Top 30 Scariest Videos in YouTube History

Top 30 Scariest Videos in YouTube History

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today were counting down our picks for the most unsettling videos ever posted to YouTube.

#30: Illusion of Bias

A haunting moral told in a genuinely unnerving way who could ask for anything more? Illusion of Bias follows the fictional story of a young girl who loses the ability to see her face following an emergency brain surgery. She dreams of being able to see herself, and her subconscious seemingly listens. Through it all, the viewers are treated to unsettling moments like her featureless head and the eruptive voice in her dream. The final blow comes when she peers into a mirror, and she and the audience are met with her disfigured face. The story ends with her being sick every night, alongside a warning to those watching to appreciate what they have, because the alternative may be far worse.

#29: Everywhere at the End of Time

Though supernatural horrors are scary, some of the worst fears come from real life. Theres few things that are more terrifying than the slow degradation of the mind, which is captured perfectly in Everywhere at the End of Time from English electronic musician James Leyland Kirby, a.k.a. The Caretaker. The piece lasts over six hours, spanning the various stages of memory loss. It starts out deceptively happy, using ballroom music as a way of evoking feelings of a bygone era. As it progresses, it becomes more distorted and frightening. The final movement is the peak of existential horror, with the previous music nearly disappearing in favor of an unending, ambient void. Its a gorgeous piece, but engage at your own risk as you may walk away from it with newfound fears of the future.

#28: Who Is Behind Our Face?"

Special effects and carefully chosen music can both help curate an unsettling vibe but this is proof that you dont need either to do so. With just clay and paint, Olivier de Sagazon transformed himself from man into an unrecognizable beast. Within just a couple of layers, the viewer is thrown into the uncanny valley at the sight of his now disfigured features. The music is non-existent, only the occasional sounds of him working. At one point, he begins to desperately change himself. The piece as a whole serves as a creepy yet powerful nod to our never-ending attempts at finding ourselves in a world that seems to demand constant change.

#27: Paris Catacombs Lost Man Footage

Getting lost is scary enough but imagine the fear that comes with being hopelessly confused in a 150-mile underground cemetery. Many got to see it for themselves when footage from a 2000 episode of Scariest Places on Earth resurfaced online. It depicts a person wandering through the halls of the Paris Catacombs and observing bones, before suddenly running away from an unseen danger. The clip ends with his camera falling to the ground, indicating that it was dropped or that he fell. Throughout it all, his actions are narrated in a tone that seems to match his panic, creating even more tension. Though theres speculation this video isnt as authentic as it appears to be, something that cant be faked are the chills it sends down viewers spines.

#26: If

If Everywhere At the End of Time didnt strike existential fear into you, then surely this will. Michael of VSauce is no stranger to intense videos. He outdid himself with If, which focuses on figurative situations that are still planned for as though theyre going to happen. For example, he takes the audience through a simulation of a nuclear strike on the United States, including the never-before-broadcast Emergency Alert System. He takes us further down the rabbit hole as he explains the Moon Disaster speech, a statement written for President Nixon in the very likely case that the astronauts had to be abandoned and take their own lives. Though it isnt loaded with jumpscares, its a piece that will force you to recognize that nothing is guaranteed.

#25: K-Fee: Car Commercial

Theres nothing quite like a classic. Unlike several other videos on this list, theres no greater story. It simply depicts a car driving down a country road, before a zombie suddenly pops up from the corner of the screen and jumpscares the viewer. Since being uploaded in 2006, it has startled countless people at least once. This isnt the only one of its kind, however. The company, K-Fee, made several commercials in this screamer format but none have taken off as much as this one. Its a relic of a bygone era of the Internet, but it still hits as hard as it did when it was first posted more than twenty years ago.

#24: My Dead Great Grandmas Coffin in My Own Backyard!

Just from the title alone, you know youre in for an unsettling time. My Great Grandmas Coffin in My Own Backyard, from YouTuber DJDeafJoey, was filmed in 2008, making the body of his deceased relative forty-five years old at the time. She ended up in his possession following the closure of the cemetery she was originally buried in. That left her in his care and at his whim to film. He then reveals her, giving the viewer a front row seat to his macabre show. He then takes things up another notch by proving just how much he loves his great-grandmother. In an otherwise discomforting video, this manages to somehow be the most horrifying part, and the moment thats most likely to stick with you after watching.

#23: Grave Robbing for Morons

Some scary clips predate YouTube by several years. Grave Robbing for Morons, is believed to have been filmed sometime in the late 1980s, which is corroborated by the VHS camcorder footage. It opens with a human skull being presented to the camera. Its a jarring start, and it only gets more twisted from there. He ropes the viewer into a lesson theyll never forget, teaching them how to remove bones from their resting place and how to tell the age of the body youre stealing from. Though some are quick to call it fake, others have pointed out that the remains shown are too detailed for that to be the case. With that in mind, the video suddenly goes from creepy to downright horrific.

#22: 2AM: The Smiling Man

As if walking home alone at night wasnt already terrifying enough. 2AM: The Smiling Man is a masterclass in capturing tension. It opens with our main character walking home, when he suddenly comes across a man dancing towards him. He decides to cross, only to be followed. Just when you and the character are lulled into a false sense of security, the smiling man suddenly rushes the camera. The sound kicks into high gear, making the viewer feel just as terrified as the protagonist. The last thing either of you see before the video suddenly cuts is the antagonists wide, unfeeling grin. The ambiguous ending makes it all the more scary, leaving you wondering what possibly happened afterwards.

#21: Happy Anniversary!

After accidentally crashing her car on February 9th, 2004, Maura Murray called for help. By the time the authorities arrived, she was already gone. Years later, in 2012, a video was uploaded on the eighth anniversary of her disappearance. This was no ordinary tribute, however. It depicted an older man in a dark room, laughing maniacally at the camera, leaving many viewers with the horrible feeling that hed done something awful: The kicker? The user, 112dirtbag, based his name both on the road shed disappeared from and the descriptor used by her stepfather to denote those who kidnapped her. There were so many coincidences that the police got involved involved, but they eventually found he didnt abduct her he just wanted to pretend he did.

#20: Pencil Face

Uploaded by SCADshorts in 2008, Pencil Face is a popular video that has amassed nearly 2.5 million views. A bizarre but creative work, Pencil Face shows a young girl interacting with a giant pencil. Said pencil has a creepy face and allows the girl to conjure objects out of thin air. Lets just say, it doesnt end too well for the pencils poor victim. Its a very well made video, especially when it comes to early YouTube. Its filmed well, the design of the pencil is incredibly eerie, and a disturbing musical motif repeats throughout the video, putting the viewer in a near-hypnotic trance. The mood it creates is one of extreme uncertainty.

#19: The Sounds of Hell

Scour YouTube for a minute and youll find dozens of videos on the Siberian Sounds of Hell. These videos have received millions of views, all of which tell the same story. The legend goes that Soviet engineers drilled a nine-mile hole into the Siberian ground, and when they lowered a microphone into the hole, they captured the literal sounds of Hell. Unfortunately, this story has proven to be fake, and the sounds of Hell are just spliced-together sound effects. Fake or not, the noises are still incredibly chilling, and we have to give major props to the talented editor who made it. They truly did capture the sounds of Hell - or, at least, what we would imagine Hell to sound like.

#18: 11B X 1371

There are cryptic YouTube videos, and then theres 11B X 1371. Even its title defies sense! The video was originally uploaded in May 2015, before being reuploaded under another channel in October. A person in an old plague doctor outfit stands inside an abandoned building and performs many puzzling actions, none of which can be properly deciphered. Harsh, distorted noises can also be heard throughout the video, which helps aid in its confounding tone. Viewers scoured the footage to decipher its meaning, with many even conducting frame-by-frame analysis. In 2016, creator Parker Wright gave an interview with the Daily Dot and revealed that the video was made as a creepy art project. Maybe theres no greater meaning behind it, but it sure is scary!

#17: Cooking Idol

We uh, we dont really know whats going on in this video. But we dont like it. It was uploaded back in September 2010 by a user named nana825763 and has since amassed over three million views. It begins with a fantastic jump scare, as creepy whispering and demonic noises are followed by a dolls face slamming into the camera. What follows is a pure, surreal nightmare, as the doll cooks, dances, and just kind of jiggles around. We dont know whats scarier - the bizarre visuals bathed in red or the disturbing sound effects that are played throughout the video. But we do know that both combine to create a truly unforgettable YouTube experience.

#16: Sad Satan

On June 25, 2015, a user named Obscure Horror Corner uploaded gameplay of a PC title called Sad Satan. The user claimed to have found the game on the deep web, and it proved deeply upsetting for many. As the player walks down darkened corridors, audio of serial killers can be heard and disturbing images continuously appear on screen, most of which reference horrific, criminal acts. What makes this even scarier is the fact that we dont know much about it. Obscure Horror Corner disappeared after uploading the gameplay, and not much is known about Sad Satan. Some believe it was created by Obscure Horror Corner themself. Others arent sure what to believe. Its an Internet legend, and one that has never been solved.

#15: Chasing Alien Through Aussie Woods

There are literally countless videos out there purporting to show alien encounters. This is one of the best. The user has uploaded a number of supposed alien sightings to his channel, but this is by far the most popular, generating nearly two and a half million views. He and his buddies panic after seeing an alien and chase it through the woods, resulting in some good Blair Witch style scares. Even though its likely scripted, its still a great bit of filmmaking and does a fantastic job in building tension. It just goes to show that you dont need a lot of money to create an unforgettable short film.

#14: Edarem Sings Pretty Woman

Edarem was a very popular YouTuber in the late 2000s, known for his eccentric videos and somewhat creepy appearance. In this famous one from January 2009, the wild-haired Edarem dances for the camera and lip syncs to Roy Orbisons Oh, Pretty Woman. The video alone is creepy enough, as it has an unsettling air of weirdness to it. But the context makes it even more disturbing. Edarem was a man named Edward Muscare, who served eighteen months in prison in the late 80s for sexual battery. It was these YouTube videos that eventually got Muscare re-arrested, as he was prohibited from owning a computer and uploading content. He was sentenced to five years in prison and died in custody.

#13: 14 Horror Stories Animated

If Halloween season rolls around and you have nothing new to watch, try giving this video a try. It was uploaded by YouTuber Llama Arts, and it sees them animating fourteen unique scary stories. Running nearly one hour in length, the video is a wonderful bit of horror filmmaking. The stories are freaky, the narration is suitably haunting, and the accompanying animation visualizes the terror in a distinctive manner. The video proved incredibly popular, and as of 2023 it has been seen by nearly 22 million people. It speaks to the talent of Llama Arts and the quality of the stories in question.

#12: The Swedish Rhapsody

In January of 2011, YouTube channel TheConetArchive uploaded a video titled The Swedish Rhapsody. Despite its title, the audio was taken from a radio station broadcasting out of Poland. It consists of a repeating piece of music and what sounds like a small girls voice speaking in a cryptic and robotic manner. Just imagine tuning into this in the dead of night, not knowing what it was or where it was coming from. You may think the world is ending. Well, thats kind of what it was for. This audio was taken from a numbers station run by Polands Ministry of Public Security, and it was broadcast to spies during the Cold War.

#11: Spoons

Were going way back with Spoons, the first video in the famous Salad Fingers series. Spoons was first published on Newgrounds on July 1, 2004 and made the transition to YouTube in 2007. The animated short was a major success on both platforms and has since garnered over forty million views on YouTube. Its an all-time classic bit of Internet horror, featuring unforgettable visuals, an uneasy storyline, and a wonderfully eerie vocal performance from creator David Firth. It was truly ahead of its time, and even to this day, Spoons remains a wickedly creepy little video.

#10: Mass of Daddy Long Legs in a Tree

KILL. IT. WITH. FIRE. In this video clip, someone from Arizona felt compelled to disturb a cluster of daddy long legs gathering together (for whatever reason). Anyone with serious arachnophobia watching this avert your eyes! While daddy long-legs arent necessarily a harmful arachnid in comparison to other spiders in the world, the manner in which they scatter across the tree with those freakishly long legs of theirs definitely unsettles us. The second the person filming pokes them with a stick, they scramble into every possible direction and, even though we know there is a computer screen separating us from the creepy crawlers, we can help but be nervous that they might overflow right onto our laps. Ugh!

#9: Hand Thing

Have you ever done the hand thing? No? Neither have we, and we doubt we ever will after watching this creepfest. In this video, two people that have dressed themselves up to look like giant dolls speak to each other in very squeaky voices, while talking about and performing the hand thing. They make incredibly strange noises as they repeat the same hand movements over and over again. The repetitive nature of the video generates a heavy sense of madness, as we are sucked further and further into this mind-numbing and off-putting cycle of unparalleled insanity. It may not have grotesque monsters or unexpected jump scares, but Hand Thing proves that a descent into pure, inexplicable lunacy can sometimes be more effectively terrifying than anything else.

#8: I Feel Fantastic

We feel anything BUT fantastic after watching this one. In this disturbing video, a mannequin is dressed up in a variety of different outfits and placed into a plain-looking room. Seems more weird than scary with just the visuals alone, but its the combination of both the off-beat imagery and chilling audio that truly sells the scares this time around. The eerie soundtrack provides a calm but altogether unnerving atmosphere, as the lifeless doll does little but stare at you while the strange melody continues on. While were at it, what the hell is up with that video description? It brings up Greek mythology and the philosophies of what true beauty is. It kinda makes us feel like they are confusing the terms fantastic and frightening a little here.

#7: The Disneyland Ghost

Who is up for something more light-hearted to take a break from all of this horrifying material? How about a trip to Disneyland! Disneyland is the exact opposite of spooky! Its the most approachable, friendly, charming place that we can think of and, uh, WHAT WAS THAT?! Unfortunately, it seems like not even the wonderful world of Disney is safe from the supernatural entities of our universe, as cameras have captured strange footage of a ghastly presence prowling the grounds at night. Some people have hypothesized that this is the spirit of the man himself: Walt Disney! Whether its an actual ghost or just a video glitch, the image seen here will not be leaving our subconscious anytime soon.

#6: Dont Hug Me Im Scared

How could a video featuring colorful, happy-go-lucky puppets gathering together to get creative be even remotely scary? Well, lets just say that Dont Hug Me Im Scared is the very definition of expecting the unexpected. Everything seems to be calm and collected at first, but the slow burn of the terror to come begins to build until the ending where the intensity reaches a fever pitch and things GET NUTS. Shocking, split-second shots of hearts, bloody pies and thunderstorms are accompanied by an ear-scratching soundtrack, all of which results in an incredibly disturbing experience. We never expected a seemingly Sesame Street style video to get so dark, so fast. Dont follow the instructions in the videos title; please hug us, were scared.

#5: Obey the Walrus [aka Obedece a la morsa]

This entry defies any sense of logic or explanation. After a brief and unexplainable inclusion of the villain Andross from the Star Fox video game series, the video suddenly bombards the viewer with a kaleidoscope of colors and visual patterns before the main attraction begins. The video is apparently a product made by a Latin American cult of people who worship an otherworldly entity known only as the walrus; whatever the individual dancing around has to do with this walrus is anyones guess. Supposedly, bad luck will follow anyone shortly after they witness this video so if your life gets crappy shortly after watching our countdown, were sorry for dragging you into this.

#4: Body of a Pig

Lets play count the nopes, shall we? Nope number one: the cameraman and his colleagues are exploring a dark and desolate environment. Nope number two: said environment was highly rumored to be haunted! Nope number three, and this one is the kicker: they decide to open a big, red, metallic door to see what is on the other side. Almost immediately upon opening the door, a grumbly voice is just barely audible, with the video repeating the sound several times just in case you dont catch it. After being slowed down and cleared up, a voice can be heard saying I have the body of a pig just before making grunting sounds. What they heard, however, is nothing compared to what they saw.

#3: Bedfellows

We can all take some comfort in knowing that this video is 100% fake, as it is a short horror film, identifying itself as a work of fiction. However, this doesnt make it any less scary. A woman lies in bed next to who we can only assume to be her husband, due to the numerous photographs of them that we are shown throughout the video. However, things take a twisted and unexpected turn when the woman gets a phone call from her husband, who is just letting her know that he went for a little walk. Well, thats all well and good but if thats her husband on the phonethen whos lying next to her? Cue the heart-stopping jump scare in three, two, one.

#2: Dining Room or There Is Nothing

Upon clicking the video, you are immediately shown a pale woman in drab clothing while a fire rages behind her. Things only get creepier from there as the woman stares blankly into the camera. As it pulls back, it reveals an empty-looking room and what appears to be a bowl set for someone sitting opposite of her. She also says phrases that cant really be understood in her eerily monotone voice and we cant help but jump in our seats when she suddenly smashes her face into her bowl. We arent really sure whats happening here, but horror works best with that element of the unknown and this video has it in spades.

#1: Girl Goes Psycho During Makeup Tutorial

Scary, horrifying, disturbing, creepy; take your pick over which words you wish to use to describe what happens in this video, because by the end, it left us completely speechless. It starts off innocently enough, with a woman providing helpful hints and suggestions for makeup advice. However, if Dont Hug Me Im Scared taught us anything, its that even the cheeriest setup can go south very quickly. The woman is proceeding to demonstrate various makeup techniques when, out of nowhere, her live feed is interrupted by what looks like a darkened room. After this, she seemingly becomes possessed by... something, loses control of her own body, and she proceeds to violently smash her face into a bloody and broken mess.

Which YouTube video do you find the most chilling? Let us know in the comments below!