World's creepiest selfie shocks Twitter

A ghostly selfie is sending shivers down the spine of social media users.

The spooky image, posted by Twitter user @itsthemans, shows a couple smiling for a selfie taken on a smartphone... completely oblivious to a woman's face that has inexplicably appeared behind them.

A mirrored window behind the couple shows their reflection - and that's when it gets really eerie... while the reflection of the man holding the phone looks exactly as it should, the woman's face has turned to face the camera.

Originally from social media site 9gag.com, which enables users to doctor an image, and re-shared on Twitter alongside the caption: 'What kinda devlish ting is going on?' the image has caught the imagination of social media users and been now shared more than 16,000 times.

While some took a while to look beyond the grinning couple, when they finally saw the suggestion of paranormal activity, they were suitably unnerved.

@teeyuh wrote on Twitter: 'It took me a minute to understand what was happening but when I did...'

When @Macariee wrote: 'I really don't understand what's going on in this' others chose to enlighten her.

@JunkieCentric was terrified by the shot, saying: 'I'm so scared right now I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight'

Others were less than convinced by the photograph's authenticity: ‏@DesertBrat60 said: 'Bunch of fools really NOT paying attention. It's a gag and even says so in the picture!'

 Others, including @Cbone925, simply tried to work it out and offer a logical explanation that ruled out otherworldly activity: 'Lol the people taking pic are inside, then there is people who look like them posing same lmfao fake.'

@Homer_Slated suggested it wasn't even a face staring out: 'Not a face, it's the scarf pattern.'

A scarf, another person, a ghost...or just a Photoshop prankster, the jury's out on this particularly spooky selfie, it seems.