Feeling a bit ghoulish? You may, then, be in the mood to riffle through an archive of 30,000 NYPD crime photos that are about to go online.
The photos, which were all taken between 1914 and 1975, are being released as part of a larger project to digitise some 2.2 million photos, audio files and videos held by the New York City Municipal Archives.
The small sample of black-and-white pictures previewed on HyperAllergic shows mostly crime scenes that looked ripped from old detective movies, but there are also others like an eerie image of a doll sitting alone on a murder victim's bed (we are 90 per cent sure the doll did it).
Or a burning of 'indecent' books outside Manhattan Police Headquarters in 1935.
In fact, it seems most of the images have a story to tell. But might we recommend not viewing them late at night so as to avoid nightmares, especially if there are creepy dolls anywhere in the house.
(Images: New York City Municipal Archives)
