Creepy Paintings: Eerie and Haunting Art

The creepiest paintings in art history: witches, demons, nightmares and visions of hell, from Bosch and Goya to Fuseli and Munch. Ideal Halloween viewing.

Long before horror films, painters gave shape to what people feared in the dark. These works pair a supernatural subject with the highest scores for tension and unease in our collection, so the famous nightmares sit next to ones you have probably never seen.

• The Scream by Edvard Munch — Tension 94, Sadness 71, Anger 12
• Hell by Hans Memling — Anger 85, Sadness 90, Tension 100
• Anthony: What Is the Point of All This? The Devil: There Is No Point! (plate 18) by Odilon Redon — Sadness 90, Tension 95, Wonder 71
• Saturn Devouring One of His Sons by Francisco Goya — Anger 9, Sadness 18, Joy 26
• Lucifer by Franz Stuck — Anger 90, Tension 100, Sadness 85
• The Monster by Odilon Redon — Sadness 90, Tension 94, Wonder 90
• The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli — Anger 80, Sadness 85, Tension 95
• The Temptation of St. Anthony by Martin Schongauer — Sadness 85, Tension 95, Nostalgia 90
• Medusa by Franz Stuck — Anger 85, Sadness 85, Tension 95
• The Triumph of Death by Pieter Bruegel the Elder — Sadness 53, Tension 41, Anger 11
• West Side of the Isle of the Dead by Salvador Dali — Anger 81, Sadness 90, Tension 95
• The Temptation of St. Anthony (right wing of the Isenheim Altar) by Matthias Grünewald — Anger 80, Sadness 90, Tension 95
• Hell by Hieronymus Bosch — Anger 12, Sadness 18, Joy 27
• The Fall of the Damned (copy after Rubens) by David Scott — Sadness 95, Anger 81, Tension 95
• The Last Judgment (The right part of the composition - The Damned Consigned to Hell; the left part of the composition - The Blessed Taken into Paradise) by Luca Signorelli — Anger 76, Sadness 81, Tension 90
• Witches' Sabbath / The Great He-Goat by Francisco Goya — Anger 12, Sadness 21, Wonder 29
• Satan Presiding at the Infernal Council by John Martin — Anger 90, Sadness 95, Tension 100
• Head of Demon with mountains by Mikhail Vrubel — Anger 86, Sadness 95, Tension 96
• Vampire by Edvard Munch — Wonder 46, Tension 44, Anger 10
• Sunrise with Sea Monsters by J.M.W. Turner — Anger 90, Sadness 85, Tension 95
• The Devil in Church by David Alfaro Siqueiros — Anger 85, Sadness 80, Tension 90
• Self-Portrait with Death as a Fiddler by Arnold Böcklin — Anger 70, Sadness 80, Tension 85
• Head of Demon by Mikhail Vrubel — Sadness 95, Anger 81, Tension 95
• Women forming a skull by Salvador Dali — Anger 75, Sadness 85, Tension 90
• Temptation of St. Anthony by Hieronymus Bosch — Anger 8, Sadness 19, Joy 24
• Kiss of Medusa by Wilhelm Kotarbinski — Anger 84, Sadness 90, Tension 94
• The Satanic. Satan Sowing Tares by Felicien Rops — Anger 90, Sadness 85, Tension 95
• Witches in the Air by Francisco Goya — Anger 11, Sadness 17, Joy 26
• Sorcerer by Nicholas Roerich — Anger 75, Sadness 85, Tension 95
• Skulls by Nicholas Roerich — Sadness 85, Anger 70, Tension 90
• The Fall of the Damned by Peter Paul Rubens — Anger 80, Sadness 90, Tension 85
• Vampire by Georgi Mashev — Sadness 95, Anger 80, Tension 95
• The Witch by Alfred Kubin — Sadness 96, Anger 80, Nostalgia 100
• Inferno, Canto XXXI by Sandro Botticelli — Anger 10, Sadness 21, Joy 25
• the Witches' Sabbath by Salvator Rosa — Anger 75, Sadness 80, Tension 90
• The air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste and moaning as they went by Arthur Rackham — Anger 80, Sadness 81, Tension 91
• Skeleton by Vincent van Gogh — Anger 80, Sadness 80, Tension 90
• The Fall of Lucifer by Edward Burne-Jones — Sadness 90, Nostalgia 96, Tension 86
• The Dream Haunting the Mogul by Gustave Moreau — Sadness 85, Tension 90, Anger 65
• Medusa by Arnold Böcklin — Anger 95, Sadness 79, Tension 90
• Life of St Benedict, Scene 5. The Devil Destroys the Little Bell by Il Sodoma — Anger 80, Tension 95, Sadness 80
• Gateway to Hell by Alfred Kubin — Sadness 95, Nostalgia 100, Anger 75
• Death and the Maiden by Egon Schiele — Anger 80, Sadness 85, Tension 90
• Two Witches by Hans Baldung — Sadness 86, Anger 71, Tension 90
• Follow me, Satan! by Ilya Repin — Anger 75, Sadness 85, Tension 95
• The Damned Soul by Michelangelo — Anger 11, Sadness 18, Joy 27
• A Soul in Hell by Evelyn De Morgan — Sadness 85, Anger 70, Tension 90
• Witch by Theodor Severin Kittelsen — Anger 85, Tension 95, Sadness 79
• Will-o'-the-wisp by Arnold Böcklin — Anger 40, Tension 60, Sadness 40
• Human skull in space by Damien Hirst — Anger 80, Sadness 80, Tension 90
• Goblin by Theodor Severin Kittelsen — Anger 76, Sadness 85, Tension 85
• Assassin pursued by furies by Arnold Böcklin — Anger 85, Sadness 80, Tension 75
• Heikea japonica, The ghost of Taira Tomomori along with the anchor he drowned with, and heikegani with faces of fallen soldiers by Utagawa Kuniyoshi — Anger 80, Sadness 85, Tension 90
• Four Demons with a Book by Luca Signorelli — Tension 85, Anger 60, Sadness 70
• Composition with skull (study) by Pablo Picasso — Anger 70, Sadness 80, Tension 90
• Man Screaming (also known as Study for Hell) by John Singer Sargent — Anger 85, Tension 95, Sadness 80
• Study for a devil and victim in Judgement by John Singer Sargent — Sadness 90, Tension 90, Anger 60
• Satan Summoning His Legions by Thomas Lawrence — Anger 69, Sadness 80, Tension 90
• Get away from me, Satan by Ilya Repin — Anger 80, Sadness 90, Tension 85
• Woman Abducted by the Demon by Fernando Botero — Sadness 90, Tension 85, Anger 51

All emotions