Alright here it goes:I'm claustrophobic, I think a lot of people are which may or may not make it less irrational. But mine tends to manifest in kind of weird ways. For example, I hate driving in tunnels that you cannot see the end of, the harbor tunnel in Maryland comes to mind. I'm not afraid the tunnel will collapse on me, although that would suck, I'm afraid of driving forever and never getting to the end.
I also hate driving on some bridges because I think I may, for whatever reason, drive over the side into the water and be trapped in my car. I would prefer the quicker death of hitting solid earth. In fact the idea of getting trapped in the car with the water rising around me is a big one, but I don't really see any other way that this is going to happen. I find myself clenching my teeth in these situations, giving myself a headache.
I also don't like crowds, usually they are just annoying and I avoid them whenever possible. But I've always been afraid of being caught in a situation like just happened on black Friday, a mob of people that carries you along with it, so tight you can't keep your footing. I imagine it's like being swept along in a really strong river current, a fate I would choose over the crowd any day. I think this fear comes from videos of celebrities being mobbed by hordes of fans each of them wanting a piece, reminds me of zombies. On the other hand, I have always been fine in elevators, even got stuck in one once for several hours. But since I saw that video of the guy stuck in an elevator for like 3 days, I'm afraid of getting stuck all alone in an elevator, I don't think it would be as bad as long as I wasn't alone, cause I'm not afraid of dying, the solitude and boredom would drive me insane.
On that note, I hate to be caught without something to do. Usually I'm doing 3 things at once but I need to be doing at least one thing, I cannot wait patiently. I don't know if I would call this a fear but I will go to great lengths to make sure I have something with me at all times, just in case, I never know when I may get caught in limbo.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Joe Spence
I'm terrified of Abraham Lincoln. Ever since I was in elementary school and read a book on ghosts of the white house, I have a reoccurring nightmare where Lincoln's Ghost is standing over me...watching me sleep...its disturbing
Erica Langen
1) I get panicky even thinking about dark water. It doesn't necessarily have to be deep (though that is indefinitely more frightening), but murky, dark, and cloudy. If the light doesn't reach the bottom, I don't want to go in there. This applies to the deep end of pools, rivers, lakes, large puddles, and of course, the ocean.
2) Chewing gum. I absolutely detest it. In my view, it is nothing more than a half-masticated, saliva-drenched food mass with the consistency of industrial rubber. My biggest concern is that I'll put my hand under a chair or under a table and there will be a huge, disease-ridden blob of old Big Red. I am significantly upset if I step in gum on the sidewalk--I feel like crying and my day is more or less ruined. I have to control my literal urge to gag when people stick their half-chewed gum on a plate to save for after a meal. I don't like seeing other people's gum, even if it's safely in their mouth. I do not chew gum myself, and use breathmints to maintain a minty-fresh breath.
Oprah apparently feels the same way about gum and bans chewing gum from her studio. I find this a perfectly acceptable practice, and I would advocate a nation-wide ban on chewing gum.
2) Chewing gum. I absolutely detest it. In my view, it is nothing more than a half-masticated, saliva-drenched food mass with the consistency of industrial rubber. My biggest concern is that I'll put my hand under a chair or under a table and there will be a huge, disease-ridden blob of old Big Red. I am significantly upset if I step in gum on the sidewalk--I feel like crying and my day is more or less ruined. I have to control my literal urge to gag when people stick their half-chewed gum on a plate to save for after a meal. I don't like seeing other people's gum, even if it's safely in their mouth. I do not chew gum myself, and use breathmints to maintain a minty-fresh breath.
Oprah apparently feels the same way about gum and bans chewing gum from her studio. I find this a perfectly acceptable practice, and I would advocate a nation-wide ban on chewing gum.
Chris Ritter
I have a tremendous aversion to Mannequinnes, humanoid puppets, like Marrionettes, lawn knomes or ventriliquests dummies, but there are specifics involved, The older they are, the grosser and freakier they become, especially if they have fake unkempt facial hair. shoddy make up,rosy cheeks, deteriorating, or are dressed in old antique clothing, thats the worst, They make me literally sick, I get very nausous and I avoid them at all costs so I dont dry heave or throw up, (I DO LOVE the Muppets however), Ive had episodes where Ive not been able to leave the area, like a carnival ride or a CPR training course involving a dummy, I had to put my mouth on this thing! and I got sick.
2 movies really bother me..Poltergeist, when the evil clown comes out from under the bed and a film called Magic, about a ventriliquist and his dummy, It freaks me out to think about those films even today.. and Im im my mid 40s! Modern dummies don't bother me as much like a naked chrome human "form" in a store, Im fine, its the fleshy, aged fake humaness of something that gets to Me, not sure why, Some clowns bother me but some don't, I think its the idea of someone WANTING to be a clown and do dumb, cheesy clown antics that just makes me very dissapointed and I feel sad and embarrassed for them, Clowns are depressing to me. Ill steer clear if possble.
I have a rational fear of NOT being armed at any given moment.
Someone mentioned being punched out of the blue, I can understand that one too, Ive seen It happen and have cold cocked someone my damn self. (but they deserved it!)
Im scared to go into a lake, the murkeier the freakier. who knows what lurks below the surface, and what might grab,sting or bite your legs or feet. Yikes!
I also have a rational fear of losing my job,house,cars (but not my wife)and being hungry and homeless and having to possibly depend on others. So I work alot, save alot, and keep large amounts of cash around to buy my way out of trouble if needed
2 movies really bother me..Poltergeist, when the evil clown comes out from under the bed and a film called Magic, about a ventriliquist and his dummy, It freaks me out to think about those films even today.. and Im im my mid 40s! Modern dummies don't bother me as much like a naked chrome human "form" in a store, Im fine, its the fleshy, aged fake humaness of something that gets to Me, not sure why, Some clowns bother me but some don't, I think its the idea of someone WANTING to be a clown and do dumb, cheesy clown antics that just makes me very dissapointed and I feel sad and embarrassed for them, Clowns are depressing to me. Ill steer clear if possble.
I have a rational fear of NOT being armed at any given moment.
Someone mentioned being punched out of the blue, I can understand that one too, Ive seen It happen and have cold cocked someone my damn self. (but they deserved it!)
Im scared to go into a lake, the murkeier the freakier. who knows what lurks below the surface, and what might grab,sting or bite your legs or feet. Yikes!
I also have a rational fear of losing my job,house,cars (but not my wife)and being hungry and homeless and having to possibly depend on others. So I work alot, save alot, and keep large amounts of cash around to buy my way out of trouble if needed
Anonymous
When I was a kid I was absolutely terrrified that I was going to spontaneously combust. I think I read too many books in the big kid section of library and saw too many episodes of Ripleys, but I spent a great deal of every day worrying I was going to be burst into flames and be turned into ash in a matter or seconds.
Another paranoia that has carried over from my childhood is an irrational fear that I'm going to pick up some sort of incurable disease. I used to lie in bed at night not being able to sleep because I was absolutely convinced I had contracted aids at sometime during the day and didn't know how to tell my mum.
While I've recovered somewhat from the spontanous human combustion thing, I still have an irrational paranoia that I'm going to get really sick and die, which has turned me into a germ freak who avoids all unecessary contact with other humans.
Another paranoia that has carried over from my childhood is an irrational fear that I'm going to pick up some sort of incurable disease. I used to lie in bed at night not being able to sleep because I was absolutely convinced I had contracted aids at sometime during the day and didn't know how to tell my mum.
While I've recovered somewhat from the spontanous human combustion thing, I still have an irrational paranoia that I'm going to get really sick and die, which has turned me into a germ freak who avoids all unecessary contact with other humans.
Nadya
1.) I am terrified about driving or walking across bridges, particularly cable bridges. They make no sense to me. I am convinced that eventually, the bridge will collapse under the weight of so many heavy vehicles, and I'm going to be crushed and mangled and cut by concrete / cables / other vehicles, then plummet into a watery grave where, undoubtedly, even more cars and concrete will land on top of me.
2.) Every time I sit down on the toilet, I'm pretty sure that a large sewer rat will have somehow made its way through the pipes. This rat will emerge in my toilet bowl and attempt to climb out of it as I'm seated upon it.
3.) Whenever I'm walking down any set of stairs--but especially down to the subway--I'm convinced someone is going to push me. I will fall. I will tumble. I will break my neck and back and bust all of my teeth. This is why I always, always hold onto the railing.
4.) The times I actually get to drive (I don't own a car), and I find myself at a standstill while directly beneath an overpass, I panic. I am quite certain that this overpass will collapse and kill me.
5.) Pictures of whale's tails. It all began when I was a tot, and my brother showed me a giant two-page colour photograph of two kayakers being dwarfed by a whale's tail sticking out of the water. The thing was too...damn...big. The shape of it was intimidating and scary. Worse was, if this tail alone could make two kayakers look like grains of sand, how the hell big was the REST of the whale under the water?
6.) Living in a ground-floor flat. There is every probability that some guy is going to break open a window, come into my apartment, and kill me in a violent way.
2.) Every time I sit down on the toilet, I'm pretty sure that a large sewer rat will have somehow made its way through the pipes. This rat will emerge in my toilet bowl and attempt to climb out of it as I'm seated upon it.
3.) Whenever I'm walking down any set of stairs--but especially down to the subway--I'm convinced someone is going to push me. I will fall. I will tumble. I will break my neck and back and bust all of my teeth. This is why I always, always hold onto the railing.
4.) The times I actually get to drive (I don't own a car), and I find myself at a standstill while directly beneath an overpass, I panic. I am quite certain that this overpass will collapse and kill me.
5.) Pictures of whale's tails. It all began when I was a tot, and my brother showed me a giant two-page colour photograph of two kayakers being dwarfed by a whale's tail sticking out of the water. The thing was too...damn...big. The shape of it was intimidating and scary. Worse was, if this tail alone could make two kayakers look like grains of sand, how the hell big was the REST of the whale under the water?
6.) Living in a ground-floor flat. There is every probability that some guy is going to break open a window, come into my apartment, and kill me in a violent way.
Roni Size
One of my fears is that I am crazy. Sometimes I will be chatting with a friend in the middle of the city, a close friend from school or a girl that I'm seeing, and all of a sudden a wave of anxiety will sweep through me. I'll catch the eye of a stranger, feel a pang of fear, sense something..... My friend could still be chattering away in the background but I lose focus and feel my heart pump through the skin of my slightly sweaty palms as their voice is drowned by the blood rushing through my ears. The thing is; I wonder if my friend is real. Am I just standing here by myself, laughing and joking around in the thick of the CBD, sharing memories and playing games with a phantom? I notice people looking at me with a sheen of awkwardness, yet my friend keeps talking to me as though everything was completely normal. I kid you not, I often look into the nearest window or shiny metallic surface, telling myself that even my vivid imagination could not create the perfect reflection of a ghost. What do they see? What do they hear? These people we pass - swearing at shop fronts and arguing with the sky. Is that me, so deluded that I have created a fantasy to whisk myself away from the life of a transient? Am I locked in a perfect cage, the perfect prison? So perfect I really think I'm free. Please. Please be real
Alexandra
1. A few years ago, I was afraid that if I listened to my Daniel Bedingfield CD too much, the singer on the CD would get really angry with me and start shouting at me. I guess that's because the more I listened to him, the more exasperated/exhausted he sounded to me.
2. I'm afraid that if I don't leave my window open and let fresh air in for at least an hour before I go to sleep, I'll vomit during the night.
3. I'm afraid of fire escapes, because I'm afraid if I trip I'll fall through one of the gaps in between the steps.
2. I'm afraid that if I don't leave my window open and let fresh air in for at least an hour before I go to sleep, I'll vomit during the night.
3. I'm afraid of fire escapes, because I'm afraid if I trip I'll fall through one of the gaps in between the steps.
Amy Strain
I have three main fears. They all stem from an experience I had when before we moved to our new house. Our attic was horribly creepy and my brother and I would always sleep in the same room in the same bed with the light on. One night I just could not sleep and I began to hear a rhythmic knocking noise coming from my room. It was dark in there and the door was open and after awhile a ghost appeared and walked past my bed. Ever since I am very uncomfortable if a door is left open in the room I'm in, if it has a door. I'm also afraid of the dark and my fear of rhythmic knocking noises at night has turned into a fear of any kind of knocking sound I wake up hearing or hear when I'm in bed. I also become afraid at times when I can't sleep for too long that, depending on the night, a ghost/a terrorist/jack the ripper/a random other serial killer that is dead or behind bars/ aliens/ a robber/ an insane person/ one of my ex boyfriends or someone I've slighted in some way will come through my window and try to kill me or abduct me. I live in the country and my dog freaks out at nothing all the time so this does not help. Also, no one will hear me scream, especially if they've gotten my relatives first. This fear also carries with me if I have to leave my bedroom that something is hiding in my house, under my bed or behind the kitchen counter perhaps, so if I leave my room I have to turn lights on, though I still run accross my floor quickly for fear of whatever is under the bed, and occasionally have to lock all the doors and windows and have a sword with me. My boyfriend sleep walks very rarely, and though he's never hurt me, I'm afraid that he will begin sleepwalking and try to kill me somehow. I am also afraid of snakes or spiders coming out of or hiding behind my toilet. It's not so bad anymore but I used to have to check everytime I went to the bathroom.
Chris Storey
I have an insanely irrational fear of butterflies or really anything flying around my head. I found I had this fear when I went to a butterfly conservatory (big green house where you walk through and there are butterflies freely flying around). I was walking through and all of a sudden this paralyzing fear came over me that a butterfly would stupidly fly into my face and get stuck there and just keep fluttering its wings all around my face. It was about 85 degrees in the green house but I put on my winter jacket and zipped it all the way up and put the hood on. I then ran all the way through the place. There were little kids all happy with butterflies landing on their heads and I was about 12 at the time freaking out. If a butterfly had come near my I wouldn't have hesitated to punch it out of the air. I talked to my mom about this and apparently she has the exact same fear. I hate butterflies....so much
Alison Copely
1) Whenever I walk up to a closed door, I become inexplicably afraidthat someone is going to open it from the other side, slamming it intomy face. For some reason, it is my teeth that I most fear gettingsmashed. Because of this, I always try to stay to the side of thedoor, reaching out to open it, so that only my hand would be hit byits opening.
2) As I lie in bed, trying to go to sleep, I will occasionallyexperience an overwhelming fear of opening my eyes. I'm afraid that ifI do, I will see these creepy, luminous white eyes staring straight atme. It's not that I'm afraid of someone trying to murder me in mysleep or anything, but just the thought of eyes staring motionlesslyat me...I have to pull the covers over my head to quell these fearsand be able to sleep.
2) As I lie in bed, trying to go to sleep, I will occasionallyexperience an overwhelming fear of opening my eyes. I'm afraid that ifI do, I will see these creepy, luminous white eyes staring straight atme. It's not that I'm afraid of someone trying to murder me in mysleep or anything, but just the thought of eyes staring motionlesslyat me...I have to pull the covers over my head to quell these fearsand be able to sleep.
Ryan Lazenbi
Hi I'm Ryan, and I'm afraid of bathtub sharks. I actually have this totally dumb fear that underneath my bathtub is a shark waiting for me to fall through the bottom and eat me. I don't know where this came from, only that it is. For a while I went through a period where I was more afraid of bathtub alligators, and once for a while with snakes, but mostly its the sharks. Now, I've been to construction sites and seen that there is no way for a shark to fit in between the first and second floor of my house, let alone room for it to mantain the constant motion necessary for a shark to survive, yet the fear persists.
Linda Cai
Ever since I read about subliminal messaging, I can't watch commercials, television or anything in an ad that seems flashy, for fear of there being a small image or detail that will control my needs/wants, at best, I watch with my mind focusing on something totally unrelated, like the color of my remote. It makes me feel like at any minute, I'm going to become a robot whose mind is in complete control of the ad, and will buy their products and do their bidding.
Deborah
Most of my fears are pretty common, like spiders and falling from heights, but I'm also completely freaked out by mermaids. I know they're fictional, but I can barely stand to watch any movies or TV shows that feature them. Animated mermaids are better, but still not great. And those 'real-life' mermaids at places like Weeki Wachee in Florida? Even the brochures for that place freak me out. I guess the most irrational part of my fear of mermaids isn't that they'll come after me, it's that I'll turn into one. For the next couple of nights after I see a movie with a mermaid, I have to sleep with my legs bent at completely different angles to remind me that I'm okay.
C.R Gates
1) Bordering between irrational fears and hatreds are mirrors. I hate mirrors. If I'm in the bathroom combing my hair or brushing my teeth or whatever, that's one thing. But any unnecessary exposure to mirrors freaks me out. Even better, the house I moved into last year belonged to a dancer previously and is chock fulla mirrors. I think it's a combination of me not liking how I look, and a hatred of stuff looking at me (I'm an amature photographer, and hate taking pictures of people because they look at the camera. I have a movie poster a friend gave me that I will never be able to hang up because it has one of the characters looking RIGHT AT YOU). Besides, mirrors are where dopplegangers live, and I don't want my evil double to jump out of a friggin' piece of glass and kill me. That's just not cool.
2) The dark. Here's the thing: I like the dark. I like low lighting in the rooms I'm in, I'm a night owl, I love going places at night. But I still am freaked out by the dark. The dark has to be either well lit, or so pitch black that I can't see much of anything. If I can sort of see things, that's the worst. I think that is left over from when I was a kid and our basement was always semi-dark, and full of weird shadowy crap that every assortment of monster imaginable could live under. So when I've turned off the lights at night and the street lamp is shining through the window, I kind of giddily spaz (???) up the stairs to my room. Oh, and I turn the light on before I shut the door. You know, in case I have to escape real fast. And I DO NOT, under any circumstances, look out the window. I sometimes glance out the front window on my way up the stairs to see if it's raining or something, and still half panic that a monster/murderer/murdering monster is in the street, idly passing through quiet suburbia.
3) Aliens. Oh holy crap, aliens. I've made the mistake of watching "UFO Hunters" at about 2AM more than once, and am scarred for life now. I think the idea of aliens is fine, I even think it'd be cool to meet an alien, as long as it's during the day and they don't want to abduct me or anyhing horrible like that. I suppose we can add to this one most other paranormal stuff, like vampires (a bad dream, coupled with a teacher once telling me of her fear of the bloodsuckers lead me to sleep with the covers up to my ears 90% of the time), and Bigfoot (curse you, "Monsterquest"! You'd think by this point, I'd stop watching History Channel after midnight). Ghosts, curiously, I'm fine with. Most of the time.
2) The dark. Here's the thing: I like the dark. I like low lighting in the rooms I'm in, I'm a night owl, I love going places at night. But I still am freaked out by the dark. The dark has to be either well lit, or so pitch black that I can't see much of anything. If I can sort of see things, that's the worst. I think that is left over from when I was a kid and our basement was always semi-dark, and full of weird shadowy crap that every assortment of monster imaginable could live under. So when I've turned off the lights at night and the street lamp is shining through the window, I kind of giddily spaz (???) up the stairs to my room. Oh, and I turn the light on before I shut the door. You know, in case I have to escape real fast. And I DO NOT, under any circumstances, look out the window. I sometimes glance out the front window on my way up the stairs to see if it's raining or something, and still half panic that a monster/murderer/murdering monster is in the street, idly passing through quiet suburbia.
3) Aliens. Oh holy crap, aliens. I've made the mistake of watching "UFO Hunters" at about 2AM more than once, and am scarred for life now. I think the idea of aliens is fine, I even think it'd be cool to meet an alien, as long as it's during the day and they don't want to abduct me or anyhing horrible like that. I suppose we can add to this one most other paranormal stuff, like vampires (a bad dream, coupled with a teacher once telling me of her fear of the bloodsuckers lead me to sleep with the covers up to my ears 90% of the time), and Bigfoot (curse you, "Monsterquest"! You'd think by this point, I'd stop watching History Channel after midnight). Ghosts, curiously, I'm fine with. Most of the time.
Iwan Pitts
I am terrified of bees, wasps and hornets. But I don't consider this irrational. I mean, I know they're tiny compared to me and I'm not allergic. But we had a wasp nest in our loft when I was young and they kept coming into the house and you'd hear them buzzing all the time. It really, really freaked me out. But I'm sure this is completely common. I'm 22, and my fiance makes fun of me when I run away when a wasp comes close. She didn't watch Candyman when she was 10, and she didn't have a wasp infestation when she was 8, so she doesn't understand, and it bugs me when people make fun of this. She did watch Jurassic Park however, and she is easily wound up by me telling her there are dinosaurs behind every tree or building, especially raptors.
However, my mother tops all of this. She has a completely irrational phobia and I've never heard of anyone else suffering from it.
She is absolutely terrified of windmills.
She can't drive past them in the car, she has a panic attack if she sees one and she'll even freak out if she sees one on TV. She also can't explain why she's scared of them. It's the weirdest fear I've heard of hands down.
However, my mother tops all of this. She has a completely irrational phobia and I've never heard of anyone else suffering from it.
She is absolutely terrified of windmills.
She can't drive past them in the car, she has a panic attack if she sees one and she'll even freak out if she sees one on TV. She also can't explain why she's scared of them. It's the weirdest fear I've heard of hands down.
Emily G
I'm afraid of rainbows. The larger and more vibrant they are, themore horrible in my opinion. Sometimes I scream when a rainbowcatches me off-guard, and once I know a rainbow is present, it is notenough simply to close my eyes. If I close my eyes, I cannot see therainbow... but it can see me. I know for a fact that rainbows causeno harm (I'm not stupid!) but when I know there is a rainbow on theloose, I must reluctantly keep tabs on it until I'm sure it's gone.(Like if a wasp flies into your room; you wouldn't turn your back onit, would you?) I don't like rainbows sneaking up on me, which alsomade it difficult to play in the sprinkler on a sunny day as a child.Even as a young teenager, I used to close my eyes in the shower forfear that light would strike the spray of water just right to create arainbow near me. A rainbow itself cannot hurt me, but my sudden panicmight cause me to slip in the tub. (I no longer shower with my eyesclosed because I grew up and realised that my household light bulbsdid not emit full-spectrum light. Though I am wary about visitingwaterfalls on sunny days.)In case you're wondering, I do in fact have nightmares about rainbows.I get goosebumps recalling details of these nightmares, but the basicpremise of most of my rainbow nightmares is that there is a rainbowwherever I turn. The scariest thing I've ever seen (for real, not adream) was a very rare and elaborate sun halo that most people wouldpay handsomely to witness. I screamed and covered my headinstinctively. When I realised that someone may see me acting likethis, I tried to act normal, but I was crying and sometimes could notkeep my arms from jerking up and covering my head. Being indoorshelps, if I am away from large windows.No, I am not a homophobe. My fear of rainbows has absolutely nothingto do with homosexuals using the rainbow as a symbol. In fact,cartoonish illustrations of rainbows do not trigger any reaction inme. Only real rainbows, or very realistic representations (i.e.photos) of rainbows will do it.The fear applies to northern lights (aurora borealis) too, for theyare like moving rainbows that glow in the dark. The brighter theauroral display and the faster they move, the more terrifying theyare. I had the misfortune of being outside during one of the mostviolent solar storms of recent decades, which caused a massive displayof northern lights overhead. I was walking all alone at night andsuddenly a spiral of ghostly green flames lit up the sky. I almostfell to the ground. I covered my head the same way I did when I sawthe sun halos, and unfortunately I had a long walk home under thisburning green vortex in the sky. I cannot find a word for the fear of rainbows, and I haven't heard ofanyone else who is afraid of them. But I would like to know what thisfear is called, and if anyone else is specifically afraid of rainbowsand/or aurora (borealis or australis).
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Hannah
I have a complete and irrational fear of mugs, I cannot drink out of them. Firstly they are too dark you can't actually see out of them when you drink which leaves you completely open to all kinds of attack. Secondly (which happened when I was a child) you dont know what could be IN your drink, for all you know it could be a freaking huge hairy evil spider. Yes. Yes it damn well could.
Anonymous
I have a long list of irrational fears because I let my imagination get me really riled up, but off the top of my head, Irecall one irrational fear and one decent fear with horribly irrational beginnings. Any time I'm drinking out of a normal cup with no lid and leave the drink sitting in another room, I imagine a snake coming along and dripping deadly poison into my drink. Then he presumably slithers over to some nearby nook to watch me drink my death. So I usually end up drinking out of a travel mug with a lid or leaving the room to test whether my drink has been envenomed or not in private, away from the amusement of that bastard asp.
Also, years ago, I liked playing this old shitty Captain America and the Avengers game. It was a shoddy side scrolling brawler with ridiculous digitized voices and made me laugh a lot. Whenever one of the Avengers would get taken out though, they'd shout, 'I cannot move!' and blink away in death. This always creeped me out as I took it to mean that they had actually died and their soul was trapped, conscience within their inert corpse, left to wonder, in horror, why they can no longer move until the realization of their death dawns on them. Since then, I have a fear of remaining conscience within my corpse after I die. Now that I think of it though, the game was probably trying to represent the Avengers receiving spinal damage that would leave them as quadriplegics.
Also, years ago, I liked playing this old shitty Captain America and the Avengers game. It was a shoddy side scrolling brawler with ridiculous digitized voices and made me laugh a lot. Whenever one of the Avengers would get taken out though, they'd shout, 'I cannot move!' and blink away in death. This always creeped me out as I took it to mean that they had actually died and their soul was trapped, conscience within their inert corpse, left to wonder, in horror, why they can no longer move until the realization of their death dawns on them. Since then, I have a fear of remaining conscience within my corpse after I die. Now that I think of it though, the game was probably trying to represent the Avengers receiving spinal damage that would leave them as quadriplegics.
Anonymous
1. I have an irrational fear of large creatures in the sea -- to the point where my stomach turns and I begin to feel panicky just thinking about them! I say it's irrational because I'm not talking sharks or groups of jellyfish or anything else that could harm me. I find whales to be the worst offenders, especially in pictures or videos where you can see how large they are in comparison to divers, submarines or ships. There was actually a video game I used to own that involved deep sea diving for treasure and one level involved exploring this HUGE expanse of open water and, sure enough, a blue whale would come swimming by at one point. Just thinking about it makes my stomach flip. And to be honest, the same goes for ships at the bottom of the ocean. That could maybe be considered rational because of the tragedy associated with most sunken ships... except I don't find their history/decomposition to be creepy, it's that they're SO BIG!
2. To this day, I cannot microwave something without curling in on myself and turning my back to the microwave. Or I may even leave the room. I am absolutely convinced that it is going to blow up one day and I'm going to be blinded by shards of glass.
3. If I am alone in my house and it is dark, I have to run up the steps and wave my arms behind me to make sure that no one grabs me -- and if they try to, I'm going to try to knock them down, first.
4. Maggots/worms hatching inside of me. The picture of maggots being removed from that woman's breast was fake but that image continues to haunt me all the same!
2. To this day, I cannot microwave something without curling in on myself and turning my back to the microwave. Or I may even leave the room. I am absolutely convinced that it is going to blow up one day and I'm going to be blinded by shards of glass.
3. If I am alone in my house and it is dark, I have to run up the steps and wave my arms behind me to make sure that no one grabs me -- and if they try to, I'm going to try to knock them down, first.
4. Maggots/worms hatching inside of me. The picture of maggots being removed from that woman's breast was fake but that image continues to haunt me all the same!
Mandy Moore
1. Eyes. When I was a baby, my mother hung a tapestry with a giraffe on it. I cried and cried, until she replaced it with one that had a train on it. As a teenager, I couldn't have posters because they were looking at me. Even now, I have some figurines that I must turn around to face the wall before I go to sleep because they are looking at me.
2. Stuffed animals, especially ones that talk and/or move. Teddy Ruxpin terrified me as a child. When Furbys came out, that terror was compounded.
3. Being stuck in traffic under an overpass. I just know it is going to collapse right on top of me. Even if I am stuck just before, or just after the overpass, I will imagine a vehicle flying over the side and landing on the passenger compartment of my vehicle.
4. I fear, every day, that my daughters will not make it home from school. Any time they leave my sight, I fear the worst.
2. Stuffed animals, especially ones that talk and/or move. Teddy Ruxpin terrified me as a child. When Furbys came out, that terror was compounded.
3. Being stuck in traffic under an overpass. I just know it is going to collapse right on top of me. Even if I am stuck just before, or just after the overpass, I will imagine a vehicle flying over the side and landing on the passenger compartment of my vehicle.
4. I fear, every day, that my daughters will not make it home from school. Any time they leave my sight, I fear the worst.
Emily Cowan
I can't walk upstairs at night - in my house, my friends' houses...whatever. Daytime is fine, but at nighttime I'm scared there's something or somebody invisible and horrifying who's gonna grab me by the ankles and yank me back down the stairs. In my house, this thing lives in my mom's computer room. In other people's homes, he could come form anywhere! The only escape is to run upstairs as fast as you can and stumble into a room, (usually the kitchen as these are often right at the top of stairs) which my brain has designated as the safety room.
Alicia Doan
My fears:
1. Spiders and their sticky webs. Gross, big, fuzzy spiders. I'm am afraid they will jump on me, bite my face, sink their fangs into me and kill me. I'm generally okay if I'm outside and I come across one. But if it's inside my house... that's MY territory. And I'll scream if I see one.
2. Alligators under my bed. I used to turn off my bedroom lights and then do a long jump onto my bed when it was bedtime, so that they wouldn't snap at my feet and drag me under.
3. Someone hiding underneath the couch or bed, who will then reach out and grab my feet/cut my achilles' tendon. I think I saw it happen to a guy in a horror movie once, and to this day I prefer to sit on a couch with my feet way out in front of me.
4. Bugs in berry yogurt. I'm okay with something like peach yogurt, but I hate eating blueberry yogurt because I'm afraid instead of a berry, it'll be a bug. There's a scene in the movie The Whole 9 Yards where a woman eats a bug in her yogurt, that's what started it.
5. That scene in Rocky 4 where Clubber Lange dies. I know, seriously ridiculous. I remember seeing it when I was a little kid, and it just scarred me for life. I have to leave the room or cover my eyes if that scene comes on. I get very anxious and feel like crying.
6. Vampires biting my neck when I sleep. So I always pull my cover up high to protect me. Actually, anything to do with getting a throat hurt. I hate watching scary movies where someone get's a throat slit, it makes me feel like my neck has pressure on it.
1. Spiders and their sticky webs. Gross, big, fuzzy spiders. I'm am afraid they will jump on me, bite my face, sink their fangs into me and kill me. I'm generally okay if I'm outside and I come across one. But if it's inside my house... that's MY territory. And I'll scream if I see one.
2. Alligators under my bed. I used to turn off my bedroom lights and then do a long jump onto my bed when it was bedtime, so that they wouldn't snap at my feet and drag me under.
3. Someone hiding underneath the couch or bed, who will then reach out and grab my feet/cut my achilles' tendon. I think I saw it happen to a guy in a horror movie once, and to this day I prefer to sit on a couch with my feet way out in front of me.
4. Bugs in berry yogurt. I'm okay with something like peach yogurt, but I hate eating blueberry yogurt because I'm afraid instead of a berry, it'll be a bug. There's a scene in the movie The Whole 9 Yards where a woman eats a bug in her yogurt, that's what started it.
5. That scene in Rocky 4 where Clubber Lange dies. I know, seriously ridiculous. I remember seeing it when I was a little kid, and it just scarred me for life. I have to leave the room or cover my eyes if that scene comes on. I get very anxious and feel like crying.
6. Vampires biting my neck when I sleep. So I always pull my cover up high to protect me. Actually, anything to do with getting a throat hurt. I hate watching scary movies where someone get's a throat slit, it makes me feel like my neck has pressure on it.
Sean McLoughlin
My family and I went to the ocean a lot when I was a kid. One time when I was around 5, I was playing in the water and an undercurrent got a hold of me. It sucked me in quick, so quick that my mom and dad didn't even see it happen. Luckily some college age kids were walking buy and one dived in and grabbed me and pulled me out. Ever since I've had a paralyzing fear of oceans. I still love to visit them but I don't bother bringing a bathing suit because I won't be swimming.
I also have an irrational fear of mirrors when the lights are out. I'm afraid I'm going to see my dead grandmother or Jesus or something. If I'm entering a dark room with a mirror, I turn a light on and I do not allow mirrors in the room I sleep in.
As a kid I was afraid of towers and other tall objects around me. They gave me a strong sense of vertigo and I thought they were going to fall on me. I've since grown out of this fear although I still get vertigo around tall buildings or if I look into the sky while on top of a tall building.
My last irrational fear occurs only when driving (for obvious reasons). I'm perpetually afraid that my airbag is going to go off accidentally and cause me to crash. I've had lots of crazy things happen while driving (like having the hood fly up and take out my windshield) and I've gotten out ok and without further accident. But somehow I'm convinced that if the airbag goes off while I'm driving it will be the end of me. I'm considering installing a steering wheel without an airbag. My current steering wheel feels like a loaded gun pointed at my face the entire time I'm driving.
I also have an irrational fear of mirrors when the lights are out. I'm afraid I'm going to see my dead grandmother or Jesus or something. If I'm entering a dark room with a mirror, I turn a light on and I do not allow mirrors in the room I sleep in.
As a kid I was afraid of towers and other tall objects around me. They gave me a strong sense of vertigo and I thought they were going to fall on me. I've since grown out of this fear although I still get vertigo around tall buildings or if I look into the sky while on top of a tall building.
My last irrational fear occurs only when driving (for obvious reasons). I'm perpetually afraid that my airbag is going to go off accidentally and cause me to crash. I've had lots of crazy things happen while driving (like having the hood fly up and take out my windshield) and I've gotten out ok and without further accident. But somehow I'm convinced that if the airbag goes off while I'm driving it will be the end of me. I'm considering installing a steering wheel without an airbag. My current steering wheel feels like a loaded gun pointed at my face the entire time I'm driving.
Anonymous
A good friend of mine, who's a sweet girl, but not the most socially adept of cats, has an Irrational fear of Phantom Pregnancy/ Immaculate Conception. I lived with her for a while and every week she'd take a pregnancy test. Knowing that she dosn't go out much, that she was between boyfriends and not the type to have casual sex i asked her what the deal was with this, because invariably they'd end up in the wastebasket next to the toilet.She said ever since she was in a catholic elementary school and learned the story of the immaculate conception. she was concerned that the holy spirit would impregnate her. as she grew older and heard the old wives tales about semen on toilet seats or people having been raped in her sleep. Pretty much since she got her period she has taken a weekly pregnancy test.
Anonymous
my fears are that I will be walking down the street one day and someone will shot me in the head with a high-powerd rifle from a rooftop nearby and my other fear is that I will be sleeping and one night the zombies come and I will be completley unprepared so thus I will join the leagions of undead that and having my fingers being broken by being bent in half backwards.
Annalee Biemiller
When I hear music played backwards, it wakes up a nameless, primal, and overwhelming fear. It doesn't really have a cause. It doesn't stir up any mental images. There is no convoluted stream of events I associate with it. It's just there. I can't listen to Revolution 9 by the Beatles without crying. Or the Fairly Oddparents theme backwards, for that matter.
Scotty
My irrational fear started when I started school. The kids in grade three thought it would be hillarious to tell all the new male students that there was a giant worm in the boys toilets that would come out of the toilet, urinal or sink, and eat your penis. Of course, no wants to have their penis eaten, so my entire year level never went to the toilet at school. This resulted in numerous pant wettings (proud to say I was not one of them) and the teachers found out what was happening, and proceeded to tell us that it was all nonsense. I know that there is no giant worm in the toilets, but it conditioned me to never use public toilets. I will hold it until I get home, or I will not need to go until I get home. If it is a matter of go or crap your pants, I will of course use public toilets, but I will try my hardest not to. So I do not have a fear of giant penis eating worms, but more of toilets
Bonnie Phillips
When I was little the beep beep beeping sound trucks made when backing up used to scare the bejesus out of me and I would start hysterically crying. Even now I am leery of them and will walk away quickly.
I also can not look out a dark window because I know a monster with red eyes will be staring back at me, and I can not stick my hand in the mail box unless I can see all the way to the back so I know nothing will grab me.
I also can not look out a dark window because I know a monster with red eyes will be staring back at me, and I can not stick my hand in the mail box unless I can see all the way to the back so I know nothing will grab me.
Rachel
I'm scared of stinging things. Jellyfish, wasps, bees, ants, anything like that. When I'm at the beach I will NOT go into the water if I see a jellyfish, even the little ones that don't sting. I have literally run out of the ocean Baywatch-style to avoid them. Also, I don't like to be outside in summer because there are ALWAYS bees or yellowjackets around, and whenever one gets near me I start freaking out. I have no idea where this comes from because I can deal with any other type of pain...just not stinging.
Cassady
These are my irrational fears:
1> belly buttons. I can not look at them, touch them, see others touching them, etc... including my own. My husband had to all the cleansing of my daughter's cord stump/belly button after she was born. I wasn't always this way. It all started when I was 5 years old and I was playing with my own belly button. My father told me to stop, and when I continued playing with it he said that I had better watch out, or else I'll deflate. Lovely images came to mind of my floating up into the sky like a balloon that someone let the air out of. I freaked out and haven't been able to deal with them ever since.
2> home invasion. It has never happened to me or anyone that I know, and the fear only overtakes my mind when I am alone, but it is crippling. I will triple lock every entry door and window. I have every possible escape scenario in mind for whatever room I am in. I have items that can be used as weapons in every room, and I will not be in a room with a closed door for fear if someone does come in that it will give them the upper hand- including bathroom.
1> belly buttons. I can not look at them, touch them, see others touching them, etc... including my own. My husband had to all the cleansing of my daughter's cord stump/belly button after she was born. I wasn't always this way. It all started when I was 5 years old and I was playing with my own belly button. My father told me to stop, and when I continued playing with it he said that I had better watch out, or else I'll deflate. Lovely images came to mind of my floating up into the sky like a balloon that someone let the air out of. I freaked out and haven't been able to deal with them ever since.
2> home invasion. It has never happened to me or anyone that I know, and the fear only overtakes my mind when I am alone, but it is crippling. I will triple lock every entry door and window. I have every possible escape scenario in mind for whatever room I am in. I have items that can be used as weapons in every room, and I will not be in a room with a closed door for fear if someone does come in that it will give them the upper hand- including bathroom.
El
Fingers wiggling at me. I don't mind them unless they're wiggling and look like they're about to touch me while they're doing so. Just thinking about it makes my stomach turn, and I've been driven to hysterics more than once by people who can't keep their hands out of my face once they find out.
Michelle Dunn
Okay so I have three that I can think of -
1. When I go to bed, I have to have my door where the thingy that sticks out touches the other thingy, but doesn't actually go into it. I get all paranoid that something bad will happen if I don't.
2. Like someone else already said, I can't look in the mirror when the lights are off.
3. After having read The Shining (Stephen King), it always freaks me out to look in my bathtub.
1. When I go to bed, I have to have my door where the thingy that sticks out touches the other thingy, but doesn't actually go into it. I get all paranoid that something bad will happen if I don't.
2. Like someone else already said, I can't look in the mirror when the lights are off.
3. After having read The Shining (Stephen King), it always freaks me out to look in my bathtub.
Benjamin Burnette
1. When i was younger i feared that some creature in the ocean would grab me and drag me way out to sea and abandon me there to drown.
2. I fear being myself will give my parents and grandparents heart attacks
3. I am terrified of not being prepared for a zombie apocalypse or something of the sort (no joke)
2. I fear being myself will give my parents and grandparents heart attacks
3. I am terrified of not being prepared for a zombie apocalypse or something of the sort (no joke)
Jon-Marc Elliot
I have a fear of Hawaii, though I dont know how irrational it actually is. It is actually a grouping of rational fears, or at least I consider them rational.
Hawaii is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean 2 thousand miles away from any land mass larger than a football field. It is prone to hurricanes and tsunamis. It is also surrounded by sharks and other sea creatures that can kill with out effort. Plus you have to fly to get there. Since I come from Irish ancestry I dont sun tan,. I spontaneously combust at the first site of direct sun and I refuse to swim in the giant death pool known as the ocean.
In my opinion Hawaii is hell on earth.
Hawaii is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean 2 thousand miles away from any land mass larger than a football field. It is prone to hurricanes and tsunamis. It is also surrounded by sharks and other sea creatures that can kill with out effort. Plus you have to fly to get there. Since I come from Irish ancestry I dont sun tan,. I spontaneously combust at the first site of direct sun and I refuse to swim in the giant death pool known as the ocean.
In my opinion Hawaii is hell on earth.
E. Stephen Frederick
I fear that if i pick my nose while driving, a car accident will occur & the impact (or the airbag hitting my elbow) will drive my finger bone straight up into my brain.
This fear has not stopped me from picking my nose while i drive.
This fear has not stopped me from picking my nose while i drive.
Sarah Patrick
I have quite a few irrational fears, but the three worst are:
1) Swing sets. I am absolutly terrified that one day I will be swinging on a swing set and it will break in half causing me to catapult to my death. I can't even look at swing sets without getting freaked out!
2) Trees. I honestly believe that someday all the trees near my house will fall down or blow over and smash my house or kill my family. My neighbors have quite a few precarious trees growing in their yard, it really freakis me out to look at them!
3) Light posts with street signs on them like this one: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/22/36002114_c03abb6b55.jpg?v=0
I always see them bouncing in the wind and im afraid that they will tip over and crush my car!
1) Swing sets. I am absolutly terrified that one day I will be swinging on a swing set and it will break in half causing me to catapult to my death. I can't even look at swing sets without getting freaked out!
2) Trees. I honestly believe that someday all the trees near my house will fall down or blow over and smash my house or kill my family. My neighbors have quite a few precarious trees growing in their yard, it really freakis me out to look at them!
3) Light posts with street signs on them like this one: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/22/36002114_c03abb6b55.jpg?v=0
I always see them bouncing in the wind and im afraid that they will tip over and crush my car!
L. Morgenstern
First of all: Birds. Specifically, seagulls and pidgeons.
I cannot stand them.It doesn't matter where I am, if there's a seagull or pidgeon flying around, I am absolutely certain that if I'm not under some form of shelter, I will get shat on. I can be on the street with heaps of people, but I know that if even one of them does it, it will hit me. If a seagull flies overhead, I will leap and twist and bail at full speed until I'm standing under a ledge or a shop sign or SOMETHING. I have to, or I will get shat on and become a figure for public ridicule and always be known as "that guy that got shat on that time."
Depths. Not heights, or deep water, or anything of the sort. I can't handle being on a ledge. I can stand on the 100th floor of a building and look over the edge and be fine, because the structure of the building is underneath me. But even on the second floor of a building, if I'm on a balcony that sticks out from the main structure, I freak out. I'm sure that the balcony will collapse and I will plummet to my death. Even though a second storey fall wouldn't kill me.
Spiders. And not just in the "ew, crawly things" kind of way. I have to check the ceiling corners of every room I enter, for spiders. Because there's some sort of war of attrition going against me, that any spider who sees me will know that I have killed it's arachnid bretheren and immediately try to take vengance. Work is especially bad, given that I work in a factory, and we sometimes have red back spiders, white tail spiders and huntsmans there (I live in Australia, by the way). I have freaked out so badly at work that I threw a container of hydrochloric acid away from myself because a spider was on it, spilling 10 litres of 80% hydrochloric acid all over the floor. Even when I was wearing hazchem gear, because they will find a way through it.
Unlocked doors. I can't sleep in a room if the door is openable. The only ways I can, is if it's during the day, or, if I am really, really drunk. I'm fine with being in an unlocked room. I can accidentally fall asleep on busses or trains. But if I'm in a room, with a bed, and it's dark, the door must not be openable from the outside. Or I just won't sleep.But surprisingly, I live a normal life, and manage to keep from looking like a total nutbar when spiders/seagulls/pidgeons appear.
I cannot stand them.It doesn't matter where I am, if there's a seagull or pidgeon flying around, I am absolutely certain that if I'm not under some form of shelter, I will get shat on. I can be on the street with heaps of people, but I know that if even one of them does it, it will hit me. If a seagull flies overhead, I will leap and twist and bail at full speed until I'm standing under a ledge or a shop sign or SOMETHING. I have to, or I will get shat on and become a figure for public ridicule and always be known as "that guy that got shat on that time."
Depths. Not heights, or deep water, or anything of the sort. I can't handle being on a ledge. I can stand on the 100th floor of a building and look over the edge and be fine, because the structure of the building is underneath me. But even on the second floor of a building, if I'm on a balcony that sticks out from the main structure, I freak out. I'm sure that the balcony will collapse and I will plummet to my death. Even though a second storey fall wouldn't kill me.
Spiders. And not just in the "ew, crawly things" kind of way. I have to check the ceiling corners of every room I enter, for spiders. Because there's some sort of war of attrition going against me, that any spider who sees me will know that I have killed it's arachnid bretheren and immediately try to take vengance. Work is especially bad, given that I work in a factory, and we sometimes have red back spiders, white tail spiders and huntsmans there (I live in Australia, by the way). I have freaked out so badly at work that I threw a container of hydrochloric acid away from myself because a spider was on it, spilling 10 litres of 80% hydrochloric acid all over the floor. Even when I was wearing hazchem gear, because they will find a way through it.
Unlocked doors. I can't sleep in a room if the door is openable. The only ways I can, is if it's during the day, or, if I am really, really drunk. I'm fine with being in an unlocked room. I can accidentally fall asleep on busses or trains. But if I'm in a room, with a bed, and it's dark, the door must not be openable from the outside. Or I just won't sleep.But surprisingly, I live a normal life, and manage to keep from looking like a total nutbar when spiders/seagulls/pidgeons appear.
Stephanie Shamp
1. I cannot walk down the stairs at night because there is a mirror at the bottom of the steps and I'm afraid thatif I look at it while I'm walking I will see another person in the mirror.
2. I'm terrified that if I think about Satan too much he will rise from hell and force me to bring the apocalypse.
3. I'm afraid that my dog is my grandfather reincarnated and that the reason my dog doesn't like me is because my grandfather doesn't approve of my lifestyle.
2. I'm terrified that if I think about Satan too much he will rise from hell and force me to bring the apocalypse.
3. I'm afraid that my dog is my grandfather reincarnated and that the reason my dog doesn't like me is because my grandfather doesn't approve of my lifestyle.
Ben Cho
My irrational fear prevents me from looking at a microwave while it's on. For some reason, I always believe that while I'm peering through the microwave door, there will be some kind of radioactive microwave blast that blinds me instantly (like looking directly at a nuclear explosion or a solar eclipse) and/or blows up the microwave itself and sends the door flying at my face, killing me instantly
Ben Ellingsworth
I am terrified of those fuel tanker trucks. I heard a story a long time ago of one of them stopping on some rail road tracks and getting hit by a train, blowing up and killing everyone in the cars surrounding it. I have no idea if that story is true or not but it must have traumatized me because I can't stand driving near those things. No lie, I have actually sped up to get away from them directly in the site of cops because I would rather get a speeding ticket then drive next to one of them.
Anne Schons
I have two fears that I consider irrational
1. I am terrified that when I look out a window there will be a face staring back. It's worse when its dark out. This also applies when I'm driving.
2. I always feel like I'm going to fall when I'm descending stairs. I have to place each foot very deliberately and even then I think I'll fall because I'm concentrating too much.
1. I am terrified that when I look out a window there will be a face staring back. It's worse when its dark out. This also applies when I'm driving.
2. I always feel like I'm going to fall when I'm descending stairs. I have to place each foot very deliberately and even then I think I'll fall because I'm concentrating too much.
Hallie
1. I am completely terrified of closet doors being open. At any time. Because I know E.T. is sitting in there, watching me.
2. I believe that if I stay in the shower for more than five minutes, a demon will appear and murder me for using too much water. I time myself and start hyperventilating when I get close to that five-minute mark.
3. I can't sleep without my back to a wall, because I think someone will crawl in bed with me when I'm not looking.
2. I believe that if I stay in the shower for more than five minutes, a demon will appear and murder me for using too much water. I time myself and start hyperventilating when I get close to that five-minute mark.
3. I can't sleep without my back to a wall, because I think someone will crawl in bed with me when I'm not looking.
Nulian VanThock
1. Sometimes I get kinda nervous that someone is gonna up and punch me for no reason. I'll be standing, talking to someone, and I'll get that feeling, so I start watching them really closely to make sure they don't make any sudden moves toward me. Even if it's someone I know, like a friend or a coworker, if I get the feeling, I start to get wary.
2. I always thought that if there was ever a time when someone was in trouble, and I could help them, I'd be afraid that if I stepped in to help, someone would yell out of nowhere, "Cut! What the hell is that idiot doing in the scene?!"
3. I've always kind of been afraid of the concept of time travel. I honestly don't believe it's possible, but I'm afraid I could be wrong, and that one day someone will discover it somehow, and then all hell will break loose.
4. I'm afraid of spiders, but it's not just that. When I'm lying in bed at night, sometimes I think a huge tarantula will crawl up the edge of my bed and start making it's way toward me. I live in Canada in the suburbs, so I highly doubt it will happen, but I still roll myself up tightly in my blanket so it can't sneak under the covers and get me.
2. I always thought that if there was ever a time when someone was in trouble, and I could help them, I'd be afraid that if I stepped in to help, someone would yell out of nowhere, "Cut! What the hell is that idiot doing in the scene?!"
3. I've always kind of been afraid of the concept of time travel. I honestly don't believe it's possible, but I'm afraid I could be wrong, and that one day someone will discover it somehow, and then all hell will break loose.
4. I'm afraid of spiders, but it's not just that. When I'm lying in bed at night, sometimes I think a huge tarantula will crawl up the edge of my bed and start making it's way toward me. I live in Canada in the suburbs, so I highly doubt it will happen, but I still roll myself up tightly in my blanket so it can't sneak under the covers and get me.
Mandi Brehm
1) I am deathly, deathly, deathly afraid of mirrors in dark rooms. I'm always afraid that my reflection will change into something evil. I have a mirror on the back of my door that I can see myself in when I'm laying in bed. It practically gives me heart attacks every night. I do everything I can to avoid looking in it. Ever.
2) In the morning before school, I'm usually alone in the house by the time I'm blow drying my hair. If my stepmom is home, I will turn the hairdryer on high. If she's not and I'm alone, I won't turn it on high even if I'm running late and it takes twice as long to dry (I walk to school and it's 16 degrees- my hair MUST be dry or my ears will freeze) because when it's on low I can still hear around me in case something creaks and one of the grotesque, horrifying monsters from my early childhood slithers around the corner to strangle me. I've been trying to wean myself of this one, but this morning I turned the hairdryer on high while I was alone and couldn't even look in the mirror for fear of something appearing behind me to kill me.
3) Being hit by a car. This one may not be so irrational because I walk a fairly busy road coming home from school crowded with high school aged drivers and I did get hit by a car three days ago, but since then it's been a complete paranoia. Every time I step into the road my heart thumps hard and I have fleeting visualizations of my body lying broken in front of a piece of shit car while pot-smoking seventeen year olds wander foggily out to see if I'm okay.
2) In the morning before school, I'm usually alone in the house by the time I'm blow drying my hair. If my stepmom is home, I will turn the hairdryer on high. If she's not and I'm alone, I won't turn it on high even if I'm running late and it takes twice as long to dry (I walk to school and it's 16 degrees- my hair MUST be dry or my ears will freeze) because when it's on low I can still hear around me in case something creaks and one of the grotesque, horrifying monsters from my early childhood slithers around the corner to strangle me. I've been trying to wean myself of this one, but this morning I turned the hairdryer on high while I was alone and couldn't even look in the mirror for fear of something appearing behind me to kill me.
3) Being hit by a car. This one may not be so irrational because I walk a fairly busy road coming home from school crowded with high school aged drivers and I did get hit by a car three days ago, but since then it's been a complete paranoia. Every time I step into the road my heart thumps hard and I have fleeting visualizations of my body lying broken in front of a piece of shit car while pot-smoking seventeen year olds wander foggily out to see if I'm okay.
Justin Grubbs
I have the odd fear of calling people on the phone. Not all people, mind you. It would seem that total strangers I will never ever meet, and those who are extremely close friends or family to me, I have no problem calling. The rest of the world, however, I can't do it. Acquaintances, coworkers, even dates. It scares the hell out of me. I have to have others call, text them, or meet them face to face. It's a bit of a problem.
Miranda Dickson
I am afraid of mushrooms and ocean trenches. Also, I hate when birds fly over me because I am afraid they will poop on me.
Antonine
Maybe it started with those Unsolved Mysteries episodes or the random "Searching for Sasquatch" specials the Discovery channel loves so much. Maybe it was "Harry and the Hendersons". Either way I am terrified of an enormous man-ape beast. Smart enough to open doors and climb stairs but without the morals that come with being human. This irrational fear was only made worse when we moved out to a wooded area where my dogs get randomly spooked and we've seen the weirdest prints in the snow. I have fairly large feet but the tracks we found were at least 3 times larger than my bare foot and they led in the direction where the dogs would always get skittish.
As nice as it feels to get this off my chest, it's pretty terrible to think about it. *Shudder* Just waking up to a horrible hairy face and soulless eyes.
As nice as it feels to get this off my chest, it's pretty terrible to think about it. *Shudder* Just waking up to a horrible hairy face and soulless eyes.
Sual Dolem
1. Things hanging over me where I swim. When I was little I used to take swimming lessons in this pool with a water-slide suspended over the deep end with cables. I was convinced that anytime I swam under it that the whole thing would detach and slowly push me into the deep dark water. That and I just don't like dark water.
2. I find it really hard to sleep with my eyes exposed. I get this weird sensation that someone or something is standing over me while I sleep and waiting to attack me or prank me or something. I think it stems from seeing too many monters rise up from the space between the bed and the wall and just wait there until the victim woke up and began screaming in terror. So I try and tuck my head into the covers or under my arm, or sleep on my stomach or if I want to sleep on my back I put a pillow just over my eyes but not over my mouth.
2. I find it really hard to sleep with my eyes exposed. I get this weird sensation that someone or something is standing over me while I sleep and waiting to attack me or prank me or something. I think it stems from seeing too many monters rise up from the space between the bed and the wall and just wait there until the victim woke up and began screaming in terror. So I try and tuck my head into the covers or under my arm, or sleep on my stomach or if I want to sleep on my back I put a pillow just over my eyes but not over my mouth.
Stephen
my fear is driving over bridges. i have this belief that as soon as i am on the highest point the bridge is going to collapse plunging me to my death. or a car will cut me off causing me to swerve and drive off the side of the bridge.
Gregg
Ever since I was little I would refuse to sleep with and arm or leg hanging over the side of my bed. I know it is crazy, but I am terrified that if I leave an extremity hanging down blood will pool in my hand or foot and not be able to get back to the rest of my body and I will have to get the limb amputated.
Rudi
ok, my biggest irrational fear is a T-rex.
yeah, T-rex the creature known to be dead for 65 million years. Whenever I walk down the street I'm afraid that a T.rex is gonna turn the corner and see me.
My other irrational fear is very large animals, (elephants, giraffes, and such) cause I know that sooner or later they're gonna be pissed off for being locked up in a zoo all damn day.
My other irrational fear is the mentally handicapped. I've met alot of mentally disabled people and they can be some of the sweetest people on the face of the earth, but I always have a niggling doubt in the back of my mind that they want to eat me.
I'm also afraid of anyone finding my porn. It could be Hugh Heffner, Ron Jeremy, and Gene Simmons sitting in a room full of naked women and I wouild be absolutly mortified if they found my porn.
Also when i was a kid I was afraid spiderman lived in my closet, and the sesame street gang was trying to kill me.
yeah, T-rex the creature known to be dead for 65 million years. Whenever I walk down the street I'm afraid that a T.rex is gonna turn the corner and see me.
My other irrational fear is very large animals, (elephants, giraffes, and such) cause I know that sooner or later they're gonna be pissed off for being locked up in a zoo all damn day.
My other irrational fear is the mentally handicapped. I've met alot of mentally disabled people and they can be some of the sweetest people on the face of the earth, but I always have a niggling doubt in the back of my mind that they want to eat me.
I'm also afraid of anyone finding my porn. It could be Hugh Heffner, Ron Jeremy, and Gene Simmons sitting in a room full of naked women and I wouild be absolutly mortified if they found my porn.
Also when i was a kid I was afraid spiderman lived in my closet, and the sesame street gang was trying to kill me.
Peripa
I'm terribly, horribly, afraid of raw poultry. The thought of touching it makes my heart race, and I start to panic. I've been practicing, and I am now able to transfer raw chicken breasts to a baking sheet, with a fork, without crying. Yay me.
I've no idea where this comes from, other than that my mother overcooks poultry because she's worried about Salmonella, so probably from her, I guess.
Fun story: About 6 years ago I decided to be really brave and make a roasted chicken. Problem: I had to take the insides out - the little gizzardy bag, you know? I didn't have any plastic gloves, and there was no way I was capable of reaching into that void without protection, so I taped plastic grocery bags over my hands. Turns out I still couldn't touch it, so I picked the whole chicken up with a couple of forks (bags still taped on) and cooked it with the insides still inside. I couldn't eat it, but my husband said it tasted fine.
I've never attempted to roast a chicken again.
I also have an aversion to houseplants. I'm not so much afraid of them as I think they lean towards me because they can tell I don't like them. So... basically I think houseplants are like cats. Sheesh.
I've no idea where this comes from, other than that my mother overcooks poultry because she's worried about Salmonella, so probably from her, I guess.
Fun story: About 6 years ago I decided to be really brave and make a roasted chicken. Problem: I had to take the insides out - the little gizzardy bag, you know? I didn't have any plastic gloves, and there was no way I was capable of reaching into that void without protection, so I taped plastic grocery bags over my hands. Turns out I still couldn't touch it, so I picked the whole chicken up with a couple of forks (bags still taped on) and cooked it with the insides still inside. I couldn't eat it, but my husband said it tasted fine.
I've never attempted to roast a chicken again.
I also have an aversion to houseplants. I'm not so much afraid of them as I think they lean towards me because they can tell I don't like them. So... basically I think houseplants are like cats. Sheesh.
Brendon K
I can't sleep in a car or plane, as I'm afraid that if I fall asleep it'll crash, even though I know if I was awake, it would still crash.
Ulysses Rex
This only happens when I lie awake in bed at night, but sometimes I begin paying attention to my heart. Like, really close attention. The fear begins with my noticing its beating. Then I ask the inevitable question: why does it keep beating on its own like that? Why don't I have control over it? Then, suddenly, the fear comes: what if I suddenly gained control over my own heart? I start imagining that I am in fact influencing its timing by just concentrating on it. Then I try not to concentrate on it. This happens every single night.
Oh, and I fear my own poop.
Note from Lounsey: I think this e-mail is amazing. A lot of it has to do with how well the fear was described...but mostly it was the last bit, just slipped in in 1 sentance at the end!
Oh, and I fear my own poop.
Note from Lounsey: I think this e-mail is amazing. A lot of it has to do with how well the fear was described...but mostly it was the last bit, just slipped in in 1 sentance at the end!
Lisa Stone
have this irrational fear of being too far from hospitals. I refuse to go camping, I get panic attacks if I go driving in the country, and I pretty much refuse to be more than 10 minutes away from a hospital. I'm horrified that I'll have a heart attack or a stroke or something and be too far from help for them to save me. I can't leave the house without my cell phone with me just in case I start dying and have to call 911.
I used to be terrified of medicine. I wouldn't take any medicine because I was convinced that I was probably allergic to it and that it would kill me if I took it. I eventually got over that when I realized I was fucking insane lol.
I used to be terrified of medicine. I wouldn't take any medicine because I was convinced that I was probably allergic to it and that it would kill me if I took it. I eventually got over that when I realized I was fucking insane lol.
Anonymous
I am absolutely terrified of ventriloquist dummies, full body mannequins, and full body wax sculptures. I am terrified they will become sentient and kill me. In fact, I had a dream the other night that mannequins came to life in a store I was in and went on a murderous rampage and while I was escaping one ripped out my unborn child(I'm not really pregnant, that was just part of the dream, but I am also terrified of losing an unborn baby someday). Ventriloquist dummies scare me the most, and I refuse to see any movie or show with one in it. I have no idea where these fears stemmed from, they've just always been there.
I am terrified that something is hiding in the shower and will kill me while I am in the bathroom. No matter where I am, I have to check behind the shower curtain before I close the bathroom door. I also cannot go into a bathroom with a shower curtain during a power outage, even with a candle or flashlight. I'm afraid I won't see the thing in the shower and that it will tear me to shreds in the dark and that no one will hear me scream.
Everytime I drive over train tracks, my heart flutters and I get a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach and suffer a small panic attack until my car is entirely over the tracks. I have no idea where this came from, as I lived near a train track when I was a kid and no one ever died on it, and I also rode on a train once. Just for some reason I am terrified a train will come out of nowhere and kill me.
This is the only irrational fear that I know the cause of. When I was 15 my 3 year old cousin died in a car crash on a trip to Mexico. The day before my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins left, my grandma told me to call and tell them goodbye and have a safe trip.I said I would and never did because my aunt had started a huge fight at a family gathering the week before and I was mad at her. After my mom woke me up and told me about the crash, and it was confirmed at the funeral a few days later, I started having terrible night terrors. Every single night I dreamt of my dead cousin with his head bashed in, all my other family members dying, my cousin's decomposing bones, or me standing in the road and my uncle swerving to miss me, causing the fatal accident, or I dreamt of other horrific things. I thought I heard voices and I honestly believed that ghosts and things were trying to kill me while I slept, and I began sleeping with the light on. Many times I even crawled in bed with my mother, I was so afraid that something was actually trying to kill me and I was so desperate to get away from the dreams. This lasted until I was 17, when the dreams and spectres only occurred every so often. I still have the dreams occassionally, and I HAVE to sleep with the tv on so I have both light and sound, because I am still absolutely terrified that if I am in the dark and silence, the creatures/ghosts/whatever will seriously try to kill me. I am so ashamed that I am still afraid of the dark and afraid of things getting me in the dark, and I know I must have been the only teenager that crawled in bed with her mother because I was having nightmares. A guilty conscious is a terrible thing. :(
I am terrified that something is hiding in the shower and will kill me while I am in the bathroom. No matter where I am, I have to check behind the shower curtain before I close the bathroom door. I also cannot go into a bathroom with a shower curtain during a power outage, even with a candle or flashlight. I'm afraid I won't see the thing in the shower and that it will tear me to shreds in the dark and that no one will hear me scream.
Everytime I drive over train tracks, my heart flutters and I get a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach and suffer a small panic attack until my car is entirely over the tracks. I have no idea where this came from, as I lived near a train track when I was a kid and no one ever died on it, and I also rode on a train once. Just for some reason I am terrified a train will come out of nowhere and kill me.
This is the only irrational fear that I know the cause of. When I was 15 my 3 year old cousin died in a car crash on a trip to Mexico. The day before my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins left, my grandma told me to call and tell them goodbye and have a safe trip.I said I would and never did because my aunt had started a huge fight at a family gathering the week before and I was mad at her. After my mom woke me up and told me about the crash, and it was confirmed at the funeral a few days later, I started having terrible night terrors. Every single night I dreamt of my dead cousin with his head bashed in, all my other family members dying, my cousin's decomposing bones, or me standing in the road and my uncle swerving to miss me, causing the fatal accident, or I dreamt of other horrific things. I thought I heard voices and I honestly believed that ghosts and things were trying to kill me while I slept, and I began sleeping with the light on. Many times I even crawled in bed with my mother, I was so afraid that something was actually trying to kill me and I was so desperate to get away from the dreams. This lasted until I was 17, when the dreams and spectres only occurred every so often. I still have the dreams occassionally, and I HAVE to sleep with the tv on so I have both light and sound, because I am still absolutely terrified that if I am in the dark and silence, the creatures/ghosts/whatever will seriously try to kill me. I am so ashamed that I am still afraid of the dark and afraid of things getting me in the dark, and I know I must have been the only teenager that crawled in bed with her mother because I was having nightmares. A guilty conscious is a terrible thing. :(
Tallis Horst
Over the past couple years I have developed an irrational fear of bananas, and, because of a t-shirt I recently saw, think that at any moment, a bunch of bananas will suddenly split apart, grow arms and legs, find whatever is handy, and repeatedly stab me with it. I don't know what happened, i used to love bananas, as a small child they were my favorite fruit. then, as I began to mature, I found them disgusting and vile. It is almost tragic, the way bananas and I have turned out...almost poetic, really. Best friends turned to bitter enemies, and now wage a war for all eternity. Destroy the banana republic!!!!
Ixar Raxath
I only had two until I saw that picture, so my first is being the bugger in the front with all those naked people chasing me.
-My second irrational fear is sort-of heights but as long as what I'm standing on is solid (thick tree branch, balcony, etc) I'm fine, but if its a ladder or a small ledge, I wont go further up than I can jump off the ground. Even if Ive watched someone go up the same ladder to the top a hundred times without incident. Maybe I was dropped on my head as a kid. I know I had my head set on fire, but I'm still a pyro.
-My third fear is that someone will sneak up on me from a blind spot and try to kill me. I wear glasses and I have really bad vision so anything I'm not looking directly at is fuzzy and indistinct and looks rather like a person if I'm not paying attention. I'm just afraid it will be so I'm constantly looking over my shoulder.
And Ryan Campeau is right. DOB kicks ass
Note from Lounsey: I am one of those naked people. We were running out of the freezing water after Spencer Tunicks photo-shoot in Dublin (it was freezing cold, windy and raining, and it was 7am)..it was a freaking surreal and great morning.
-My second irrational fear is sort-of heights but as long as what I'm standing on is solid (thick tree branch, balcony, etc) I'm fine, but if its a ladder or a small ledge, I wont go further up than I can jump off the ground. Even if Ive watched someone go up the same ladder to the top a hundred times without incident. Maybe I was dropped on my head as a kid. I know I had my head set on fire, but I'm still a pyro.
-My third fear is that someone will sneak up on me from a blind spot and try to kill me. I wear glasses and I have really bad vision so anything I'm not looking directly at is fuzzy and indistinct and looks rather like a person if I'm not paying attention. I'm just afraid it will be so I'm constantly looking over my shoulder.
And Ryan Campeau is right. DOB kicks ass
Note from Lounsey: I am one of those naked people. We were running out of the freezing water after Spencer Tunicks photo-shoot in Dublin (it was freezing cold, windy and raining, and it was 7am)..it was a freaking surreal and great morning.
Kevin Schroeder
When I was a kid I went to watch Aladdin at the movie theaters and the theme song said that the guards would cut off you ears if they didn't like your face. I had to sleep on my side with my ear and most of my face covered for at least 10 years. Even after they changed the lyrics for the home video.
Anonymous
1. i have this fear of bees, I know this is relatively normal but I go to lengths no one should to avoid them. One particular case being I threw my entire carpet out my second floor window after rolling a bee inside, after which I went to the ground floor and shook out the carpet in attempt to shake the bee free from shag fibres. Thinking I effectively freed the bee I pulled the carpet back inside and realized (to my horror) that the bee was still attached. What followed was a potentially hilarious spectacle including throwing shoes, hiding behind my older brother, and an attempt to "sneak up" on the bee from behind and catch it in a glass cup. This, of course, would've been hilarious had I not been crying the entire time and... 16 years old.
2. My second fear is the whenever I pass anyone who's smoking a cigarette I think there just going abruptly turn around and burn me with it. I will go several paces out of my way to avoid someone who's smoking.
2. My second fear is the whenever I pass anyone who's smoking a cigarette I think there just going abruptly turn around and burn me with it. I will go several paces out of my way to avoid someone who's smoking.
Shaun
So, I've got an irrational fear of aliens. Specifically aliens at night. Whenever I go to get a drink of water at night, I'm always terrified that an alien will be hiding behind a door or corner and I'll see it on the way back or it'll walk out and glare at me. I'm not scared of what the alien will do after I see it, I'm just scared the actual sight of one. I think it's because it'll mean that intelligent life exists that's capable of interstellar travel, and the best thing they can find to do is hide around my house and scare me.
On that same subject, I'm scared that when I look out the window at night I'll see a UFO or alien, specifically ET the Extraterrestrial. I don't know why it's ET in specific and not the Signs aliens or a Klingon or whatever, I mean, I haven't even seen ET's movie.
Also, I'm terrified of cockroaches. I've even written a short story on my encounter with one of them after a shower. I'm pretty sure these buggers have something against me. More have ended up on my upper body than I dare to count (And there was one on my leg once, heading north, but I managed to remove him in a fit of wild flailing and screaming before he got close enough to do permanent mental damage. No other lower body encounters, thankfully), and everytime I see a decently sized one I have to scream or swear. Another weird thing is I'm not at all afraid of cockroaches in videogames or movies (The roach in Wall-E was so cute!), it's just their physical presence that bugs me.
On that same subject, I'm scared that when I look out the window at night I'll see a UFO or alien, specifically ET the Extraterrestrial. I don't know why it's ET in specific and not the Signs aliens or a Klingon or whatever, I mean, I haven't even seen ET's movie.
Also, I'm terrified of cockroaches. I've even written a short story on my encounter with one of them after a shower. I'm pretty sure these buggers have something against me. More have ended up on my upper body than I dare to count (And there was one on my leg once, heading north, but I managed to remove him in a fit of wild flailing and screaming before he got close enough to do permanent mental damage. No other lower body encounters, thankfully), and everytime I see a decently sized one I have to scream or swear. Another weird thing is I'm not at all afraid of cockroaches in videogames or movies (The roach in Wall-E was so cute!), it's just their physical presence that bugs me.
Angeline Purpura
1) That if I have my tongue between my teeth while biking that I will hit a bump and bite it off
2) That if I walk near a window at night a clown/monster/murderer/ET will jump out at me (I get the heebie jeebies just thinking about it now)
3) Toilet snakes
4) That if I encounter my students on the street while I am riding my bike, I will get hit by a car immediately after I cheerfully wave hello to them
5) That I may ever actually see a ghost. The Sixth Sense ruined my life
Katie Logan
1. Getting out of the shower, I have to cling onto something - the edge of the sink, the towel rail, even the shower curtain if I have to - because if I don't, I will clearly slip and break my neck on the bottom of the shower and no-one will find me for hours.
2. On that note, I'm also scared in the shower that it'll start leaking carbon monoxide and kill me, after I heard about someone that happened to. I'm not so scared I'll stop taking showers, but even so, every time I'm in the shower I find myself nervously checking that I'm not getting dizzy or anything. If I start to get dizzy I have to get out. Clinging onto the sink or towel rail or whatever. It's awkward.
3. I can't eat any fish in case there are bones in it. Because if there are bones they will get stuck in my throat and I'll die. Again.
4. Anyone putting their hands on my neck, ever. I apparently trust no-one not to strangle me.
5. I'm also weirdly scared every time I put on a top that I'll tear all my fingernails out. No idea where that one came from.
2. On that note, I'm also scared in the shower that it'll start leaking carbon monoxide and kill me, after I heard about someone that happened to. I'm not so scared I'll stop taking showers, but even so, every time I'm in the shower I find myself nervously checking that I'm not getting dizzy or anything. If I start to get dizzy I have to get out. Clinging onto the sink or towel rail or whatever. It's awkward.
3. I can't eat any fish in case there are bones in it. Because if there are bones they will get stuck in my throat and I'll die. Again.
4. Anyone putting their hands on my neck, ever. I apparently trust no-one not to strangle me.
5. I'm also weirdly scared every time I put on a top that I'll tear all my fingernails out. No idea where that one came from.
Rachel Romeo
1. Cotton. I hate cotton balls. I can not touch them or I will literally start to dry heave and want to pass out. My husband only makes this worse by biting his t-shirts making that cotton on teeth noise... ughh... Also whenever I go to the dentist I make myself look like an ass because I have to tell the doctor not put those cotton balls in my mouth. Usually when they ask why, I say I'm allergic even though I'd be wearing like blue jeans.
2. The dark. Only when indoors though. I mean think about it. If per se there was some sort of stalker/killer on the loose and after you. Would you rather be outdoors where you can run away as fast as you can screaming with the highly probable chance that someone else will notice you and take you to obvious safety. ORRR.. would you rather be in your house where if the killer/stalker were smart, they could just lock you in and take their time killing you. I think I've made my point that this is a rational fear.
3. Anytime I'm swimming, be it a lake, pool, river, or ocean, I swear to every God out there, that I can feel there is a river monster swimming up to get me. Nothing has to touch me or brush my leg or anything, I just know for a fact (when I'm swimming) that out of nowhere the sun will be blocked, I'll look to see by what, and all I'll see are teeth and a gullet. And if you'll notice I did say this happens in pools too.
4. This one comes from a kinda urban legend. My older sister told me about this crazy killer guy who would kill your dog then lick your hand when you were sleeping. I was like 6. So to this day I can not and will not sleep without all my hands/feet/fingers/toes firmly and securely tucked into my blanket. Cause everyone knows the guy can't kill your dog if he can't lick your hand.
5. This last one isn't an irrational fear. It's more of an irrational hatred. Of shortened names. My name is Rachel, and I see red if someone calls me Rach. I will never call someone by a shortened name and I absolutely hate it when others do. Except for Bill. I don't like the name William.
2. The dark. Only when indoors though. I mean think about it. If per se there was some sort of stalker/killer on the loose and after you. Would you rather be outdoors where you can run away as fast as you can screaming with the highly probable chance that someone else will notice you and take you to obvious safety. ORRR.. would you rather be in your house where if the killer/stalker were smart, they could just lock you in and take their time killing you. I think I've made my point that this is a rational fear.
3. Anytime I'm swimming, be it a lake, pool, river, or ocean, I swear to every God out there, that I can feel there is a river monster swimming up to get me. Nothing has to touch me or brush my leg or anything, I just know for a fact (when I'm swimming) that out of nowhere the sun will be blocked, I'll look to see by what, and all I'll see are teeth and a gullet. And if you'll notice I did say this happens in pools too.
4. This one comes from a kinda urban legend. My older sister told me about this crazy killer guy who would kill your dog then lick your hand when you were sleeping. I was like 6. So to this day I can not and will not sleep without all my hands/feet/fingers/toes firmly and securely tucked into my blanket. Cause everyone knows the guy can't kill your dog if he can't lick your hand.
5. This last one isn't an irrational fear. It's more of an irrational hatred. Of shortened names. My name is Rachel, and I see red if someone calls me Rach. I will never call someone by a shortened name and I absolutely hate it when others do. Except for Bill. I don't like the name William.
Jane Skinner
I have a fear of things that are infinite, or things that border on the infinite (although I know that "bordering on infinite" is a contradiction in terms, so be quiet). If I had to guess why I feel this way, it's probably because I was brought up in a fairly religious climate, and I heard too many stories about Hell and eternal damnation and spending all of said eternity roasting in a pit of sulfur. But frankly, the idea of an eternal Heaven is only slightly less scary to me. Wouldn't I get bored? Won't I get hungry? Will there be food and magazines there? I just can't handle it. I like my realities finite and graspable.
I have several fears that stem from this: 1. fear of giant land masses, especially the ocean. And secondly, and most importantly, fear of SPACE. Oh my God. I'm so scared of outer space and everything that has to do with outer space. You know that question about, would you rather spend a week in Paris, or 10 minutes on the moon? I would choose Paris. In fact, if someone offered me a trip to the moon or just staying home, I would pick just staying at home. In fact, if someone MADE me go into space, I would pay them the monetary equivalent of a week in Paris in order to not go. That's right: I would bribe someone to not make me go into space. There are aliens there, and also no air, and also it fucking goes on forever.
I have several fears that stem from this: 1. fear of giant land masses, especially the ocean. And secondly, and most importantly, fear of SPACE. Oh my God. I'm so scared of outer space and everything that has to do with outer space. You know that question about, would you rather spend a week in Paris, or 10 minutes on the moon? I would choose Paris. In fact, if someone offered me a trip to the moon or just staying home, I would pick just staying at home. In fact, if someone MADE me go into space, I would pay them the monetary equivalent of a week in Paris in order to not go. That's right: I would bribe someone to not make me go into space. There are aliens there, and also no air, and also it fucking goes on forever.
Stephanie Fitzner
MY Irrational fear: My totally ridiculous irrational fear is that when I use the toilet a hand is going to reach up and grab and suck me into the sewers. It has gotten to the point where I must watch between my legs while using to toilet to make sure nothing grabs me.
I am terrified to open blinds at night. I'm scared that there'll be a murderer staring at me and then they'll smash through the window and kill me.
Also, I can't look out the window when I'm driving on a highways surrounded by trees at night. I'm scared that I'll see some dead person and they'll be all dead and they'll slowly walk towards the car, then, the car for some reason will stop in it's tracks and the doors'll jam and the dead person will eat us.
I'm scared that when I'm sleeping in the basement and I hear my family walking upstairs that it's really some person with a big machine gun and they'll come downtstairs and shoot me until I'm full of holes.
Also, I fear that when I'm cooking I'll trip and fall face first into the frying pan and my face will fall off.
I am terrified to open blinds at night. I'm scared that there'll be a murderer staring at me and then they'll smash through the window and kill me.
Also, I can't look out the window when I'm driving on a highways surrounded by trees at night. I'm scared that I'll see some dead person and they'll be all dead and they'll slowly walk towards the car, then, the car for some reason will stop in it's tracks and the doors'll jam and the dead person will eat us.
I'm scared that when I'm sleeping in the basement and I hear my family walking upstairs that it's really some person with a big machine gun and they'll come downtstairs and shoot me until I'm full of holes.
Also, I fear that when I'm cooking I'll trip and fall face first into the frying pan and my face will fall off.
Amy Bryant
I fear man-made objects in water. For example, a lake doesn't bother me. But if there is a bridge across the lake, the place where the supports go into the water bothers me. I went snorkeling at molokini (top of submerged volcano in the ocean) and had no problems. But when I had to go back to the boat, I had fore myself t swim towrds it, because being able to see the rotors and hull in the water really bothered me. This applies to pretty much anything man-made. Dead fish, no problem. Rusty pipe, ew. I can repair my toilets, but haveing to deal with the pipes and stuff in the tank creeps me out.
Suzy Philippot
I just visited your blog articles, and after reading through the lists of things that make people's skin crawl, I thought I would divulge to you my irrational fear. And it is whales, and porpoises of all kind. I haven't frequently encountered them in my life, beyond a few trips to an aquarium when I was younger, but the mere thought of Flipper or Shamu crossing my path makes me physically cringe, grimace, and shudder in all forms of company. I've even come up with a list with my Top Four most Fearful Oceanic Mammals:
4. The Humpback- they have those teeth things they have for eating krill... and they're like giant aliens that could be floating under your boat at any moment...
3. The Narwhal- they have horns. Sometimes two, that twirl in the same direction, like an industrially regularized, enviromentally threatened species of absolute horror.
2. Belugas- is that an over sized, floating infant, laughing with the glee of innocent youth? NO. It's smiling at me because it knows my secrets, and wonders what I taste like.
1. Freshwater River Dolphins- they may be extinct. At the least, very, very, endangered. But also, very, very terrifying. You thought you were safe from porpoises by taking a dip in freshwater? THINK AGAIN. And what the HELL is up with their long and probing snouts?? Exhibit A: http://www.spraci.com/pages/muzikman/pinkdolphinpr.jpg Exhibit B (ready to serrate you to death): http://www.dolphins.spirita.net/images/amazon-river-dolphin.jpg
4. The Humpback- they have those teeth things they have for eating krill... and they're like giant aliens that could be floating under your boat at any moment...
3. The Narwhal- they have horns. Sometimes two, that twirl in the same direction, like an industrially regularized, enviromentally threatened species of absolute horror.
2. Belugas- is that an over sized, floating infant, laughing with the glee of innocent youth? NO. It's smiling at me because it knows my secrets, and wonders what I taste like.
1. Freshwater River Dolphins- they may be extinct. At the least, very, very, endangered. But also, very, very terrifying. You thought you were safe from porpoises by taking a dip in freshwater? THINK AGAIN. And what the HELL is up with their long and probing snouts?? Exhibit A: http://www.spraci.com/pages/muzikman/pinkdolphinpr.jpg Exhibit B (ready to serrate you to death): http://www.dolphins.spirita.net/images/amazon-river-dolphin.jpg
Stevie Wilson
A. I am always afraid that when my girlfriend cracks her knuckles/miscellanious body part, that whatever that part is will pop off like a rocket.
B. My neighbours have a rabbit. I am afraid that whenever I let my dog out to do what she does best, that said rabbit will messily devour her with it's giant buck-teeth.
B. My neighbours have a rabbit. I am afraid that whenever I let my dog out to do what she does best, that said rabbit will messily devour her with it's giant buck-teeth.
Sam Walsh
1. I am afraid of walking into a darkened room. I have to walk in with my hands outstretched and turn on the light ASAP. I actually feel my heartbeat accelerate when I go into a dark room.
2. I really don't like when people touch my/their cuticles. I just don't like it. It gives me the shiveries.
3. Mirrors at night. I just know that I am going to see the dark figure of a killer behind me the second I look into one.
4. Finally, porcelain dolls. Clowns I can do just fine, but porcelain dolls scare the living shit out of me.
2. I really don't like when people touch my/their cuticles. I just don't like it. It gives me the shiveries.
3. Mirrors at night. I just know that I am going to see the dark figure of a killer behind me the second I look into one.
4. Finally, porcelain dolls. Clowns I can do just fine, but porcelain dolls scare the living shit out of me.
John Thomas McDole
When leaving a dark basement, the stairwell has to be lit. If it isn't lit and I can see the light at the top of the stairs, then some unknown demon is going to grab me from behind and pull me back down. If it is lit, then I'm in the safe zone.
Anonymous
I am afraid of people hiding in my backyard. I can’t look through the backyard-facing windows of my ground-floor apartment at night for fear I will see a face staring in at me, hideously up-lit from my lights.
I am afraid that I will hear a voice from outside the window next to my bed talking to me at night while I am trying to fall asleep.
I can spend hours freaking out about the nothingness of death – the idea that I won’t exist scares the hell out of me.
I can’t leave parts of my body out of the covers at night for fear that something will touch the exposed skin – for some reason, they won’t touch me if I’m covered.
I’m afraid of leaving doors in my bedroom open at night for fear I’ll see a silhouette in the doorway.
I’m afraid of things eating me from the feet up in the ocean.
I am afraid that I will hear a voice from outside the window next to my bed talking to me at night while I am trying to fall asleep.
I can spend hours freaking out about the nothingness of death – the idea that I won’t exist scares the hell out of me.
I can’t leave parts of my body out of the covers at night for fear that something will touch the exposed skin – for some reason, they won’t touch me if I’m covered.
I’m afraid of leaving doors in my bedroom open at night for fear I’ll see a silhouette in the doorway.
I’m afraid of things eating me from the feet up in the ocean.
Anonymous
I am afraid of people hiding in my backyard. I can’t look through the backyard-facing windows of my ground-floor apartment at night for fear I will see a face staring in at me, hideously up-lit from my lights.
I am afraid that I will hear a voice from outside the window next to my bed talking to me at night while I am trying to fall asleep.
I can spend hours freaking out about the nothingness of death – the idea that I won’t exist scares the hell out of me.
I can’t leave parts of my body out of the covers at night for fear that something will touch the exposed skin – for some reason, they won’t touch me if I’m covered.
I’m afraid of leaving doors in my bedroom open at night for fear I’ll see a silhouette in the doorway.
I’m afraid of things eating me from the feet up in the ocean.
I am afraid that I will hear a voice from outside the window next to my bed talking to me at night while I am trying to fall asleep.
I can spend hours freaking out about the nothingness of death – the idea that I won’t exist scares the hell out of me.
I can’t leave parts of my body out of the covers at night for fear that something will touch the exposed skin – for some reason, they won’t touch me if I’m covered.
I’m afraid of leaving doors in my bedroom open at night for fear I’ll see a silhouette in the doorway.
I’m afraid of things eating me from the feet up in the ocean.
Shawn Meyer
I am irrationally afraid of vomit. Yeah, most people can't stand the stuff either, but I'm actually phobic. At the slightest indication that someone's going to puke within my range of sight/hearing, I have to run away to some corner with my hands clapped over my ears, humming to myself with my eyes squeezed shut. Most people hate flying because they think the plane's going to crash. I'm more afraid of someone being airsick on me than dying in a crash. That's how much I can't stand vomit. The sight/sound/smell of someone vomiting to me looks and sounds like they are dying a terrible death. I really don't know why, either but apparently I'm not alone in my irrational fear. Emetophobia is among the top ten most common phobias.
Evie Morrel-Samuels
whenever i'm using a pencil, i'm afraid that i'll try to erase something, the eraser will pop off, and i'll be left scraping metal against my paper instead. just thinking about how that would sound and what it would feel like in my hand makes me want to implode. the thing is, it happens even if i'm positive that the eraser is on tight, or even if i'm using a plastic mechanical pencil. i've taken to using pens instead, but now i'm beginning to be afraid that the tip of the pen will break or snap off and i'll end up in the same situation. cue all-over shivers and nausea.
Victoria
I know that many people have social-anxiety disorder, or a fear of crowded places, but I'm sure that each of us has a different reason why. Personally, I'm afraid that if I wander into the middle of a crowd, it will suddenly transform into an angry mob. This mob will either attack me or I will be trampled to death as the mob chases after someone else. For this reason I try to avoid concerts and stadiums and I try to go shopping at off-peak hours. If I MUST go to a crowded spot, then I like to hang out near a wall or in the least dense area.
It should be noted, however, that I did seek some counseling, and so my fear is not as strong as it once was. For example, I now go to dance parties, though a year or two ago I would have never considered such a thing.
It should be noted, however, that I did seek some counseling, and so my fear is not as strong as it once was. For example, I now go to dance parties, though a year or two ago I would have never considered such a thing.
Julie
I have a fear of falling down stairs, which seems normal. However, I onlyhave this fear when I'm on the stairs by Towers Lobby at the University ofPittsburgh. I'm always afraid that I'll fall and break my neck, and abunch of freshmen will stand and laugh at me until I finally die.
Anonymous
Aliens. The Grey Skinned Kind with the big black eyes... but mainly peeking around a doorway while I'm in bed. Creeped myself out a little just typing that.
Merc
I'm terrified of heights and cars, which aren't as unusual - but I'm most terrified of being embarassed in my favorite clothes. I'm not even a shopper, but I have some T-shirts that I love and if there's a day where I think I might end up being embarassed, I won't wear them. I don't want to look at that t-shirt and remember how I was embarassed in it - if it's my favorite, I'll want to wear it again someday!
Kandy Chechik
These might not even really be irrational; mostly just habits stemmingfrom fears I had as a kid.
1. I absolutely can't sleep at night without some sort of blanketcovering me. It can be over 100 degrees in my room, but I'll stillneed a sheet or blanket on me or I won't be able to sleep. Not just onmy arms or just on my legs. It has to be completely covering me,except for my head. When I was little, I used to feel like there weremonsters everywhere at night, and the only thing that could protect mefrom them was to have something hiding me.
2. I have to look behind the shower curtain before using the toilet.I'm pretty sure a lot of people have this fear. But this is seriouslyalmost ritual for me. I can't stop myself from doing it. This doesn'tapply to glass shower doors because they would be harder for a killerto pop out of and kill me, but it does apply even to see-throughcurtains.
3. In the same vein as the previous one, I absolutely cannot close myeyes while shampooing/rinsing my hair. I just can't. When I was littleI saw the opening scene from Psycho and since then I've beencompletely scarred for life, and I've been shampooing with my eyesopen since age 7. One day I just know I'll go blind from all the soapI always get in my eyes.
4. I won't touch anything in the public restroom with my hands. I usetissues, toilet paper, or paper towels so I don't need to get thegerms on my hands. I don't have this problem with my own bathroombecause I know the people in my family don't have diseases or defecateon the floor. It can be the cleanest public restroom in the world, butI'll still freak out and not want to touch anything. If it's betweenholding it in or using the public bathroom, I'll hold it in. It's alsobecause I don't want anyone to hear me going, too.
5. If there is a random knife sitting out on the counter or table,I'll keep my eye on it to make sure it's not moving. I have this weirdfeeling that some violent ghost or poltergeist is going to use it tohurt me. Maybe I've just watched waaay too much stuff about ghosts inmy life.
That's all I can think of for now, although I know there are more.I'll send in more when I remember them
1. I absolutely can't sleep at night without some sort of blanketcovering me. It can be over 100 degrees in my room, but I'll stillneed a sheet or blanket on me or I won't be able to sleep. Not just onmy arms or just on my legs. It has to be completely covering me,except for my head. When I was little, I used to feel like there weremonsters everywhere at night, and the only thing that could protect mefrom them was to have something hiding me.
2. I have to look behind the shower curtain before using the toilet.I'm pretty sure a lot of people have this fear. But this is seriouslyalmost ritual for me. I can't stop myself from doing it. This doesn'tapply to glass shower doors because they would be harder for a killerto pop out of and kill me, but it does apply even to see-throughcurtains.
3. In the same vein as the previous one, I absolutely cannot close myeyes while shampooing/rinsing my hair. I just can't. When I was littleI saw the opening scene from Psycho and since then I've beencompletely scarred for life, and I've been shampooing with my eyesopen since age 7. One day I just know I'll go blind from all the soapI always get in my eyes.
4. I won't touch anything in the public restroom with my hands. I usetissues, toilet paper, or paper towels so I don't need to get thegerms on my hands. I don't have this problem with my own bathroombecause I know the people in my family don't have diseases or defecateon the floor. It can be the cleanest public restroom in the world, butI'll still freak out and not want to touch anything. If it's betweenholding it in or using the public bathroom, I'll hold it in. It's alsobecause I don't want anyone to hear me going, too.
5. If there is a random knife sitting out on the counter or table,I'll keep my eye on it to make sure it's not moving. I have this weirdfeeling that some violent ghost or poltergeist is going to use it tohurt me. Maybe I've just watched waaay too much stuff about ghosts inmy life.
That's all I can think of for now, although I know there are more.I'll send in more when I remember them
Courtney
When i was young i afraid to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night because i thought knomes would grab me by the feet. I would kind of run to the bathroom, get on the toilet, and put my feet on the rim because i was terrified these little garden knomes would get me. Then when i was done i would sit there for 10 minutes geting up the courage to run back to my bed. Luckily they were not out during the day, but after bedtime it was anything goes.
Currently i am terrrified of ghosts. I dint think i even believed in them but i must because they scare the shit out of me. And since i dont really know what to do about it, if i ever think there is a ghost around i will either leave or sit in the doorway, earthquake-style. (i also dont know where this doorways-as-ghost-deterants thing came from)also i am afraid to swim in the ocean, lakes, ponds, etc because something (sharks? monsters? weird alien blobs?) might eat me. I will still do it on occasion but i feel like i am going to have a heart attack the entire time. Scuba diving is also okay, though.
Currently i am terrrified of ghosts. I dint think i even believed in them but i must because they scare the shit out of me. And since i dont really know what to do about it, if i ever think there is a ghost around i will either leave or sit in the doorway, earthquake-style. (i also dont know where this doorways-as-ghost-deterants thing came from)also i am afraid to swim in the ocean, lakes, ponds, etc because something (sharks? monsters? weird alien blobs?) might eat me. I will still do it on occasion but i feel like i am going to have a heart attack the entire time. Scuba diving is also okay, though.
Stephanie Asling
I have an irrational fear of hot air. You know when you open the oven and that blast of hot air hits you? It makes me want to flail around and stick my head in a bucket of cold water. And I can't put my head down in my arms on a desk or something because the hot air from my breath makes me scared that I'm going to suffocate. (Okay, maybe that's not so irrational after all.)
I also can't take a bath without closing the shower curtain, because I think a monster or a killer is going to run into the bathroom (locked door or not) and find me sitting naked and helpless in the bath.Sometimes at night, I have to run into my room and make a flying leap for my bed, because I'm afraid something is going to reach out from underneath it and grab me by the ankles.
I also can't take a bath without closing the shower curtain, because I think a monster or a killer is going to run into the bathroom (locked door or not) and find me sitting naked and helpless in the bath.Sometimes at night, I have to run into my room and make a flying leap for my bed, because I'm afraid something is going to reach out from underneath it and grab me by the ankles.
Garrison Bowers
I don't know if you're still taking these, or even where this oneranks on the scale of irrationality but I am scared shitless at thethought of having a fat and or retarded child. It's crippling, andconstantly nags in the back of my mind. Mostly the mental retardationpart. I think it stems mostly for my contempt for fat people, and lackof respect for the mentally ill. I mean what are they going tocontribute to society, unless by shear force of mind power theyrealize that they're a savant and can carve insatiably intricatethings from wood or clay or some other shit. It's irrational becauseI'm fit, eat well and am fairly intelligent... and I can completelyacknowledge that it's irrational. It doesn't scare me any less though.Ugh... the thought of feeding them/watching them eat sends chills upmy arms, even as I type this.
Josie
My major irrationalities stem from specific fears relating to critterdom. I have resided on the island of Oahu for the past nine years, right smack in the middle of rainforest country.
1. B52s: These delightful creatures are mutant cockroaches and I become mildly irrational around them. They can grow to be the size of a small thumb and feast on scum and feces. Lurking quietly anywhere there is moisture, they are known to spring at you..'cause they can freaking fly. Almost always in public places, I have spazzed out whenever one has coming screaming towards me. The locals laugh at me; then they squish them with their slippa (flip-flop sandal.) Gnarly. Really gnarly. I prefer Raid..lemon scented. There are at least four cans in my apartment for just such an event.B52 bombers are a recent addition to my cache of flying-bug fears. Dragonflies blow too; they used to chase me around our meadow as a child. Horrible, scarring memories in that meadow.
1. B52s: These delightful creatures are mutant cockroaches and I become mildly irrational around them. They can grow to be the size of a small thumb and feast on scum and feces. Lurking quietly anywhere there is moisture, they are known to spring at you..'cause they can freaking fly. Almost always in public places, I have spazzed out whenever one has coming screaming towards me. The locals laugh at me; then they squish them with their slippa (flip-flop sandal.) Gnarly. Really gnarly. I prefer Raid..lemon scented. There are at least four cans in my apartment for just such an event.B52 bombers are a recent addition to my cache of flying-bug fears. Dragonflies blow too; they used to chase me around our meadow as a child. Horrible, scarring memories in that meadow.
Adam Tomasz
1. Toilet Spiders - I have to flush the toilet every time before I sit down (I'm fine peeing) just in case there are any spiders hiding under the rim where the water comes out. I don't want to get bitten on the ass while I'm on the toilet.
2. Heaters - I have to constantly make sure (if I'm the last person to leave the house) that all of the heaters are switched off, the fridge is closed, the oven, grill (etc.) gas is off and the taps are not dipping. I also have to turn one of the handles and shake the doors back and forth to make sure that they will stay closed throughout the day. This usually takes me about ten minutes (and makes me late for various appointments) and every now and then I feel the urge to go back inside just to make sure that everything is safe. (This is probably more OCD than anything else)
Anonymous
1. Every time i get the urge to fart I'm terrified I'mactually going to shit my pants instead. i have to sit on atoilet and do it. i am absolutely terrified it's going to happen.
2. i'm afraid of microwaves. when i was younger i saw aprogram and there was something about microwaves being testedas a mind-control device and even though i know it'scompletely harmless, now whenever i use a microwave i have tostand away from it and to the side.
2. i'm afraid of microwaves. when i was younger i saw aprogram and there was something about microwaves being testedas a mind-control device and even though i know it'scompletely harmless, now whenever i use a microwave i have tostand away from it and to the side.
Keegan Ferrari
My irrational fear is I constantly think that the next time I piss is going to be the time that I pass a kidney stone. I have no prior experience with kidney stones or anything of the sort and yet almost every time I start to urinate I just start thinking "Goddamnit I just know I am going to pass one, AGHH, holy shit, please don't!" over and over like some sort of mentally masochistic mantra (note the clever alliteration). I always feel slightly stupid afterwards but man, one of these days....
Nate Harris
The only real Fear I have is the paranormal. Ghosts, poltergeists, all that jazz. People say that they can't hurt you, but WHAT IF THEY CAN? You can't do anything to stop them! Plus, I for one personally believe they can hurt you if they so choose.Some other little things I have that I wouldn't consider full fledged fears:I don't like looking out windows at night for fear that some psycho is going to pop up in front of me ready to kill me.I don't like looking in mirrors in a dark room for fear that I'm going to see somebody behind me ready to kill me.I think I was allowed to watch too many scary movies when I was child. One of those was Stephen King's It and I was always surprised that I wasn't scared of clowns after that, although I couldn't walk next to a rain gutter until I was about 13.
Jess
i live near (about 7 miles) from an airport. we moved here about 4 years ago and when i lay in my room i can hear the planes flying overhead. as they get closer i always think that there falling closer to my house and that one day ill be right and die in a terrible house fire. ive accually had panic attacks over it when they are low flying. its not as bad anymore because they changed the way the planes go and i can barely hear them now.
Grant
1) I am absofuckinglutely TERRIFIED that snakes will come falling out of my shower head as i shower while i can do nothing but cry and sob. I am also terrified that a snake will pop out of my toliet when i flush it so only flush with the lid down, sometimes sitting on it. If i have to go in a public restroom i stand near the unlocked door and flush with my foot, prepared to flee screeching if i hear so much as a hiss. More than once i've been caught by co-workers thinking that i'm being raped when in actually nothing happened.
2) i am scared i'm secretly allergic to something but i don't know what it is so when i try something new at a resturant or at a friends house i always dial the 9 and 1 on my phone first and be sure to get the address from my friends.
2) i am scared i'm secretly allergic to something but i don't know what it is so when i try something new at a resturant or at a friends house i always dial the 9 and 1 on my phone first and be sure to get the address from my friends.
Adrian Swan
My main fear is that something horribly bad will someday happen to my Achilles tendon. I am often checking the ground behind me for the baby from Pet Cemetery or Uma Thurman in Kill Bill.
I also always sit cross legged on chairs that are open on the bottom just in case.Also, since watching the Shining when I was a little kid, I walk through the entire building when I stay at hotels and make sure there's no evil rooms or twins.
I also always sit cross legged on chairs that are open on the bottom just in case.Also, since watching the Shining when I was a little kid, I walk through the entire building when I stay at hotels and make sure there's no evil rooms or twins.
Lauren
Whenever I go someplace and have to use the bathroom, I always have to check behind the shower curtain (if it's closed). I've done this for as long as i can remember because i'm always afraid someone might be behind it, not so much a killer or something, but like an annoying little kid that will pop out when you're on the toilet. I also have an irrational fear of dying or being killed while on the toilet, being in such a vulnerable position...it probably has to do with having seen Jurassic Park at a very young age, where the fat guy gets killed in a porta potty.
Eric Riley
1. Turophobia. i am absolutely TERRIFIED of cheese. i have no reason to be scared, and i love eating the stuff, but i unable to actually handle it.
2. this is potentially my stupidest fear. Essentially, if i do anything the same number of times as i am old, something bad will ALWAYS happen.
3. I am deathly scared of party noisemakers. i hate to hear them and i don't have any idea why.
4. My last is this: i am afraid of anybody who is standing behind me and looking down. they could be looking for a quarter they dropped, but i will still believe they are going to randomly beat the living daylights out of me.
2. this is potentially my stupidest fear. Essentially, if i do anything the same number of times as i am old, something bad will ALWAYS happen.
3. I am deathly scared of party noisemakers. i hate to hear them and i don't have any idea why.
4. My last is this: i am afraid of anybody who is standing behind me and looking down. they could be looking for a quarter they dropped, but i will still believe they are going to randomly beat the living daylights out of me.
Malissa Dills
1)Closets. My fear isn't of closets themselves it's just what's in them. When I was 6 my family moved into a new house and for the first time I got my own room and didn't have to share with my two sisters, I was really exited. Slowly over time (1 year) I couldn't go to sleep if fear that vampires would pop out of my closet and kill me. And I mean real badass vampires not frilly romanic figures that want to turn me so that we can live forever in vampie bliss I mean 'I want to kill you because you're there type vamps. This fear got so bad that I ended sleeping in the room that my two sisters shared, until one of them took it. I guess the fear popped up when we moved because we moved from the city to the county which is in the middle of nowhere, where no one can here you scream and it takes 15 minutes for the police or paramedics to reach your house. This fear still follows me 10 years later, somewhat.
2)Being alone at night. I can be alone during the day and it'll be nothing but the moment it starts to get I little dark I lock the doors. I still live with my parents and I'm not alone that often but my dad is my little sisters fast pitch team and so over the summer he and my little sister would go out of town for days at a time and my mom would go with them because she supports any activity this family does, so I am left alone at home in the middle of nowhere. I freak out because I'm afraid that a serial killer will break into my house and torture me until I die because I can't take the pain anymore. By the way the vampires in the closet thing eventually turned into this.
3)I have to sleep with some form of entertainment device (TV, radio, Stereo ect.). I'm afraid that my house is haunted and if there isn't some form of sound on then I will hear the ghost wondering around my house. I'm scared that when I wake up in the middle of the night and one of them will be on the edge of my bed watching me.
4) Porches. I had a dream one time that I was walking around on some ones porch when suddenly I fell through and landed in hell. I guess I'm not really afraid of porches I'm more scared of being on a porch that leads me strait to hell.
2)Being alone at night. I can be alone during the day and it'll be nothing but the moment it starts to get I little dark I lock the doors. I still live with my parents and I'm not alone that often but my dad is my little sisters fast pitch team and so over the summer he and my little sister would go out of town for days at a time and my mom would go with them because she supports any activity this family does, so I am left alone at home in the middle of nowhere. I freak out because I'm afraid that a serial killer will break into my house and torture me until I die because I can't take the pain anymore. By the way the vampires in the closet thing eventually turned into this.
3)I have to sleep with some form of entertainment device (TV, radio, Stereo ect.). I'm afraid that my house is haunted and if there isn't some form of sound on then I will hear the ghost wondering around my house. I'm scared that when I wake up in the middle of the night and one of them will be on the edge of my bed watching me.
4) Porches. I had a dream one time that I was walking around on some ones porch when suddenly I fell through and landed in hell. I guess I'm not really afraid of porches I'm more scared of being on a porch that leads me strait to hell.
Rebecca Cross
1. I haven't experienced this in a while, since I now have a recliner, but if I sit in an armchair with my legs draped over the arm and my feet dangling exposed, it's not long before I start thinking that someone (or something?) will stab the bottoms of my feet. Why do I continue to sit like that? I don't know.2. If I wake up in the middle of the night, I'm afraid to look at my (open) bedroom door. I'm afraid that I'll see someone walk by. That's all. I don't imagine that the person or whatever it is will come in, but I do think just seeing someone walk by might be enough to give me a heart attack.3. Whenever I ask my boyfriend to run an errand for me, I imagine that something terrible will happen - a car accident or random shooting at the grocery store - and he will be killed, and it will be all my fault because I asked him to run that errand. This fear is really kind of terrible and paralyzing.
Renata
1. Automatic Flush Toilets. This is something that extends to all toilets, but if I am on a road trip, and the only toilet available is automatic flush, I need to find a conventional toilet stat, or I have to hold it in. Longest on record is a little over 7 hours. I'm not afraid it will explode, or gobble me. They are just scary.2. Mushrooms, in the wild, or in those unconstrained baskets at the grocery store, are ominous. They just gather and perhaps it's that they never move, never sway in the wind. They are planning something.3. People with no face. Either completely blank, or that it's been cut off.4. Bugs in my skin. I went through a period of insomnia and that was my first hallucination. Since then, every little itch has me completely freaked out and I begin a head to toe examination to make sure I have not been compromised.I also share the fear of the person who wrote about glancing out the window at night when the room is bright. I'm not afraid of any one thing, just that I will see something terrifying.
Jen
Sunflowers. I am horrified by sunflowers. And by "horrified", I mean that I damn near shit my pants in the presence of a full-blown sunflower. Hell, my sphincter seizes up within fifty yards of the things. They're creepy to me on a number of levels.First, the flowers are as big as my head. Bigger, even. I'm freaked out by any fruit or flower that size. Also, something about that inner dark part of them is just awful. It wants to be fuzzy and inviting but ... it's not. Maybe it's like Velcro that would grab my hair, leaving me trapped. And then! If you look at the seeds in one, the number and closeness of them is unnerving. All those little pods in a pattern. Ugh! They turn my guts to jelly. I searched the internet a few times to see if anyone shared my discomfort with sunflowers and came up empty. Interestingly, though, there seem to be others with a "tube" or "opening" hangup, and as I read their explanations of why, precisely, they were freaked out, I realized that it kind of matched up with the sunflower-seed part of my phobia. It's the pattern. I'm tempted to mention my issues with both cotton swabs and wooden spoons but ... nah. It's more a texture thing than a phobia. And, besides, I'd seem like a fruitcake. Since, you know, a blatant fear of sunflowers is completely unremarkable. Heh.
Rob
1. Ever since I saw the movie "Shaun of the Dead," I have not been able to stretch in public, for fear that zombies will come out of nowhere and tear all my insides out through my armpits. It's completely stupid, but it even affects me at night. the only time I ever stretch my arms out is when i'm alone in a room, and even then I pay close attention to the sounds from outside.2. I also have a fear of windows at night. I have to keep the blinds closed on all the windows in my apartment at night, because I believe that one day I will leave them open and someone will shoot me through the window. I don't know where this came from, possibly from watching too many action movies late at night as a child, but it is a ritual that after 6:00 PM, if a window does not have its blinds closed, I wont go in to that room.
Jessi
I'm terrified of looking over my bed and seeing some kind of dead body over my bedpost or something. I just imagine a cold, lifeless bloody body at the foot of my bed. I also fear when I go pee, or something, that a body hanging behind my shower curtains will be there.Another fear of mine is probably the dark, which everyone fears. I just fear that in the dark there will be someone there staring at me sleep. Just a pair of floating eyes, blinking.I also fear tampons. I'm scared of my vag bleeding or it just being stuck in there. Oh god.
Anonymous
I absolutely cannot stand wet wool. There's something about the sound and feel of it that sends shivers down my spine and makes me fall to the ground screaming. I have to crawl up, shut my eyes and cover my ears until the damn thing has gone away. This makes laundry very difficult, and thus, I have to call somebody in anytime I wish to wash a sweater. Just the thought of it makes me cringe and clench my teeth
Colleen Elmer
have 2 irrational fears:
1) Balloons. I'm terrified that they will pop too close to me and the rubber will smack me in the eye and blind me. I can't pop balloons or be around when they're being popped, and I don't like being too close to them in general.
2) That a plane will or a piece of a plane will fall out of the air and crush me. Whenever I hear a plane go overhead whether I'm outside or inside, but especially inside because then I won't be able to see it, this thought occurs to me. I blame both Donnie Darko and news stories about planes crashing into houses.
1) Balloons. I'm terrified that they will pop too close to me and the rubber will smack me in the eye and blind me. I can't pop balloons or be around when they're being popped, and I don't like being too close to them in general.
2) That a plane will or a piece of a plane will fall out of the air and crush me. Whenever I hear a plane go overhead whether I'm outside or inside, but especially inside because then I won't be able to see it, this thought occurs to me. I blame both Donnie Darko and news stories about planes crashing into houses.
Colleen Elmer
I have 2 irrational fears:
1) Balloons. I'm terrified that they will pop too close to me and the rubber will smack me in the eye and blind me. I can't pop balloons or be around when they're being popped, and I don't like being too close to them in general.
2) That a plane will or a piece of a plane will fall out of the air and crush me. Whenever I hear a plane go overhead whether I'm outside or inside, but especially inside because then I won't be able to see it, this thought occurs to me. I blame both Donnie Darko and news stories about planes crashing into houses.
1) Balloons. I'm terrified that they will pop too close to me and the rubber will smack me in the eye and blind me. I can't pop balloons or be around when they're being popped, and I don't like being too close to them in general.
2) That a plane will or a piece of a plane will fall out of the air and crush me. Whenever I hear a plane go overhead whether I'm outside or inside, but especially inside because then I won't be able to see it, this thought occurs to me. I blame both Donnie Darko and news stories about planes crashing into houses.
Shevaughn
My irrational fear is that I cannot bring myself to go ice skating. Everytime I step on the ice, or even think about going skating for that matter, it instantly leads my mind to an image of myself falling on the ice and having my fingers skated over and thus amputated.
I am also convinced that someone will slit my throat at the first given opportunity, so I often find myself holding my chest/neck with one hand, hopefully shielding my supple skin from murderers. Although, I've confused my heart since I considered that my fingers would be amputated if someone tried to slit my throat while I was shielding my neck. I may need to invest in a plethora of turtle necks and gloves.
I am also convinced that someone will slit my throat at the first given opportunity, so I often find myself holding my chest/neck with one hand, hopefully shielding my supple skin from murderers. Although, I've confused my heart since I considered that my fingers would be amputated if someone tried to slit my throat while I was shielding my neck. I may need to invest in a plethora of turtle necks and gloves.
Robin Neale
I am terrified of finger nails and toe nails. When people clean their nails in front of me, I gag and have to leave to go breath and think of ponies. I have thrown up on multiple occasions from seeing people bite on their fingers near the nails, and from one horrifying occasion, catching a little boy chewing his toenails. (I'm having a hard time typing this because even thinking about it makes me ill.) There was an episode of Kenny vs. Spenny where one of them had to bite a toenail off the other - I didn't see it coming, and I ran away in near tears to cover my ears and do crazy deep breathing and think of magical ponies. For the record, I'm fine with dissections and gory movies and crime scene photos - just not nails.
Susan
I'm irrationally scared...That a horse will go crazy and trample me.That I will see red glowing eyes of The Mothman, from the movie The Mothman Prophecies, staring in my window at night, and that it would be the precursor to some horrible tragedy.That a plane will crash on me.That if I look into a mirror in the dark because I am scared I will see Bloody Mary, from the childhood game. That someone will know my location in my house, maybe by peeking in a window or hearing my movements, and shoot me through the window/door/wall.That something will be hiding inside a trashcan with a lid. I don't know what it is or what it will do, but it scares the hell out of me to open trashcans, especially if I am taking the trash out at night.That the same unspecified something is under my bed. I'm scared it will "get" my feet as I climb into bed or if my hands/feet, or any other part of my body that hangs over the edge of the bed once I am laying down.That the something will get me in the woods or any area less populated than the suburbs. Even if I am just driving down a dark road, I am scared it will jump on the hood of the car or smack on my window if I stop.
Caleb Abel
I hate, hate, hate getting haircuts just because of the parts where they trim my sideburns and around my ears. I'm convinced every time I get it done, I'm one step closer to the time they finally mess up and either cut off part of my ear or gouge out one of my eyes. I have to close my eyes and try to control my breathing anytime they're around my face. Because of this, I only get haircuts like three or four times per year, have them cut it really short, and stay the hell away for as long as I can. I also have this completely unexplainable fear of walking on sidewalks in the same direction that the cars in the lane closest to me are going. Every time a car passes I envision myself accidentally stumbling in front of it somehow as it rolls up the back of my ankle, destroying my achilles tendon - not killing me or breaking my entire leg; JUST obliterating my ankle. No idea why. If I have to walk on a sidewalk, I'll stay as far away from the road as I possibly can to ensure that even if I stumble, this won't happen.
Dawn Reybould
Every time I start my car after pumping gas, I have this brief moment of fear that my car will explode, as if I've done something wrong in the refueling process. I'm not exactly terrified every time I start the car, it's more like a sense of relief when nothing's gone wrong and I'm able to drive off without incident. Now, I know this is completely irrational. My car isn't going to explode in a fiery ball of death after I pump gas. But I always steel myself for the potential blast every time I turn the key nonetheless. I have no idea why, but I've been this way as long as I've been driving.
Katy Russell
I'm afraid of zombies. Specificly that, while walking alone at night - which I have to do on a surprisingly regular basis - zombies will randomly appear and attack me. It's a fear that's stronger when I'm forced to walk past parks, parking lots, or buildings with no lights on. I know it's ridiculous, I know it's impossible, but if I can't force myself to think of something else I scare myself so badly that I have to start running.
I'm also afraid of new experiences... Which doesn't sound so bad until you consider the implications. It means that every time I go somewhere that I've never been before I get so nervous that I feel physically ill. Every time I do something I've never tried before there's a chance I might freak out and run away (which I've done before, several times, much to the exasperation of my friends).
I'm also afraid of new experiences... Which doesn't sound so bad until you consider the implications. It means that every time I go somewhere that I've never been before I get so nervous that I feel physically ill. Every time I do something I've never tried before there's a chance I might freak out and run away (which I've done before, several times, much to the exasperation of my friends).
Michele K.
First off, I’m afraid of clowns. So much so I wouldn’t take my kids to the circus (my husband would have to). But it must be hereditary, since my mother is afraid, my grandmother was afraid, too. Maybe something happened to an ancestor of ours by a clown. When the book “It” came out, I was convinced that it was a ‘magic’ book, and that whatever anyone’s fear was, that was the antagonist. And since mine was clowns…
Secondly, I am just as deathly afraid of bees and wasps. I see one, and I literally run away. Trash cans surrounded by those bees are pure hell for me. I knew my husband was the man for me when we were dating, we were in his car and a wasp flew in the window and hit my chest. I’m screaming like I’ve been stabbed, and he simply reaches over with his bare hand, grabs it, and throws it out the window. Yes, he was stung; no, I wasn’t. But I knew then this was the man I was going to marry.
Thirdly, I am afraid of “under the bed”. Married twenty-plus years now, our bed is on the floor. We have the uber-tall box springs and mattress, but they sit on the floor so that there’s no ‘under the bed’ space. I’m afraid something will reach out from under and grab me. Also going along with that is the shower drain. Anytime I turn my back to the drain, such as to rinse my hair out, I get the creepies, thinking that something is going to reach up through the drain and grab me and drag me in…and the visual is not a very pretty one. Thank you so much, Stephen King
Secondly, I am just as deathly afraid of bees and wasps. I see one, and I literally run away. Trash cans surrounded by those bees are pure hell for me. I knew my husband was the man for me when we were dating, we were in his car and a wasp flew in the window and hit my chest. I’m screaming like I’ve been stabbed, and he simply reaches over with his bare hand, grabs it, and throws it out the window. Yes, he was stung; no, I wasn’t. But I knew then this was the man I was going to marry.
Thirdly, I am afraid of “under the bed”. Married twenty-plus years now, our bed is on the floor. We have the uber-tall box springs and mattress, but they sit on the floor so that there’s no ‘under the bed’ space. I’m afraid something will reach out from under and grab me. Also going along with that is the shower drain. Anytime I turn my back to the drain, such as to rinse my hair out, I get the creepies, thinking that something is going to reach up through the drain and grab me and drag me in…and the visual is not a very pretty one. Thank you so much, Stephen King
Robin Neale
I am terrified of finger nails and toe nails. When people clean their nails in front of me, I gag and have to leave to go breath and think of ponies. I have thrown up on multiple occasions from seeing people bite on their fingers near the nails, and from one horrifying occasion, catching a little boy chewing his toenails. (I'm having a hard time typing this because even thinking about it makes me ill.) There was an episode of Kenny vs. Spenny where one of them had to bite a toenail off the other - I didn't see it coming, and I ran away in near tears to cover my ears and do crazy deep breathing and think of magical ponies. For the record, I'm fine with dissections and gory movies and crime scene photos - just not nails.
I am terrified of falling forwards. I don't jump off anything, small or big, and I won't step up on anything that even has a chance of being slippery or rickety. I have this horrifying vision of smashing my teeth on something, and I'm sure this came from a video of someone being curb-stomped on Newgrounds. I even have nightmares of my teeth being smashed inwards.
I am terrified of falling forwards. I don't jump off anything, small or big, and I won't step up on anything that even has a chance of being slippery or rickety. I have this horrifying vision of smashing my teeth on something, and I'm sure this came from a video of someone being curb-stomped on Newgrounds. I even have nightmares of my teeth being smashed inwards.
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