This is the time of year when many of us like to consider the creepy side of things; it’s when we want to be a little scared.

It is the season for marathon episodes of “The Twilight Zone” and “The Outer Limits” and for the classic movie channels to start unleashing some of Hollywood’s best monsters (“Frankenstein,” “Dracula,” “The Wolfman,” “The Mummy”) and not-so-best (“Robot Monster,” “The Zombies That Ate Pittsburgh,” “The Thing With Two Heads”).

Some actors’ genius was their ability to create “creepy” on screen without the benefit of full makeup. John Carradine, who was cast in films from 1930 through 1987, was one such actor. It didn’t matter if he was in a horror movie or a western, he could make you feel a bit unsettled with just one look.

In photography, creepiness was often epitomized by “spirit photos,” pictures that “captured” ghostly images. Writing in “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Ghosts and Hauntings,” Tom Ogden points out that spirit photography was discovered by accident in the 1860s by William Mumler. A double-exposure he made by mistake showed a hazy second person in the picture. Soon, Mumler began taking people’s pictures and doctoring them to show deceased loved ones or famous people.

But a photo doesn’t have to show a ghost to send chills down our spines; sometimes it’s just the subject matter or appearance of the people and places captured. Lou Dzierzak wrote in a 2008 Scientific American article that “researchers find fear to be a vastly personal experience. Whereas some people become terrified watching a scary film, others may be more afraid to walk back to their cars in a dark parking lot after the movie ends.”

Here’s a look at vintage photos of things that gave us the creeps in New Jersey. Be sure to click on the captions button to learn even more about the photos.

Coming soon: Civil servants and politics. Police and fire departments that protect our safety, public officials who serve us in government; if you have any photos of them taken in New Jersey before 1985, we'd love to see them and possibly use them in a gallery or Glimpse of History. Email your jpgs to ghatala@starledger.com.

We also invite you to post your comments about and creepy photos below. To insert a photo, simply click on the image icon under the writing field for instructions. Your snapshots may be used in an upcoming Throwback Thursday photo gallery on NJ.com.

POLL:

Would we fall for Orson Welles' 'War of the Worlds' today?