Imagine walking in a forest or the woods, and you come across this scary sight. No one would blame you for thinking you came across a corpse in a shallow grave. You’re actually looking at a fungus called Dead Man’s Fingers.

Typically found in Europe and North America, this freaky-looking fungus is responsible for many calls to rangers and law enforcement from hikers who have stumbled across the Dead Man’s Fingers and thought it was something more sinister. Of all the things Mother Nature could have chosen to create, she made this, scaring unsuspecting hikers every year.

This photo required a second look to understand what was actually going on. This is not a flock of birds but hundreds of flies trapped in the web of a rather large spider.

Imagine opening your curtains in the morning and being greeted by this sight! In our opinion, a situation like this can only be dealt with by using a flamethrower, but closing the drapes is a cheaper and safer option.

Geese are generally beautiful creatures – until they open their beaks, that is. This goose opened its beak to reveal a rather scary-looking mouth, complete with what looked like razor-sharp teeth.

Thanks to Mother Nature, a whole lot of people will be changing their perceptions about these birds. And to be honest, we’re definitely in that group.

Ever been in an up close and personal encounter with a sea lion? We’re betting that this underwater photographer got a little more than he bargained for when he came face to face with this majestic sea lion.

While they aren’t exactly known for their sweet manner, sea lions are curious by nature. This chap was probably just checking out what was going on rather than looking for a tasty snack.

You get spiders, and then you get huntsman spiders. Cue high-pitched terror shrieks! This massive spider was photographed in a house in Australia.

While we know that huntsman spiders are harmless to humans and great for ridding your home of flies and other creepy crawlies, they’re not exactly a welcome sight when you walk into your living room in the morning. Mother Nature sure has a sense of humor because we can’t imagine any other reason for a spider to be THAT big. C’mon now!

You wake up in the middle of the night, bursting to use the toilet, you stumble to the bathroom, still in a sleepy haze, turn on the light, and see this not-so-little guy staring straight back at you.

Bet you didn’t know snakes can come up through the pipes into your toilet! Just when we were getting used to the fact that snakes are a wonderful creation by Mother Nature, she makes them evolve into toilet snakes! All we can say is, “No, thank you very much!”

Camping can be a great way to get outdoors and experience all that Mother Nature has to offer. But when you wake up on a beautiful morning, wondering why your tent is dark, and you see this… we’re sure it’s enough to put you off camping for life.

One or two spiders wouldn’t be too bad, but these campers were welcomed by ALL the spiders. It’s enough to make your skin crawl. Ugh!

Hearing strange noises at night is enough to scare anybody. But the person who took this photograph probably got the fright of his life when he came face to face with a large brown bear. While he was probably expecting to see a dog, cat, or raccoon, one can only imagine his reaction when he turned on the porch light and saw this guy.

Since we don’t know where the photo was taken, we can’t give you a heads up, but just be careful when checking out noise in your yard at night. You never know what you’ll find…

Ever seen a snail so big that it’s the size of a puppy or a small dog? The African snail is one of the largest snails in the world and is a popular pet for many people.

Why anyone would want a snail as a pet is baffling, but each to their own. Mother Nature sure does make some interesting creatures, and this is just another one that’ll leave you scratching your head in amazement.

This moray eel bit off more than he could chew when he decided to make a meal out of a puffer fish. Pufferfish are known for expanding in size to ward off predators. This one must have had a delayed reaction to being eaten by the eel as it inflated itself in the eel’s mouth, resulting in the death of both creatures.

This unusual sight was captured by scuba diver Tim Mayer on the Cook Islands and has become a popular photo that depicts Mother Nature’s battle of predator versus prey at its finest.

Ever seen a frog eat a giant spider? Well, now you have. This photograph depicts a frog with a rather large spider in his mouth.

If the legs are that long, we can only imagine how big the arachnid’s body must’ve been. Although, it does beg the question, do frogs actually eat spiders? Or is this just another one of Mother Nature’s pranks?

This series of photographs, taken in Florida, depicts a Heron making a meal of an alligator. This image shocked wildlife photographers and biologists alike, as there are very few documented cases of birds eating crocodiles or any other large reptiles.

Herons are typically fish eaters, so we can’t imagine what made this hungry Heron snatch up an alligator for dinner. It just shows that Mother Nature is the one calling the shots, and things that once may have seemed impossible are indeed possible.

We’ll be the first to admit that we’re not a fan of bats. And looking at this picture of a bat flying through the air, while carrying its young, doesn’t leave us feeling warm and fuzzy.

With scary-looking claws and big, bulging eyes, this bat looks more like a monster from a child’s nightmares than a sweet creature. It leads us to ask just what Mother Nature was thinking when she created bats.

Ticks are one of the worst parasites and can cause a host of health issues for animals and humans alike. But what would happen if a tick was bitten by another tick?

This photo of a tick feeding off another tick will leave you wondering if this is Mother Nature’s way of giving the tick a taste of its own medicine or if this is a regular occurrence. Whatever the case may be, this is a weird one that just can’t be explained.

This gamer got more than he bargained for when he picked up his Playstation controller to find a centipede wrapped around one of the buttons. What does one do in this situation?

Try to remove it and risk getting bitten, or just set the controller outside and hope that the centipede finds its way off on its own? While playing video games with a friend or two can be fun, we somehow doubt that this is the opponent the player was hoping for.

Think twice before you give your girlfriend, mother, or anyone else a bunch of Snap Dragons to show your affection. Once they die, these flowers resemble little skulls, which could send the wrong message.

Only Mother Nature could make something so beautiful look completely different when it dies. Well played, Mother Nature, well played.

Did you know that sunflowers turn and grow towards light? Now that you do, this photograph of a field of sunflowers turning away from the storm, as if to hide from it, makes a little more sense than it did before.

With a rather scary-looking storm approaching, we don’t blame these beauties for wanting to hide away from the darkness – because we would too.

Bats are happy to find any warm spot to take a nap, so it’s not surprising that this little guy felt warm and safe in a pair of headphones.

We can only imagine the shock of the headphones owner when he picked up his headphones to listen to some music or play a game. But what we want to know is if he left the little guy to finish his nap before he took back his headphones.

It seems that headphones or headsets are a popular place for all of Mother Nature’s creatures to hide away. This time, an unsuspecting person found a rather nasty-looking spider seeking refuge in his headset and decided to snap a pic to share with the rest of the world.

We don’t know about you, but we’d throw those out rather than risk using them again! Who knows what else happened in those headphones…

Don’t let its freaky appearance put you off. This Hickory Horned Devil is the largest caterpillar in the world and, despite its appearance, it’s completely harmless and grows into one of the most beautiful moths you’ll ever see.

This is just another surprise from Mother Nature and shows us that we should never judge something for how it looks. Thank you, Mother Nature, for the life lesson.

Water snakes are absolutely terrifying, so we don’t even want to know how this person reacted when this slithery nope-rope decided to join him for a row on the lake.

While we would be off that kayak faster than you can say “snake,” the photographer had other ideas in mind and whipped out his camera instead. It seems that nowhere is safe from snakes, so kayaking is just another activity many will cross off their to-do lists once they see this photo.

Sheesh, talk about bringing your own weapon to a fight. These scary-looking claws belong to none other than a kangaroo! You can erase those images from your mind of sweet baby kangaroos hopping around and peering out of their mothers’ pouches, now that you know what kind of weapons they’re packing.

Mother Nature sure does scare us sometimes, and we don’t know if we can ever look at these Ozzie animals in the same way ever again.

We don’t know about you, but we’d rather go barefoot than wear this pair of shoes ever again. What you’re seeing in this shoe is a black widow spider, complete with its signature red hourglass belly.

Is it just us, or are you suddenly itching and imagining that spiders are crawling all over you, too?

We wouldn’t blame this car owner for possibly skipping work because of the spider hiding in the gap of his door handle. Probably another photo from Australia, this spider doesn’t look too friendly, and we wouldn’t dare go closer to try and identify what type of spider it is either.

Thanks for everything, Mother Nature, but can you ease up on the spiders hiding in strange places? It’s really giving us anxiety!

Snakes come in all different shapes and sizes. This Emerald Boa is just one of a variety of snakes that we wouldn’t want to come into contact with! Just take a look at those fangs!

We know that boas are generally constricting snakes, so these fangs are most likely used to grab hold of their prey before it constricts its body around the prey. We’ll go ahead and just add this one to the list of animals to avoid.

This eel was just silly when it mistook some sort of pipe for a tasty meal. As you can see in this photo, the eel is unable to move as the weight of whatever he ate is weighing him down.

Guess that serves him right for putting just about anything in his mouth. Looks like he paid the ultimate price for his greed. What a shame.

This snake is in for a treat, as he’s caught himself a tasty-looking catfish for his next meal. Catfish aren’t exactly the smallest fish, so one can only imagine how big the snake is to have caught one of these underwater giants!

Mother Nature surprises us way too often, and now we can’t even go fishing without some snake coming in and stealing all the good fish. Sigh.

When Mother Nature decides it’s winter, you best believe it’ll be cold as heck! In fact, it got so cold in Michigan in 2019 that Lake Michigan completely froze, and people were treated to this rare spectacle.

Have you ever had the privilege of seeing a frozen lake? Thanks to whoever took these photos, we can all enjoy these pictures of a true force of nature.

If you’ve ever wondered how kelp grew in the ocean, you no longer need to. Thanks to this talented photographer, we can now see how kelp grows and how it’s moved by the tides. While they look pretty scary in the crashing waves, they’re a vital part of the ecosystem and make a great hiding spot for fish.

Not only are they useful to the sea, but kelp can also be used to create many things humans use, including ice cream, sushi, and skin care products.

We, too, jumped out of our seats a little when we first saw this photo of a branch of seed pods. With their eerie centers, they look like eyeballs, leading us to wonder just why someone would be carrying around a bundle of eyeballs.

Mother Nature has a way of protecting her flora and fauna, and these seeds look the way they do to ward off birds and other creatures that might want to make a meal out of them.

Either this spider thinks he’s Spiderman or he’s been watching too much TV. Spiders possess a lot of skill in weaving their intricate webs, and we feel that this spider deserves a gold star and an A for its efforts on this eerie-looking web that resembles a skull.

We wonder what this spider hopes to catch and if he’ll indeed catch anything with his web serving as a warning on its own.

Before you scroll past thinking this is just another boring photo of a swamp or marshland, zoom in, we dare you. Do you see it? If you can’t, we’ll point it out to you. The brown you see in the photo is not land, but rather hundreds of thousands of spiders that have infested this area.

Just looking at it gives us the heebie-jeebies, but imagine coming face to face with this monstrosity in person! The photographer is very brave and deserves an award for taking this epic close-up.

I think this guy got a little more than he bargained for when he tried out his new VR headset only to find a real-life spider hiding inside the lens!

While we’re sure it would make for more realistic gameplay, it’s enough to make one’s skin crawl at the thought of that critter hiding so close to an open eye! Please keep your bugs to yourself, Mother Nature, because this spider situation is just getting out of hand now.

We were today years old when we discovered that these Angler fish are real and not just something you’d expect to see in a horror movie or fantasy film.

Captured in 2021, this photo of a washed-up Angler fish caused a lot of ruckus in the marine biology industry. Before this photo came out, many people thought these fish were only found in very deep ocean waters. To be honest, we’re too scared to research the cause behind the beaching of this eerie-looking fish.

Ah, Mother Nature and her jokes. With no reasonable explanation as to how this came about, this photo of an icicle, which appears to have a hand, has made its way around the internet. This image can now be viewed, in all its glory, in our list of scary Mother Nature pics.

This isn’t a rare occurrence, actually, and has been known to happen when the temperatures drops suddenly in parts of America. Have you ever seen one in real life?

This traveler met the strangest character in their hotel room while visiting Japan recently. Is it a Centipede? Is it a snake morphed with a spider?

We can say with certainty that we’ve never seen anything like this before and we wonder if it’s not some new type of insect. It does make one wonder, doesn’t it?

Most animals have brightly colored skin or shells to deter predators from making a tasty meal out of them. This large snail has a bright red coloring, which signals to predators that it’s poisonous and should be avoided at all costs.

Is it harmful to humans? Well, we aren’t really sure, but we do hope the person holding it in the photos at least washes their hands once they are done! Just in case…

Is this the mythical creature many claim to have seen in the Himalayas? Or is it a tree branch that’s collapsed and bowed from the weight of the snow? Don’t worry, we had to look twice too and can safely say this is just a snow-covered tree.

But imagine being the one coming across this in the snow. Do you run? Or do you stop to take a photo, as this person did? We fall into the first category, for sure. Run now, ask questions later.

Ever had an annoying guest drop in unannounced? This snake clearly has no manners as it rudely poked its head through a hole in this person’s ceiling.

Maybe it’s just having a look-see. Still, we wouldn’t trust it and we’d be packing our bags rather quickly if this was us. Bon, voyage!

This fossil bed has scientists baffled as they try to identify the fossilized creatures. Are they jellyfish? Aliens? Who knows.

Mother Nature has a unique way of creating beauty, and this is just another in a long list of unexplained and unidentified animals that leaves many scratching their heads.

The Creatonotos Gangis Moth is undoubtedly one of the scariest-looking moths ever to exist, but they’re pretty harmless.

The long dangly bits are their reproductive organs, and this moth is just spreading its pheromones to attract a mate. We’re scared of moths, so you wouldn’t find us within ten feet of this creature on any given day.

This giant Devil Flower Mantis looks more like a creepy alien from the predator movies than a harmless little mantis. But if you look closely, it’s actually magnificent!

This is, hands down, one of the most unique-looking creatures on this list. The Devil Flower Mantis is one of Mother Nature’s true glories and she was definitely showing off when she created this beauty. But, no matter how beautiful or harmless it may be, we still wouldn’t want to hold one.

We wouldn’t want to meet the snake that came out of this shed skin! Just look at the length of the skin! We can only imagine how big that snake is. On second thought, we don’t want to imagine!

But where is it hiding? And how did it get into this man’s attic in the first place? That’s a question that only Mother Nature can answer and it’s not an answer we think we want to know.

We’re lost for words at the sight of this spider stealing someone’s piece of bacon. Who would’ve thought that spiders enjoyed pork as much as we do?

Maybe the spider was hurt that he didn’t get invited for breakfast, so he helped himself. What would you do in this situation? Offer him an egg to go with his bacon or run out of the house screaming?

No, not those kinds of crabs. Actual crabs! This family of coconut crabs smelt a delicious smell and decided to join in on this camping group’s barbecue.

While they’re generally afraid of humans and prefer to keep their distance, the smell of burgers and hot dogs was too much for these hungry crabs. As a result, they wandered into this campsite.

This fish is called a Giant Oarfish, Earthquake Fish, and Doomsday Fish, and it’s basically the cockroach of the sea! Earthquake fish can survive natural disasters, shark attacks, and pretty much whatever else the water may throw at them.

According to rumors, these fish come up to the water’s surface right before an earthquake or tsunami. However, many scientists refute this claim. For those of us who believe the legends, if we see one of these floating around – we’ll run!

The way that light and shadow work together can create some stunning effects. This includes a fair share of optical illusions that will make you do a double-take. These are some of the most interesting effects of shadows that people have seen and that we won’t forget anytime soon!

The first time you look at this photo, you might see a cute image. It looks like this dog and its owner are really close!

It’s when you start to look into the shadows that things become odd. In this image, it’s clear that the shadow in question isn’t actually a man with the head of a dog. However, it’s still striking enough that we had to do a double-take when we noticed it.

It’s funny to see how shadows can affect our perspective of something. That’s why artists often use them to guide us to add more depth to their images.

These shadows almost look like an art installation in their own right. After all, what are the odds that the shadows would line up to connect these windows so perfectly? Funnily enough, it seems like this is an illusion that the people around here probably see almost every day.

As we said, shadows and light can really alter your perspective and what you’re seeing. These windows illustrate that fairly well.

The shadows jutting away from the windows, thanks to the bars over them, almost give them the effect of sticking further out from the wall than they are. This is helped along by the bars encasing the window, offering a piece that sticks further out to create such a shadow.

When there’s trouble in Gotham City, there’s only one person you want to call. Luckily, there’s an easy and reliable way to get his attention.

What if you run into trouble outside of Gotham City, though? When you’re away from the Bat-Signal, where can you turn? If you think Batman is watching for shadows as well as lights, it seems like you might be able to use your gas cap to make a DIY equivalent in a pinch.

Not every optical illusion caused by shadows is a mistake. Just like other illusions, there are some made for a purpose, even if that is to entertain.

While this parent may not have had a magic wand to help their child experience life as a unicorn, they did have a bit of experience with shadow puppetry and left the rest up to the imagination. We have to admit, this little girl’s shadow really does resemble a unicorn!

There are some scenes that seem like they could only come out of a fantasy setting. However, there are traces of these fantastical settings in the real world.

With crystal clear and stunningly blue waters under a cloudy, bright sky, we can see why you might wonder if this is real. Yet, these aren’t islands floating in the sky and those aren’t their shadows below them. They’re actually the shadows the clouds are casting.

In places that have designated men’s and women’s restrooms, the businesses don’t always stick to simple labeling that’s spelled out or pictured on a plaque.

In this case, this restaurant decided that a clever use of shadows was the best choice. Instead of printing an “M” and a “W,” they mounted the letters above the door. With a small spotlight above, the letters case a shadow down onto the door, creating a clear label.

There are certain décor pieces that you want to stand out in a room. In these cases, a spotlight can be incredibly helpful.

On the other hand, it’s best to check and make sure that it has the effect you want before you make any final decisions. It probably would have helped to avoid quite an alarming sight, in this case. Instead of focusing on the bullhead, we can’t look away from the creepy shadow cast below.

There are few things we usually want to look at less than a spider. We have to say, though, this spider caught our eye with his weird shadow.

First of all, don’t worry — this spider isn’t levitating towards anyone. It’s simply floating in some very clear water but the shadow below does look rather odd. In every spot where the spider makes contact with the water, there’s a round shadow to highlight it.

Sometimes, you might see something that has more than one shadow. It’s caused by something being exposed to multiple light sources from at least slightly different angles.

With this piece of furniture propped against the wall, the lights hit it perfectly to create a gradient of gray shadows. You can see how the shades continue to change as the shadow gets further and further away from the object itself. We guess this would be a useful illusion if you need to decide what color gray to paint your wall!

A thorough snowfall can make your backyard look like a winter wonderland. As the sun comes out, though, it starts to fade away.

That is unless the snow is protected from the heat in some way. Luckily, it’s usually a few degrees colder in the shade rather than sitting in direct sunlight. So, these patches of snow were safe from the rays of the sun thanks to the minimal shade the tree offered.

You have to wonder how some legends start and persist. Sometimes, it comes from seeing something you just can’t explain. If you saw this in the woods, you might think you stumbled across Bigfoot himself.

Yet, this is just an optical illusion, albeit one from afar. The phenomenon is called a “Brocken Spectre” and it’s actually just a result of this person seeing their own shadow cast below them from a high altitude.

In all fairness, we all see shadows every day. So, they have to do something pretty special to stand out and really catch our eye.

As for this image, we can safely say it fits the bill. What you’re looking at is actually the shadow from the plane, not a second plane below them through the clouds. To make for an even more interesting image, the shadow is wrapped in a rainbow to boot.

There are few people at this point who aren’t familiar with the movie, Shrek. Who wouldn’t recognize the big green ogre and his donkey sidekick? When this person looked down at their shadow, they were reminded of the movie too.

More specifically, they noticed that their shadow held more than just a passing resemblance to Lord Farquaad. It was all thanks to an oddly-placed chimney behind them too, meaning they were in the right place at the right moment for this image.

There are some things that we wish we could do but just haven’t figured out how yet. Self-propelled human flight? It’s not quite in the cards right now.

Well, are you sure about that? You should be because this person isn’t actually going to float off — and they aren’t just hovering there as they check their phone. Once again, we can thank some weird shadows for this effect. Instead of below them, the shadow is shifted to the side.

This crowd of people seems like one you’d see at any school at the beginning or end of the day. Maybe it’s even a field trip to somewhere exciting. Whatever the case, we’re pretty distracted by the shadow that seems to be all by itself in this crowd.

At the very least, it doesn’t touch anyone’s figure. Not to worry, though, it’s all just caused by the person casting the shadow jumping at the moment that someone snapped this photo.

Some optical illusions don’t have to be confusing. Optical illusions can even look interesting or even feel soothing. We found this one fairly eye-catching. The way the light shone around these two coffee cups left them with a few shadows to contend with.

Because of how they were positioned next to each other, we get to see this visually engaging overlapping, Venn-diagram-esque effect. It’d definitely give us pause while making the morning coffee!

If we saw this shadow firsthand, we have to admit we’d be a bit stumped. What could possibly cause a series of crescents of light like this? The answer is actually where you might least expect it.

Behind the photographer of this photo was a tree. Still, that doesn’t explain it all. You’d have to catch this particular situation during an eclipse for the same results. Now that we know, we can see how the crescents remind us of an eclipse.

We’ve all done it from time to time. After a long day, sometimes you just leave the dirty laundry on the bedroom floor to deal with later.

As for this person, their casually tossed aside pair of jeans could almost pass for an art exhibit. After all, while it just looks like a pair of crumpled jeans from one angle, the jeans cast a shadow on the ground that looked alarmingly like a human face in profile.

If you’re playing a board game, part of the fun is left to your imagination. After all, the pieces don’t usually move around like a movie scene.

Still, there’s a reason that the use of shadows isn’t uncommon in visual storytelling, and this group unintentionally found out why. When they placed their light source lower to the ground, they cast a direct shadow from the board onto the wall, showing a still of an epic battle.

Horses can run pretty fast and it can seem like they’re fairly active animals. However, they’re fine with staying in one place for long amounts of time too.

Just like the tree we looked at earlier, this horse’s shadow protected the snow from melting. Yet, what’s really catching about it is that snow tends to melt gradually as the day progresses and gets hotter. This horse really decided it liked its spot that day.

They say that when you read a book, you can take a trip to another world, real or not. If you love to read, that’s true too!

Visually, it seems like it could happen as well. In this case, these stacks brought a cityscape to life on the walls. However, it wasn’t the setting in the story this time but sunlight streaming through the shelves at just the right angle.

Hanging glass spirals is a great way to create an optical illusion in the first place. Not to mention, they’re a pretty addition to any décor scheme. Looking at these ornaments, it seems like they make a beautiful and visually striking group of six.

The only problem is that there are only three glass pieces actually here. The other three are just shadows colored by the light filtering through the semi-transparent glass to cast a matching purple shadow each.

Darkness and shadow can make even the most mundane things seem creepy. That’s why even your pile of laundry can look sinister when you turn the light off at night. Even a glass that you use every day might seem scary if the light hits it just right.

In this case, this person probably wasn’t expecting to look over to grab their glass and see a skull stretching across their table. We’re not quite sure how this shadow lined up so perfectly.

It’s interesting to see something that seems like a rare phenomenon. There’s also just something pleasing about when circumstances line up perfectly to create a coincidence.

In this case, you probably wouldn’t expect a shadow to care about the manmade structure of the land very much unless one of those items casts a shadow itself. Here, things lined up just right to create a distinct line where the sunlight no longer reaches.

You might think that this is a bad render in a video game the first time you look at it. As it turns out, this picture is completely real!

It’s caused by a phenomenon known as Lahaina Noon. When this picture was taken, it was around noon in Hawaii, meaning the sun was directly overhead. As this happens, the direct light down on the bottle didn’t create a shadow. It’s seen a lot throughout tropical locations.

We already covered that different angles of light can affect shadows. In particular, it can give you a range of shades and placements of shadows.

As for this bench, the rectangular shape of the bench slats created an interesting illusion. When the light hit it, it created slightly offset shadows enough to make the final result cast on the ground looks like a pixelated gradient more than just a straightforward shadow of a bench.

It’s interesting to see a shadow that resembles something else. Usually, this is your brain filling in a general outline to make a conclusion as to what you’re looking at.

One thing you might not expect, though, is to see a fabric pattern cast on the ground thanks to a shadow. Once again, we can thank multiple sources of light for this optical illusion. Together, it creates a criss-cross pattern that leaves a plaid fingerprint.

This shadow is almost uncanny in how perfect it is. Most of us would have to turn to a ruler or even a computer font to label something with a number this clean.

The only thing that caused this, however, was a play of light and shadow. The person who shared it said that it shows up in their home every day. There’s one slightly annoying thing about it, though — it shows up on their floor at 2pm!

Deer, especially fawns and does, are easy to recognize. Of course, that makes sense — deer are common in a lot of places and Bambi is a recognizable character. That’s why the speckled light spots on this animal’s back would initially lead you to believe it’s a deer.

Yet, its face tells a different story. This dog doesn’t actually have any spots either, it just happened to be laying in a shadow when the picture was snapped. It helped that his fur was the perfect shade of brown, too!

If you could only see the shadow of this ladder, you probably wouldn’t agree to jump on it to complete a job. It doesn’t look sturdy, after all.

Not to worry — it’s all an illusion! The weird thing about it really is that the shadow left by this ladder is so distorted from the original shape. At least we can rest easy knowing that no one is climbing up such an unsteady ladder.

As we’ve seen time and time again, shadows can create some interesting visuals when used correctly. Some people are even talented enough to use it as a form of art.

When most of us see a sticky note, we use it to jot down a quick note before tossing it later on. Not many people even have the skill or know-how to pull off what this artist did. With a few purposeful folds, they made shadow faces with these small squares of paper.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again — check how the shadows on a display piece will fall before deciding where and how to hang it up.

Otherwise, you risk creating an effect that you didn’t originally intend to. This bull headpiece would probably have looked really cool if it wasn’t for the shadow underneath it. It looks like this bull has the body of a chicken to support it!

A shadow in just the right place can make it seem like anything is happening. It can even seem like someone made quite the invention, as it does here.

Unfortunately, we have to break the news that there isn’t a flying car hovering here, waiting for its owner to finish up their errands. It’s just another case of shadows playing tricks on us but it definitely seemed like we stepped into the future for a moment.

It’s not uncommon for stairs to have a bit of an overhang. It can give you a little more surface area to step on as you come down the stairs. There’s something interesting about these stairs, though.

Namely, they look like something straight out of an M.C. Escher artwork! You don’t have to worry about which set of stairs to take, however, since one of these “stairs” comes from some funnily positioned shadows.

Nowadays, it seems like you can get anything that you might need to buy in a designed form. Who wouldn’t want the chance to show a little individuality?

You might think that this tent came with fun bird shapes on the ceiling. That isn’t quite the case. Those are, in fact, real birds that have come to rest and walk about on top of the tent. It definitely gave the people inside a unique sight to enjoy!

There are some optical illusions that are interesting to look at or even funny to see. Conversely, some shadows can paint an unsettling picture. In this scenario, we’re not sure that noticing this shadow wouldn’t come with a yelp of fear if this were us.

While it’s only the lampshade and bulb, the shadow looks more like a Tim Burton-esque spider grinning unnaturally from ear to ear. Maybe it’s time to just readjust the lamp’s position to the light.

Most of the time, shadows show us what’s right in front of us. So, it’s no wonder that you might pause at the sight of this shadow.

You don’t have to worry about shadows showing us a glimpse of this tree’s past, though. What you can’t see in this picture — a tree that’s actually blooming perfectly lined up with this bare tree. That makes for the uncanny shadow on the wall that lets you see both.

There are some things you can’t help but sympathize with. For example, we all know how painful a bump on the head can be. You don’t have to worry about this person!

While it might look like they have a bump on their forehead, it’s actually an effect of the shadow of a thatch of curled hair. The illusion it creates is almost uncanny in appearance and would fool almost any passing viewer.

If you know a lot about cars and have a bit of an artistic hand, you can really make a vehicle your own. Just like any other canvas, you can create almost anything you can think of and have the skill to create — even a row of plant silhouettes!

As for this van, we hate to say it’s not actually a cute floral design but rather the shadow of the plants on the other side of the sidewalk.

The interesting thing about shadows is that, in some ways, they can work like vague reflections. You can sometimes tell a lot about what someone is doing from their shadow. From the bird’s eye view that this picture is taken from, you usually wouldn’t be able to see this much detail.

The long shadows cast from the side change things. They allow you to look down on the scene — or into the picture — and see a view from the side as well, in a way.

While we just said that shadows can give you a rough reflection, it isn’t always accurate. There’s a clear space for distortions.

This can come from a variety of sources including the direction the light is coming from and the shape of the surface the shadow is being cast upon. In this scenario, the shadow of this person’s face was more than a little different from what they actually look like.

Even though you’re in your car every single day, you might still not see every detail of it. There’s a lot of internal workings, after all.

It was a ray of sunlight that revealed this secret to this person. While they were helping out a friend by changing their car radio, the sun shone on it to reveal what seems like a message left behind by aliens. We wonder what it actually means.

Art isn’t always intentional. Sometimes, an artist starts to create and finds out that some of the most unexpecting things add to their artwork.

As for this piece of art, the artist shared that the shadow of their sculpture was almost more interesting to them than the original piece. We can’t blame them either. While we can’t see the sculpture, the shadow would suit Pablo Picasso’s Cubist flair. All in all, it’s a great artistic creation.

We can see the person standing here and, from this angle, it looks like they’re just another person in a jacket. Yet, the shadow says something else.

If you were to look to the ground first, you probably had a very clear idea of who you were going to look up to see. Yet, we don’t actually get to see Darth Vader standing on this street, so maybe our science fiction adventures are still to come.