Film/TheRing'' and will die in seven days will have their faces blurred when their picture is taken.
* Done also in the first ''Film/{{Ringu}}'' movie with the people who have watched the video and the Japanese movie ''Film/{{Skyhigh}}''.

* The mysterious Polaroid camera in the ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' book "Say Cheese and Die," whose photographs foretell imminent disaster for those in its lens.
* ''The Man With The Yellow Face''.

Hey, my holiday snaps[[note]]or vacation pictures for non-British people[[/note]] are back! Let's see… old castles, museums, and statues, [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment old castles, museums, and more statues]], [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs old museums about statues of castles…]]

Hey, my holiday snaps[[note]]or vacation pictures for non-British people[[/note]] are back! Let's see… sand, beach, sunset, [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment sand, palm trees, sand, more palm trees]], [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs sandy palm trees…]]

* ''Film/ThePact'': A ghostly hand can only be seen in photos (printed copies, or through the viewfinder of a digital camera). Subverted when the viewfinder shows a gaunt male figure walking through the living room. We're led to believe this means the figure is a ghost. It's actually a trick of perspective: we would have been able to see the figure even without the camera, because he was an alive human.

* There's a special variant of this in ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'', in that it's not the pictures themselves which are frightening but the circumstances behind them. In the HalloweenEpisode "Sugar Frosted Frights," Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt end up being chased after by the Hopping Hessian (a one-legged parody of the Headless Horseman). The following year, Filburt's shocked when he goes to Rocko's house and finds Rocko, Heffer, and the Hessian laughing at photos of themselves taken during last Halloween. Just as everyone's about to leave, Filburt stops them all asking an important question that leaves everyone, including the Hessian, completely horrified.
-->'''Filburt''': ''[[NothingIsScarier Who took those pictures?!]]''

* Wiki/SCPFoundation: SCP-978's [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-978 photographs]] depict the subject's suppressed desires.

* In one chapter of ''Manga/SgtFrog'', Fuyuki finds himself appraising some "ghost photographs" taken by the Keronians. Keroro's is the result of an optical illusion, Tamama's is the result of a failed [[BreathWeapon Tamama Impact]], and Giroro's is the result of a childhood prank. Then the CuteGhostGirl who lives in Keroro's room shows a photograph she took of herself with a mysterious figure standing behind her, and Fuyuki manages to explain the "mystery figure" as another optical illusion, [[RuleOfFunny completely ignorning the fact]] he has [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight a photograph of]] ''[[UnusuallyUninterestingSight a real ghost]]'' on his hands.

* [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] during one story in ''Manga/XxxHolic'' when a desperately distressed woman comes to see Yuuko with a photo that doesn't seem spooky at all- another pretty young woman standing on the edge of a cliff with her back to the camera. Yuuko agrees to deal with the photo and puts it in a silver frame to try and seal its power, but the frame starts to melt and the woman -very, ''very'' slowly- begins to turn around to face the camera. After the frame completely melts away, the woman finishes turning and [[spoiler:the first woman who brought the photo to Yuuko's store steps into the picture, holding the camera which took the photo, and shoves her off the cliff to her death. The photo was a living record of her crime which she couldn't hide.]]

* [[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS2E46AMostUnusualCamera Rod Serling's classic ''Twilight Zone'' episode;]] three small time hoods unwittingly steal an instant camera which takes pictures of a given scene, five minutes into the future. This being the Zone, it ends as well as you'd expect.

* In the Literature/{{Discworld}} book ''Literature/TheTruth'', Otto Chriek's "dark light" iconograph combines Spectral Snaps with a bit of Foreboding Photos. A picture of William de Worde shows him with [[WellDoneSonGuy a spectral version of his father looking over his shoulder]], while a photo of career killer Mr. Pin shows him with a large cloud of sinister, shadowy figures behind him. The latter picture also predicts a fire that breaks out near the end of the book.

* In "The Calusari" of the ''Series/TheXFiles'', a photograph taken just moments before the death of a two year old boy, thought to be an accident, yields evidence of paranormal intervention. It was an evil spirit of the boy's dead brother who lead him on the spot.

** Episode "Tithonus" featured a photographer who could detect people who were about to die, and used it in an attempt to photograph Death.
** In "Unruhe", Gerry Schnauz takes photographs of the future victims. The pictures capture their and his mind; there are pictures of them being dragged away by screaming demons. The photos are a proof that the victims suffer and need his help: a lobotomy. As it's the maniac's subconscious that was in fact distorting the photographs, some little clues about his identity were left in every single one of them.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', a special ending [[spoiler:that replaces the GoldenEnding if you've finished a KillEmAll run beforehand]] contains a photo depicting the friendly NPC cast members with red X's over their faces, and the main character [[spoiler:replaced with the Fallen Child]]. Given context, it's strongly suggested that [[spoiler:the Fallen Child is either planning to steal Frisk's body and kill them all, or already has]].

* Played with in ''Manga/LuckyStar'': when Soujirou reminisces with his daughter Konata about his dead wife Kanata, Kanata's ghost drops by to see how her family is doing. After a heartwarming (and heartwarmingly funny) sequence, Soujirou insists on testing his new digital camera by taking a picture with his daughter, and Kanata joins in. The resultant photograph has a "spooky shadow", and Soujirou and Konata panic over whether to delete the photograph, or print it out and burn it (or in the english dub, burning the ''entire camera''), much to poor Kanata's distress.
* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' played with this one. [[CuteGhostGirl Sayo]] shows up in both a photograph and Nodoka's mind reading book, unintentionally looking really scary, even though she just wants to talk to someone. So the class exorcists show up and try to get rid of her. Sayo is saved when Asakura accidentally takes a picture of her in which she isn't scary-looking.
* In ''Manga/MythicalDetectiveLokiRagnarok'', Loki has a Shikigami (Paper-spirit) familiar named Ecchan (who also happens to be a RidiculouslyCuteCritter) which is InvisibleToNormals. Sadly, Mayura the Occult Freak is considered 'normal' in this sense - but in at least one episode, it's shown that a 'group photo' of Loki and Co. shows Ecchan as well (crystal-clear, even) causing it to be one of Mayura's most treasured possessions.

* In ''Manga/TsukuyomiMoonPhase'', this is the result of every photo Kouhei takes.
* In one chapter of ''Manga/SgtFrog'', Fuyuki finds himself appraising some "ghost photographs" taken by the Keronians. Keroro's is the result of an optical illusion, Tamama's is the result of a failed [[BreathWeapon Tamama Impact]], and Giroro's is the result of a childhood prank. Then the CuteGhostGirl who lives in Keroro's room shows a photograph she took of herself with a mysterious figure standing behind her, and Fuyuki manages to explain the "mystery figure" as another optical illusion, [[RuleOfFunny completely ignorning the fact]] he has [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight a photograph of]] ''[[UnusuallyUninterestingSight a real ghost]]'' on his hands.
* One of the ''Manga/{{Tomie}}'' stories has a member of the photography club take photos of Tomie, but all of them come out showing her as a hideously deformed monster. Thereafter, Tomie tries to avoid having her picture taken, but the same thing happens whenever someone manages to get a snapshot.
** In ''The Seashore'', also by Creator/JunjiIto, holiday snapshots show the ghosts of children who had drowned in the sea.
* In ''Manga/ReKan'', the use of a (cell phone) camera is the only reliable way for Hibiki's friends, who lack her [[ISeeDeadPeople sixth sense]], to see the many ghosts she interacts with.

* ''[[Manga/{{Skyhigh}} Skyhigh Karma]]'' manages to combine this trope with RadiographOfDoom in the first chapter. When Mai hits her head during a minor car accident, she's taken to the hospital for x-rays. The x-rays reveal a spectral hand gripping her skull -- the first concrete evidence of the ghost that's haunting her.
* ''Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa'': Preceeding several paranormal events, Escargoon takes an instant photo of Dedede, only to discover to his horror that there's a ghost in the background. [[spoiler:Subverted later when it turns out that Escargoon was behind the paranormal goings-on as part of a revenge prank against Dedede, and superimposed the ghost in the camera's film ahead of time.]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/TheOthers2001'', when Grace finds the death portraits of [[spoiler: the servants]].

* In ''Film/LesDiaboliques'', the school headmaster's face appears in a window in a class photo taken after his wife and mistress have supposedly drowned him in a bathtub. Of course, [[spoiler:this is all just part of a plot by the headmaster and mistress to literally scare the wife to death.]]

* In ''Film/{{Beetlejuice}}'', Lydia takes photos of Adam and Barbara wearing bedsheets, thinking they're her parents - she identifies them as ghosts when they're ''not'' visible under the sheets.

* ''Film/{{Insidious}}'' and its sequel have a lot of these as a plot point, mostly of [[spoiler:young Josh being threatened by the Old Woman.]] The first film also has Tucker being startled by a pair of ghosts as he inspects the home with SeeThruSpecs.
* There's a darkroom scene in ''Film/GhostbustersII'' where Ray and Egon develop photos of the [[SpookyPainting haunted painting of Vigo]] that were taken with special, ghost-sensitive film. The photos they see are double-exposed with the image of the river of evil slime flowing under the city. As the two Ghostbusters examine this, the developed photos catch fire and the door locks, and they're only saved by Winston breaking the door down.
* ''Film/ThePact'': A ghostly hand can only be seen in photos (printed copies, or through the viewfinder of a digital camera). Subverted when the viewfinder shows a gaunt male figure walking through the living room. We're led to believe this means the figure is a ghost. It's actually a trick of perspective: we would have been able to see the figure even without the camera, because he was an alive human.
* Discussed in ''Film/CrimsonPeak'', when Charlie Hunnam's character describes his fascination with "ghost photography" and shows a few pictures like this. They don't directly tie into the plot, though.
* ''Film/GraveEncounters'' showcases these from the realistic (orbs) to full human shapes screaming outside the window.

* In the Literature/{{Discworld}} book ''Literature/TheTruth'', Otto Chriek's "dark light" iconograph combines Spectral Snaps with a bit of Foreboding Photos. A picture of William de Worde shows him with [[WellDoneSonGuy a spectral version of his father looking over his shoulder]], while a photo of career killer Mr. Pin shows him with a large cloud of sinister, shadowy figures behind him. The latter picture also predicts a fire that breaks out near the end of the book.

* King's novella ''The Sun Dog'' from the collection ''Literature/FourPastMidnight'' features a very... ''special'' camera. Pictures taken with it don't show what it was pointed at, but have a large black dog in the background that gradually comes into focus, getting closer and closer, and looking more and more menacing. Despite this, a character keeps taking pictures with the camera (it's established that doing so is not entirely voluntary). Three guesses what ends up happening.
* [[Creator/TanithLee Tanith Lee]]'s story "Yellow and Red": the protagonist spills alcohol on photographs of his recently-deceased [[SealedEvilInACan tomb-raiding]] uncle and his family (all of whom were plagued by ill-health) to reveal a malignant shape - yellow, with red dots for eyes - that seems to have stalked them. He becomes phobic about having his own photo taken, [[spoiler:but someone does, and he cannot resist [[HereditaryCurse pouring whisky onto it]]...]]

* One episode of ''Asia's Got Talent'' has a creepy magician girl taking a polaroid of one of the judges which after development [[https://youtu.be/LKyOaDh5USI?t=201 shows herself standing behind the judge]].

* In the ghost-hunting video game ''VideoGame/TheLostCrown'', finding haunted locations and taking photographs can often reveal clues that can't be seen with ordinary vision.

* Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos began as an unsettling background detail in a photo, and this trope remains a big part of the mythos. There's some perfectly normal picture... and then [[MeaningfulBackgroundEvent somewhere in the background]], [[HumanoidAbomination this tall, thin, black figure is watching]]. The best ones are really easy to miss unless you're paying close attention.
* Parodied in the Website/SomethingAwful thread from which Slender Man originates ("make normal images paranormal") with a ghostly, blurred figure who shows up in the background of a ''painting''.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* Done also in the first ''Ringu'' movie with the people who have watched the video and the Japanese movie ''Skyhigh''.
* In ''Film/JuOn: The Grudge'', Izumi and her friends appear in photographs which have their eyes covered by mysterious black smears.
* In ''Film/TheOmen1976'', every single photo Jennings takes has some clue on how the pictured person is going to die... by {{Satan}}'s influence. These are the omens of the title.

* In ''Film/FinalDestination3'', photos taken on the night of the roller-coaster crash that depict the people on Death's hit-list contain clues to what sort of improbable demise they'll suffer when their belated turn comes up.
* A non-horror example in ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', where Marty travels back in time to 1955 with a photo of himself and his siblings. As his actions unintentionally prevent his parents from getting together - and thus, his conception - he notices that he and his siblings seem to be gradually vanishing from the photo. Once everything is set right at the end and his parents get together after all, the photograph is restored.

* ''The Man With The Yellow Face''.

* ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'' has something between Spectral Snaps and Foreboding Photos - a photo of the Sonozaki family reveals all of them in their Dopant forms, including two that haven't debuted at the time.
* Played for laughs in an episode of ''Series/{{Community}}''. After wandering into a theater, Chang is told by a janitor that the theater had burned down years ago. Chang returns to the theater and confronts the audience, who tell him that the janitor died years ago. Chang's sanity begins to erode and he wonders if he himself is really alive or not. The end of the episode features a slow, ''[[Film/TheShining Shining]]''-esque pan into a black and white photograph of people in 19th century clothing, including Chang... and then with a ''Main/ScareChord'', we see "Old Timey Photo Club, 2014."

* The CreepyPasta [[http://slimebeast.com/forum/slimy-stories/minor-corrections/ "Minor Corrections"]] by Creator/{{Slimebeast}} is about a mail-in photo development lab that will attempt to "fix" any photo they think seems "incorrect", meaning anyone in the photograph who had died between the time the photo was taken and the time the lab received the film will be shown in their deceased state, with all the BodyHorror that entails. [[spoiler:They can also predict imminent future deaths, unfortunately the narrator was too late to stop his father from hanging himself]].

* ''Series/{{Ghosts}}'': Fanny can be seen on camera, leading to ghost hunters calling her "The Grey Lady."

* Not really photographs per-se, but Shallan's renderings of the symbol-head things in ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'' certainly qualifies.

* King's novella ''The Sun Dog'' from the collection ''Literature/FourPastMidnight'' features a very... ''special'' camera. Pictures taken with it don't show what it was pointed at, but have a large black dog in the background that gradually comes into focus, getting closer and closer, and looking more and more menacing. Despite this, a character [[WhatAnIdiot keeps taking pictures with the camera]] (it's established that doing so is not entirely voluntary). Three guesses what ends up happening.

* In one episode of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', the ghosts in a film studio can only be seen through a camera phone.
* ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'' has a variation on this: Protagonist Tsukasa's photographs are always blurry and overexposed which he explains by saying [[DimensionalTraveler he's not from that world]]. When he takes pictures of people from the other ''Franchise/KamenRider'' universes, they have ghost images that show the true nature of things; for example, a picture of a girl and her grandmother shows the girl's brother[[note]]Who isn't around because he's {{Mode Lock}}ed in SuperSpeed[[/note]] watching over her.

* In "The Calusari" of the ''Series/TheXFiles'', a photograph taken just moments before the death of a two year old boy, thought to be an accident, yields evidence of paranormal intervention. It was an evil spirit of the boy's dead brother who lead him on the spot.
* One episode of ''Asia's Got Talent'' has a creepy magician girl taking a polaroid of one of the judges which after development [[https://youtu.be/LKyOaDh5USI?t=201 shows herself standing behind the judge]].
* In an episode of ''Series/SurvivingDeath'' a researcher claims most ghost photographs are not really ghosts but some are unexplained. The episode also interviews a man who claims to have made contact with a spirit through his polaroid camera.