What makes something creepy?

Mapping the Uncanny Valley

Creepiness is a function of deviation from expected normality. Obviously, this looks like a bell curve, or, to make the point make more sense visually, the Uncanny Valley.

Speed
As seen in: Music boxes, Zombies, Technological change, Child development, Coups, Pandemics, Jungle cats, and Traffic

Feeling
As seen in: Propaganda newscasts, Sermons, Cult chants, Chatbots, Detached assassins, Abusers, and Talking Elmo

Cleanliness
As seen in: Stepford homes, Fingernails, Swearing, Purity culture, Secret laboratories, Sewers, and Crime scenes

Hair
As seen in: Sasquatch, Aliens, Sphinx cats, Mole rats, Newborn mammals, Rasputin, Misogynistic cults, and Porn

Grooming
As seen in: The Unabomber’s cabin, Plastic surgery, Stilts, Religious vestments, Painful jewelry, Nakedness, Casual Friday identity cover-ups, and Glass eyes

Professionalism
As seen in: Auschwitz, Field hospitals, Human Resources, Straight jackets, Road rage, Butcher shops, Mortuaries, PTA meetings, and Prisons

Eye Contact
As seen in: Child protective services, Boxing rings, Peeping Toms, Night paralysis demons, Police on steroids, Salespeople, Crows, and Stalkers who barely know you

Attention
As seen in: Global warming, Strangers, Fandoms, Responsibilities, Consequences, The fact that our skeletons are wet, Influencers, Death, and Other people’s business

Mystery
As seen in: Joint facebook accounts, Diaries, Sealed tombs, Landfills, Libraries, Clickbait, Parking lots, Abandoned storage units, DNA, Hazing rituals, and the Night sky

Sounds
As seen in: Ghosts, Owls, Children, Assassins, Parades, The Sun, Grief, Fights, Drones, Pedestrians coming up behind you, and Suburbia