The photographs housed at the University of Sheffield’s National Fairground and Circus Archive aren’t really meant to be spooky, but there’s just something about a vintage snapshot of a vacant carnival ride or empty sideshow stage that feels like a peek onto a horror movie set.

That makes sense to collections manager Arantza Barrutia. She points out that, for many, fear is integral to the experience of a fair of any sort. The draw is “the thrill experience, the feeling of fear you get when you go on a ride or into a funhouse.” In the heyday of Britain’s fairgrounds, from the Victorian era and into the early 20th century, the country’s showmen were savvy businessmen, Barrutia says, who played with this idea of titillating audiences with fear. “Anything that entertained the public, the showmen would have been there, developing that idea,” she says. By the early 20th century, that often included the haunted house and the ghost train, in which fairgoers rode through dark tunnels inhabited by mechanized ghouls (commonly known in the amusement world as a “dark ride”). Barrutia speculates that widespread interest in spiritualism and communicating with those in the great beyond were responsible for these carnival mainstays.

The fairground has long played an important role in the culture of Britain. “In the Victorian era, it was the hub for the working people to go and get together to escape their drab life,” says Barrutia. “It was the place where they saw electricity for the first time, steam power for the first time, moving pictures for the first time.”

All those stories, as well as the lives of the show families who created these fantastical spaces, are told in the National Fairground and Circus Archive, which spans some 400 years of history. And in the haunted houses included among the archive’s nearly 80,000 digitized images we can find a delightful kind of horror story: a catalog of what has scared us, both now and then.

Here’s a selection from the archive.

This may just be the first-ever haunted house. Designed around 1915 by English amusement titans Orton and Spooner (and pictured here some 80 years later), the “haunted cottage” terrified fairgoers with uneven floors, vibrating walls, unexpected puffs of air—all steam-powered. The attraction still operates today at Hollycombe Steam in the Country, in Hampshire, England.
This may just be the first-ever haunted house. Designed around 1915 by English amusement titans Orton and Spooner (and pictured here some 80 years later), the “haunted cottage” terrified fairgoers with uneven floors, vibrating walls, unexpected puffs of air—all steam-powered. The attraction still operates today at Hollycombe Steam in the Country, in Hampshire, England. Peter Wellen/National Fairground Archive, University of Sheffield
The oldest photo of a haunted house in the University of Sheffield’s collection shows that many of the same things that made Brits “windy”—archaic slang for “frightened”—in the 1920s are still Halloween staples today.
The oldest photo of a haunted house in the University of Sheffield’s collection shows that many of the same things that made Brits “windy”—archaic slang for “frightened”—in the 1920s are still Halloween staples today. National Fairground Archive, University of Sheffield
The storied Manning show family brought its “Ye Haunted Castle” to Clarence Pier in Portsmouth, England in 1954, just as the pier was slowly reopening after a real horror: the bombings of World War II.
The storied Manning show family brought its “Ye Haunted Castle” to Clarence Pier in Portsmouth, England in 1954, just as the pier was slowly reopening after a real horror: the bombings of World War II. George Tucker/National Fairground Archive, University of Sheffield
Britain's fairgrounds were awash with haunted cottages, houses, mansions, and castles in the 1970s, but mills and mines were also considered spooky venues, perhaps a holdover from the dangerous working conditions and memorable disasters experienced by earlier generations.
Britain’s fairgrounds were awash with haunted cottages, houses, mansions, and castles in the 1970s, but mills and mines were also considered spooky venues, perhaps a holdover from the dangerous working conditions and memorable disasters experienced by earlier generations. Chris Russell/National Fairground Archive, University of Sheffield
Amateur photographer Jack Leeson was a pioneer among the enthusiasts who documented every aspect of Britain's fairgrounds. Almost 11,000 photographs—including this one of The Laughing Dark Castle in Birmingham in 1973—are archived at the University of Sheffield along with his careful notes about each fair.
Amateur photographer Jack Leeson was a pioneer among the enthusiasts who documented every aspect of Britain’s fairgrounds. Almost 11,000 photographs—including this one of The Laughing Dark Castle in Birmingham in 1973—are archived at the University of Sheffield along with his careful notes about each fair. Jack Leeson/National Fairground Archive, University of Sheffield
For almost 140 years, the Town Moor in Newcastle upon Tyne has hosted one of Europe’s largest traveling fairs. Throughout the mid-20th century, showman Gilbert Chadwick was a mainstay of the fair, popular first for his animal freak shows and later for his trailer-mounted haunted houses, like this one from 1978.
For almost 140 years, the Town Moor in Newcastle upon Tyne has hosted one of Europe’s largest traveling fairs. Throughout the mid-20th century, showman Gilbert Chadwick was a mainstay of the fair, popular first for his animal freak shows and later for his trailer-mounted haunted houses, like this one from 1978. Chris Russell/National Fairground Archive, University of Sheffield