What would you say is the scariest/creepiest Tarot deck?

[Alta]

Enochian

This was the only tarot that I have owned that I gave away because it actually made me feel fearful.

Enochian Tarot

I think because it is based on a specific magickal system designed to evoke or echo certain presences that just made me deeply uneasy.

 

[Zephyros]

Tried to read the whole thread but it's too long so I don't know if the Bosch was mentioned. It's certainly creepy as is all his art. It manages to be funny at the same time but some of the fantastical creatures in it do evoke a creepy ick-factor.

In many ways Bosch was ahead of his time as well as ours and I don't think there will ever come a time when his art won't be out of this world.

 

[EmpyreanKnight]

I think that the Baphomet, the Bosch, and the Wormweird are the "right" sort of creepy that I can imagine going into my collection. The Barbara Walker is certainly going to be mine some day, and I already have the Deviant Moon Borderless and the Mary-El.

There is something about The Ritual Abuse Tarot that disturbs and disorientates me on a deep level. I might buy it, just to challenge myself, but I really don't know.

 

[illyria]

I think that the Baphomet, the Bosch, and the Wormweird are the "right" sort of creepy that I can imagine going into my collection. The Barbara Walker is certainly going to be mine some day, and I already have the Deviant Moon Borderless and the Mary-El.

There is something about The Ritual Abuse Tarot that disturbs and disorientates me on a deep level. I might buy it, just to challenge myself, but I really don't know.

Yelell will probably call me out again for pointing out the 4 of Cups in the Ritual Abuse Tarot, but it is a very haunting card. But then "haunting" isn't the same as "creepy" or "scary," is it? I'm loathe to call any deck creepy or scary, but then I just haven't owned a deck that made me feel that way. The Bosch has both history and strange imagery, which I love, though I don't use it that often.

 

[EmpyreanKnight]

Yelell will probably call me out again for pointing out the 4 of Cups in the Ritual Abuse Tarot, but it is a very haunting card. But then "haunting" isn't the same as "creepy" or "scary," is it? I'm loathe to call any deck creepy or scary, but then I just haven't owned a deck that made me feel that way. The Bosch has both history and strange imagery, which I love, though I don't use it that often.

Perhaps it has something to do with the stark black/grey and white that makes it looks like images that can be conjured from a dream, or monsters that may appear from wisps of smoke. Or perhaps it sings to some deep fears I've already suppressed. I love dark decks and horror movies and torture porn hardly makes me gasp, but the images in that deck unsettle me.

Or maybe you're right, maybe when I already have them in my hands they will not seem nearly so discordant. They might even be friendly. I've heard that there is a campaign for a new printing of the deck, so let's see.

 

[Padma]

The Prague tarot. I actually shudder when I use it. So cold!

 

[RiverRunsDeep]

I have several dark decks, including Ritual Abuse, but none of the decks I own are scary or creepy to me.

After reading through this thread (yep, I read the whole darned thing), my vote for scariest deck is the Sinister tarot. Several posters mentioned it early in the thread, and that one...wow. It takes a lot to scare me, but those images strike fear in my heart.

 

[EmpyreanKnight]

The Sinister Tarot, simply put, is a thing of beauty.

It seems that this majors-only deck was expanded to become the Emanations Tarot, but the latter only has 64 cards. What happened to the other 14 cards?

Moot question really, as the price is pants-sh*tt*ngly astronomical. One day I'd be as rich as Croesus though, and then . . .

 

[FLizarraga]

The Prague tarot. I actually shudder when I use it. So cold!

Colder than the Tyldwick? 'Cause that's 78 blocks of ice --and poisoned ice at that.

 

[illyria]

How about The Lost Tarot by Dominic Murphy? I'm afraid it's not strictly tarot, but the deck has interesting images.