Everyday Canvas

Creepiness

Prompt: What does creepiness mean to you? And what does a creepy person/character look like?

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Creepiness is if I can’t tell there’s a threat or not. Creepiness can be attached to situations, places, and people. It usually has to do with nonverbal or physical characteristics.

A totally unknown situation may be creepy. For example, going to a party where I don’t know anyone and was not told to wear a mask but the people there are all wearing masks.

As to places, some such as haunted houses may be creepy. Is it because I think of them as being creepy or are they really threatening me in some way should be the question here since my mind could play numerous tricks on me, also.

Talking about minds, as to people being creepy, it could just be that the person I might think creepy may be someone who cannot properly interpret social cues and norms and their actions and appearances may not seem quite the same as the general population, such as autistics and people with mental disabilities. This, we all may need to consider.

As to the creepiness in the actions or physical appearances of people, these factors may play a role: Creepy traits and behaviors may include: insistently talking too much about a topic that could make others uneasy; not letting someone out of conversation; laughing at inappropriate times; smiling peculiarly; standing too close to someone; displaying unwanted sexual interest; displaying too much or too little emotion; licking lips constantly, etc.

As to the appearance of a person, weird or dirty clothes, bulging eyes, pasty skin, too long fingers, greasy hair and dark eye bags or anything on the face or the body that attracts unnecessary attention would creep out most people. I don’t much pay attention or look too carefully at people, so these may not apply to me all the time; however, if one or more of these is accompanied by the behaviors in the earlier paragraph, I might find that person unusual.

Then, creepiness may come in expected and accepted norms, too. The real danger is in this kind of creepiness. Sometimes, a soft-spoken, polite and friendly person, too, may have something about him or her that can make me want to flee. It may be my intuition alerting me or my mind has stepped into overdrive. In any case, I think it is better to be safe than sorry.