1. This artichoke:
"I'd already eaten almost all of the leaves already, but stopped once these appeared. So creepy looking!"
—u/kadavids23 (OP)
2. These tree roots:
"Reminds me of when the Hobbits were saved by Tom Bombadil."
"What a way to go. Honestly, when I’m old and frail, I’m gonna go and ask a fey or something to absorb me into a tree."
3. This tongue with Plica Fimbriata:
"This post got me rubbing the underside of my tongue."
"I once cut a piece off. Not recommended."
4. This camouflaged croc:
"I've stepped on a gator by accident before. He was actually pretty chill about it, all things considered. Just kinda looked up with his mouth open like, 'WTF man?' and then slithered away real fast into the water. In the moment, I did pee my pants a little; I can’t lie."
5. This freaky foot-like fungus:
"Wow. That would scare the hell out of me in the woods."
"My brain just went straight to picturing what its face might look like and now I’m not going to sleep."
6. This menacing meat:
"Eat the meat demon. Absorb its power."
"Possessed meat will give you satanic diarrhea."
7. This concerning sign:
"I’ve seen that place in a dream before..."
8. This abandoned house:
"Probably an old farm house from a farm that went bust in the '50s or '60s. The trees aren't particularly old for a tree, and where I'm from, a lot of farms got abandoned in the '50s and '60s when the kids went off to the city and either took their parents with them or their parents already passed. The forest starts to slowly reclaim them and the houses become little time capsules for rural 'urban explorers' or horny teens to explore."
"If I fix it up and clean it, can I have it? Only way I'll ever be homeowner."
9. This tin of cat food that sat out too long and began growing some terrifying mold:
"It appears to be spawning a new cat. That, or a porcupine."
"Its a relatively safe mold, Rhizopus stolonifer. It's not going to end up growing in your house or anything like black mold can. It thrives on wet foods, even in the cold. A one-time exposure while being even slightly cautious is not anything to worry about really. Probably safe to just throw it in a bag and dispose of it like you would moldy bread."
10. This predicament:
"Need a new car, I guess..."
11. This little surprise in the woods just beyond a bike trail:
"We have a bike trail by where I live that was a bombing range in WW2. There are signs all over saying to stay on the trail because there may be unexploded ordnance."
12. This creepy, crawly visitor:
"House centipedes are straight-up monstrous."
"I clean homes for a living. I come across these often. This one was quite big, but thankfully, dead. I once reached my fingers into a cup holding toothbrushes to move it in order to clean the counter. That's when a house centipede, trapped at the bottom, grabbed the end of my finger, and started running up my bare arm. I screamed. Nope. Nope. Holy crap. You never forget the feeling of all those legs scrambling up your arm."
—u/masterheady (OP)
13. This banana blossom:
"Pennywise, is that you?"
14. This beach at night:
"It's so weird that these little monuments are infrastructure for us humans, who patiently await for the giant fireball in the sky to return and rain light and heat onto the planet again. Then, we swarm like ants across the earth to fight for those little spots to receive that warmth and sun...but they come with shelter to block off that heat and light. This photo really provokes a lot of odd thoughts and feelings."
"Looks like a Pink Floyd album cover."
15. This unusual plant formation:
"That's the grim reaper of death for all the other plants it's overtaking. This would be a trippy thing to see at night."
16. This mysterious substance that was oozing from the ceiling:
"Orkin employee here; it's termite tunnel. The building is probably SEVERELY damaged or plagued with a massive infection."
17. This spooky staircase:
18. This warning:
"This is actually where I go mountain biking all the time. The first nuclear reactor ever constructed is buried there in another location with a similar marker. Red Gate Woods outside of Chicago, if you're wondering. This is where the original Manhattan Project research occurred after they moved out of the University of Chicago. Indeed, there are no 'mountains' outside of Chicago. Yes, it's still called mountain biking."
"I used to install these and other types of warning infrastructure related to the nuclear industry as a contractor for the Department of Energy. What they don't tell you is that each of these sites have counter-surveillance built into them, as mandated by certain laws. If you are snooping around these sites, regardless of public access, you will be watched. This is also true of airports, railroad stations, and most libraries."
19. This frightening fellow driver:
"Stupidity?"
20. These old-school toys:
"What's up with those arms on the fourth one? Why does the first have a comb? I've so many questions. I need answers."
21. And, this scary ski lift:
H/T: r/oddlyterrifying, r/weird, r/LiminalSpace, r/creepy, r/natureismetal
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.