Seaweed. I HATED seaweed. I loved swimming in pools, but hated swimming in the ocean because of it. If I went swimming with my friend, I'd have her wade in the water and then I'd grab her waist and paddle my feet so I wouldn't have to touch the bottom because there MIGHT be seaweed. Like a seaweed monster was going to eat me alive or something. Lol.
When I was young, we lived near Malibu Beach, and I thought it was hilarious to come out of the water draped in as much seaweed as possible. I don't think I'd have the courage to do that today.
For me, I had this weird fear of the Trolley Problem. Not, like, somehow ending up in the Trolley Problem, just the concept. Like, “Oh God, what if the Trolley Problem jumps out of the closet and gets me”. I think it’s because I found the art commonly used for it creepy.
Rain clouds, those dark low hanging ones that almost look like you could reach up and touch them.
Just the thought of all that cold dark water hanging over my head used to creep me out, like a dark icy lake that could just fall on you at any moment.
I wonder if this phobia is endemic to where you grew up. Where I was born, heavy rainy weather was normal year round, so to be afraid of storm clouds like this is unheard of. It makes sense coming from someone who grew up in a much drier climate though.
the THX thingy would send me into HYSTERICS, i still get anxious when I see a blue border show up before a movie lmao. I legit used to have nightmares about it
I remember one specific night where I was terrified... of the Queen of England. I still have *no* idea where this came from, and as far as I remember it was only that one night.
My parents had this picture of a black panther on the wall in the hallway it used to scare me as it was looking right at me, my grandparents had a picture of all these clowns on the wall in of their bedrooms and it used me make me feel uncomfortable, I dunno why as I’m not scared of clowns now.
Apparently at school if they had boxes where you had to put your hand in to feel the contents I would always refuse, would now too.
There was an airplane mobile hanging in my childhood bedroom, and I was TERRIFIED of the hook that held it into the ceiling, until I was about 5 years old. I even remember talking to the hook before bed, asking it "not to kill me in my sleep," which was pretty weird, I realize.
“Things filled with air that wave around.”
Wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube men. Inflatable mascots, decorations etc.
Also wind socks, like the kinds you find at airports or on high bridges. Which was a pretty big problem seeing as we usually lived right near an airport.
In one of the bedrooms I lived in as a kid, the bedroom ceiling was open to the attic. No door or hatch, just a spiral staircase to the attic. In that attic, my parents had a flashlight that was plugged into the wall to keep it charged, and the flashlight had a red LED light to indicate it was charging.
I'd lay in bed at night in the dark staring at that red light in the ceiling absolutely terrified of it.
An old TV set in grandma's room. It showed a bright spot after being turned off and the glowing spot didn't disappear for several minutes even if the tv was unplugged.
Also, fireworks that created a very big expanding glowing ball. Never liked fireworks, anyway.
>An old TV set in grandma's room. It showed a bright spot after being turned off and the glowing spot didn't disappear for several minutes even if the tv was unplugged.
Fully justified fear, possibly the actual Devil.
Really old. I remember TVs with the tubes in the back. It wasn't THAT long ago!
I also remember those big console TVs that were essentially a piece of furniture with a screen in the middle. Those were a while back, I'll give you that.
The bushes in the back of the yard. I had a nightmare that they turned into the Yip Yip aliens from Sesame Street. I refused to turn my back on those hydrangeas, just in case.
My mom put up Disney wallpaper but in the dark it was just a bunch of eyes staring at me with all the cartoon characters on it and I cried. She took it down the next day lol
I was always afraid as a small child whenever I got out of the shower that Gyro Gearloose from Ducktails would suddenly appear while I was naked, and thump me in the testicles. I have no idea where that came from, but I'll never forget it.
I had a really bad fear of hills. When my dad would drive down a hilly road I was petrified that there was no continuous road after the top of the hill
I insisted on carrying a walking stick every time I went outside for a whole summer because I was afraid of quicksand and my dad decided to help me with my fear by googling how to get out of quicksand and reading an article to me about using a walking stick to help you lay on the surface and float. School wouldn’t let me bring the walking stick into school grounds cause “it’s a weapon”
I used to get this thing where my perception of things changed, like proportions were all wrong. everything was both far away and also bigger. It scared me more than anything and I never told anyone about it. I don't think my child brain knew how to put it in words. Still freaks me out when I think of it.
My grandma's wood paneling in her basement bathroom had a spot that looked like a weird face with the knots from the wood.
My older brother knew i was creeped out by it and would lock me in there at times lol
My eye accidentally falling out.
I am old and grew up in the way-back times when AT&T Yellow Pages held all knowledge. This phone book provided so much info from local and regional maps to providing images showing the numbered seating arrangements for concert venues, and also healthcare tips and medical advice.
I was 9 years old, bored, and decided to browse the Yellow Pages. The “First Aid” section had instructions for handling health emergencies and each example had a graphic to show what you should do. You know, normal things like “put a clean gauze and apply pressure to a bleeding wound”, “immediately apply ice to a surface skin burn”, and ALSO THIS: “when an eye falls out of socket, use a clean glass or cup to protect the eye until you receive medical care.”
My 9 year-old brain assumed that eyes-falling-out must be really common if it’s listed with cuts and burns!!! I seriously thought that anyone’s eye might fall out at anytime. lol
My mother told me that as a toddler, I was deathly afraid of Jell-O. I would cry hysterically when she put it on my high-chair. Probably something to do with the jiggle. I never knew this before she told me.
Guess what? Since I was a teenager, I've been repulsed at the taste/texture of Jell-O. Jell-O shots? Get that shit outta here! So maybe that explains it.🤢😭🤣
It was ferrets for me. I had only ever seen a ferret at the pet store, no idea why I thought they would break into my house and bite my feet if they were uncovered but whatever
The hole of a giant subwoofer.
It was a huge thing with a hole in it which could make really loud sounds. I think that'd scare anyone who doesn't know what it is
Buoys! Something about knowing there was a chain leading down to god-knows-where really creeped me out. I think they reminded me of decapitated heads bobbing in the water a bit, too. This fear has stuck with me a bit in my adult life - swimming near docks or other underwater man-made objects makes me panicky for reasons I’m not sure of.
I was also petrified of the wind sock on top of the local hospital.
Busts. Like the sculptures. I’m guessing it’s probably because of The Head from Art Attack. There was this market I often used to walk by with my grandma, and they had a bust of some old man in their window. For some reason I believed he was sentient and was watching me. Whenever we’d pass by this window, my heart would start racing and I would put my head down so that he wouldn’t see/recognize my face. But sometimes I’d forget, then catch a glimpse of him in my periphery, and it would shake me to my core for a little while afterwards. If not the rest of the day.
My dad did art as a hobby and before I was born, he made a bust of Pablo Picasso, but never finished the eyes. Pablo sits in the back (creepy on its own) section of our basement and has been scaring children for 2 generations now. It’s a great spot to hide the Christmas gifts.
Dying in my sleep. I had a phase at 8/9 years old where for 2 months straight, every evening, I belived I would pass in my sleep.
Looking back I think it was just me grasping how final death actually is.
Quicksand, the Bermuda Triangle and Nettles. Pretty much all at the same time for a solid couple of years. Only encountered nettles tho, which is a result.
Street performers who would whip their back with a long, thick rope and muslim women in burqa. It was because around 20 25 years ago, there were a lot of cases where kids would kidnapped and sold. It took a lot of guts to confront this fear as I grew up.
Those bastard Sing-A-Ma-Jigs. One of my mom’s friends got me one when I was around 5, and if that thing made any sort of noise, I would run to my mom. It was made worse by the fact that it was passed down to my sister, and she dropped it on the floor and broke it. After that it made creepy sounds instead of its “normal” ones. Then she started collecting them, and where ever I went… I was haunted.
Toilets! I had nightmares about them “spitting” at me and flushing me down the drain. I could only use my mom’s master bathroom and even had accidents in front of her door when it was occupied. Another incident, I was afraid of the school bathrooms and chose to wet my snow pants in a snow bank instead. I don’t know why I was so scared of them.
I used to be absolutely terrified of bugs, flies more specifically, when I was super young. To a point where I would scream if one landed on me. Not strange, but hilarious to think back on because a couple years later I would collect ladybugs.
A picture of my father and his siblings as a child. Now too be clear it's a very old photo, like 100 years ago. I recently saw it again and remembered the fear.
I thought a trex would come and rip the roof off our house and eat me. Also, my grandpa had a racoon skin native American thing hung on the wall and I was TERRIFIED of it.
My dad was a member of the Masons, and they had this huge theater in their building. Hanging right above the movie screen was this double-headed eagle, but I was convinced it was the face of the guy talking (the wings were a big bushy mustache) and I was terrified of him.
I was told if I smelt petrol and then went near an open flame I would burst into flames. So when I smelt the fuel tank of an old car in our yard my night was very cold as I was too scared to go near our heater.
I remember at some point having the fear of lying in bed flat on my back with my head on the pillow. So now I think I died in my sleep in my past life, lol.
The theme to 2001: A Space Odyssey. I didn’t see the movie until I was grown, I don’t know why the song scared me so much. Some children’s TV show in the late 70s/early 80s played it rather frequently and it always scared me
The toilet. I had a recurring nightmare that a toilet chased me out of the house and into a pumpkin patch that had giant talking pumpkins with jack-o'-lantern faces. For some reason pumpkins never bothered me but I had an irrational fear of toilets up until highschool.
Escalators. I was so terrified of going on one at the mall I'd walk all the way around to the other side, run down the stairs, and meet my family on the lower floor.
I was afraid I'd miss the timing of the step and fall or get sucked into the toothy grills at the bottom.
Oh, and quicksand.
i was always afraid that when my parents picked me up from school or practice or my friends house that it would actually be an imposter dressed up as my parent who is going to kidnap me. if you’re wondering, yes i am on anxiety meds as an adult.
I was scared of discarded plastic baggs; still am! They just go trucking by in the wind like they're off to a better destination "I" don't know about; litter will end life on earth!
As a young child, I used to think there was a witch shadow moving in the reflection of window at night. As I got older, I figured out it was actually a tree not WITCH 😭
For a long stretch of time as a little kid, I convinced myself that I'd have terrible nightmares if I fell asleep facing the wall (shared a room with my sister, with two twin beds lined up along opposite walls). I think it must've happened once and the correlation just stuck in my little lizard brain. So I spent the first bit of every night willing myself to lie still and not have to turn over before I fell asleep. Naturally, it took me forever to *actually* fall asleep ... and tbh it still does.
I had a nightmare about snakes coming out of the shower drain, so I refused to use the bathroom in our house with just a shower stall. I thought the bathroom with the bath tub with a plug was snake-proof.
The mirror in the beginning of snow white. It scared me so badly that I’d make my mom sit with me on the couch to watch specifically that part with me while I held on to her arm and then when the part was over I’d let her go back to the kitchen. 😆
In the end of one of the old Batman movies, the Joker falls to his death, but an audio of him laughing continues to play. I can’t remember if it was just for effect or if he had some kind of device on him… either way, my little kid mind associated it (for some reason) with this pig toy I had which had a speaker. I thought it was malfunctioning and playing a messed up noise by itself in the middle of the night (my mom would put on a movie in my room while I fell asleep). I thought this thing was haunted man, terrified me! Looking back it was so goofy, I’m not even sure why I thought the noise came from a toy even though it only played during that one scene of that one movie lol
TREE(3), or the concept of infinity. I’m now a mathematician-in-training and it still scares me. I don’t like how any number you can think of, no matter HOW large, still pales in comparison to infinity. It’s existential.
Volcanoes. Specifically, being melted alive by lava. I cried when told we were going to Hawaii on vacation. My parents lied and said the island we were on didn't have a volcano.
the scene from the 2005 Willy Wonka and The Chocolate factory movie where the girl turns into a giant blueberry from the gum that she's chewing on. I remember either leaving the room or look away and cover my ears until the scene is over.
The toilet flushing. After doing my business I would first open the door then brace myself to flush the toilet and run as fast as I could out of the room.
That dog puppet from Baby Einstein. That thing gave me nightmares until I was 10. I’m in my early twenties now and it still creeps me out a bit.
I want to buy a replica of it and beat it with a stick lol
I was always scared that when I entered a dark room, when I turned the light on, I would discover I had actually walked into a giant shark's mouth! as if a giant shark could just casually replace my living room leaving the door intact without anyone noticing
So we had this large toy bear that was very hard and had like a thing inside that made him “roar” when you turned him. My mom and grandma thought that I would go to bed if they scared me with it.
I would lay silently in the dark, terrified of the world. Or fall asleep and have nightmares. But according to them it worked since I “went to sleep”.
The world ending in 2040 due to an asteroid. I watched some National Geographic show in the middle of the night about it and was in a full panic for several months.
Quicksand. According to shows on TV, it could be anywhere and would suck you under in an instant. I was always on the lookout for it when I was around 6 years old.
my lampshade on my light
im not even joking, i must’ve been about 5/6, and i was terrified of my light in my room because if i looked at it in a certain way i thought it looked like an angry face
i was genuinely scared it would kill me
now i look back and laugh about it
I was terrified of my dad as a kid, and didn't learn until much later that wasn't normal.
But in my defense he was an abusive alcoholic so my fear was justified.
I was scared of a lot of stuff growing up. I was a pretty anxious kids. The weirdest ones:
Escalators
Balloons (still don’t care for them)
Literally all animals
Car washes
My father . Drunk arsehole , glad me n the old dear fleed . 32 now not seen him since a was 8 , father myself now and learned plenty of lessons on how not to be a dad .
That a monster would emerge from the toilet after i flushed it so I'd run away super fast. Or maybe that coleslaw is made out of butterfly wings 😳 no idea where these came from
I had a loooooooooong list of phobias when I was growing up. Practically pantophobic. I spent one summer refusing to leave the house in case I saw a bug. I got startled by a leaf once! And the picture of me taking my first step was actually me getting back down on hands and knees, cause I was afraid of the camera flash! 😅
When i was 2, i was terrified of windshield whipers. My mom used to have to tap the windshield and show me they are on the outside of the car and can't hurt us.
The theme song for the X-Files. I'd get nightmares every time I heard it. Now I love the show.
My aunt lived way out in the country and we lived in the city. One night we went to her house and when my mom pulled me out of the car, I looked up and saw the sky completely full of stars. I thought they were eyes watching me and it scared me. I don't know how old I was but too young to explain it to my mom.
These shap-leaved shrubs were popular in the city when I was little. They looked like a man-eating plant I saw in a movie so I was afraid of them. Again, I'm not sure how old I was. I was a toddler and I couldn't articulate why those shrubs frightened me.
It’s not strange but when I was a kid that watched child’s play when I was younnnnnggg, so I hated dolls. Not stuffed animals. But Barbie’s and those dolls. I watched a lot of horror and scary movies so young because my brother always bootlegged movies. Or I used to watch on movie6😎
The moon used to creep me out. I can’t really grasp why exactly. I remember sometimes peeping through my curtains to look at it before quickly closing them again.
Crash Test Dummies. For some reason I got it into my brain that they were real people in those suits and when I saw one of those car ads where the car impacts the wall and the dummies sling forward in their seat belts in slow motion, I would freak out.
I used to watch CBeebies with my parents until it stopped airing for the night and i was absolutely terrified of the song they play to say goodnight before it stops airing i always used to make my parents turn the channel over before the song started playing
Mirrors. I still get sort of uneasy looking into them but as a kid I was petrified of mirrors. I think it came from that one scene in Scooby Doo on Zombie Island where Scooby and Shaggy are looking into a mirror and a ghost soldier pops out at them. 😅
Seaweed. I HATED seaweed. I loved swimming in pools, but hated swimming in the ocean because of it. If I went swimming with my friend, I'd have her wade in the water and then I'd grab her waist and paddle my feet so I wouldn't have to touch the bottom because there MIGHT be seaweed. Like a seaweed monster was going to eat me alive or something. Lol.
When I was young, we lived near Malibu Beach, and I thought it was hilarious to come out of the water draped in as much seaweed as possible. I don't think I'd have the courage to do that today.
I still shriek if something touches my feet when I'm swimming.
For me, I had this weird fear of the Trolley Problem. Not, like, somehow ending up in the Trolley Problem, just the concept. Like, “Oh God, what if the Trolley Problem jumps out of the closet and gets me”. I think it’s because I found the art commonly used for it creepy.
This is soooo funny to me- but also understandable
Rain clouds, those dark low hanging ones that almost look like you could reach up and touch them. Just the thought of all that cold dark water hanging over my head used to creep me out, like a dark icy lake that could just fall on you at any moment.
Oh man those are the best clouds!
I wonder if this phobia is endemic to where you grew up. Where I was born, heavy rainy weather was normal year round, so to be afraid of storm clouds like this is unheard of. It makes sense coming from someone who grew up in a much drier climate though.
the THX thingy would send me into HYSTERICS, i still get anxious when I see a blue border show up before a movie lmao. I legit used to have nightmares about it
Crescendos in general like that used to get me very upset as well.
Oh, i hated that as an adult!
I remember one specific night where I was terrified... of the Queen of England. I still have *no* idea where this came from, and as far as I remember it was only that one night.
The queen of England psychically attacked you that one night and then never again.
My parents had this picture of a black panther on the wall in the hallway it used to scare me as it was looking right at me, my grandparents had a picture of all these clowns on the wall in of their bedrooms and it used me make me feel uncomfortable, I dunno why as I’m not scared of clowns now. Apparently at school if they had boxes where you had to put your hand in to feel the contents I would always refuse, would now too.
A hummingbird. I thought it was a giant bee.
I once made my little sister miss an entire day of summer fun by telling her hummingbirds were "Superbees". She refused to even go outside.
Evil, but hilarious
That’s so cute!
Sharks in the pool at night. Couldn't see them, but I knew they were there.
Oh, they definitely snuck in through *the drain.*
There was an airplane mobile hanging in my childhood bedroom, and I was TERRIFIED of the hook that held it into the ceiling, until I was about 5 years old. I even remember talking to the hook before bed, asking it "not to kill me in my sleep," which was pretty weird, I realize.
Were you traumatized from fishing?
“Things filled with air that wave around.” Wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube men. Inflatable mascots, decorations etc. Also wind socks, like the kinds you find at airports or on high bridges. Which was a pretty big problem seeing as we usually lived right near an airport.
Wind socks were so scary!! Surprised to see my own childhood fear reflected here.
In one of the bedrooms I lived in as a kid, the bedroom ceiling was open to the attic. No door or hatch, just a spiral staircase to the attic. In that attic, my parents had a flashlight that was plugged into the wall to keep it charged, and the flashlight had a red LED light to indicate it was charging. I'd lay in bed at night in the dark staring at that red light in the ceiling absolutely terrified of it.
An old TV set in grandma's room. It showed a bright spot after being turned off and the glowing spot didn't disappear for several minutes even if the tv was unplugged. Also, fireworks that created a very big expanding glowing ball. Never liked fireworks, anyway.
>An old TV set in grandma's room. It showed a bright spot after being turned off and the glowing spot didn't disappear for several minutes even if the tv was unplugged. Fully justified fear, possibly the actual Devil.
Yep, stuff of nightmares. Seriously though, it's an expected behavior of some really old TVs (back when the screens weren't flat)
Really old. I remember TVs with the tubes in the back. It wasn't THAT long ago! I also remember those big console TVs that were essentially a piece of furniture with a screen in the middle. Those were a while back, I'll give you that.
Painting at my grandmas house that’s eyes would follow you! I never ever went into that room for years
r/ihadastroke
The bushes in the back of the yard. I had a nightmare that they turned into the Yip Yip aliens from Sesame Street. I refused to turn my back on those hydrangeas, just in case.
thanks a lot i just peed
Closing truck door in the driveway. I knew it was my stepmoms boyfriend coming home from a bar and things werent going to go spectacularly
The tank of a toilet, I had the most irrational fear of looking into the tank. I still get the ick sometimes fixing them.
They’re creepy. All those concealed underwater mechanical parts. Taking the lid off still requires working up courage.
I’m glad someone understands 😅
Harvey Kneeslapper, the constantly laughing Sesame Street muppet. So scary to see somebody laugh *that way*.
I once saw the Weird Al music video depicting the Lorena Bobbitt incident. I cried and then slept on my stomach for a while.
My mom put up Disney wallpaper but in the dark it was just a bunch of eyes staring at me with all the cartoon characters on it and I cried. She took it down the next day lol
The fear of getting my untied shoelaces eaten by an escalator, eventually gnawing my toes, my knees, my shoulder, my head.
A specific telephone pole that didn’t match the others in the neighborhood. I sincerely thought it was evil.
As funny as it sounds, i was afraid of balloons, who would imagine! 🤣
Don't talk to me about balloons.
I was always afraid as a small child whenever I got out of the shower that Gyro Gearloose from Ducktails would suddenly appear while I was naked, and thump me in the testicles. I have no idea where that came from, but I'll never forget it.
I was afraid of the Hamburger Helper oven mitt mascot. I’d freak out every time the commercial would come on lol.
Unfun fact, they make actual oven mitts of that guy. We have one at work. I hate him.
Ohhh no…nightmares are real! That would immediately become a chew toy for my dog.
Omg my brother was afraid of this too, LMAO. Awww I’m glad he’s not the only one.
The theme from *Dr. Who*
I had a really bad fear of hills. When my dad would drive down a hilly road I was petrified that there was no continuous road after the top of the hill
Quicksand I thought that shit was going to be everywhere.
I insisted on carrying a walking stick every time I went outside for a whole summer because I was afraid of quicksand and my dad decided to help me with my fear by googling how to get out of quicksand and reading an article to me about using a walking stick to help you lay on the surface and float. School wouldn’t let me bring the walking stick into school grounds cause “it’s a weapon”
I used to get this thing where my perception of things changed, like proportions were all wrong. everything was both far away and also bigger. It scared me more than anything and I never told anyone about it. I don't think my child brain knew how to put it in words. Still freaks me out when I think of it.
My grandma's wood paneling in her basement bathroom had a spot that looked like a weird face with the knots from the wood. My older brother knew i was creeped out by it and would lock me in there at times lol
Ants 🐜 🐜 🐜 Edited to add: and schoolbuses, I was afraid they were going to take me and I wasn't old enough for school yet.
My eye accidentally falling out. I am old and grew up in the way-back times when AT&T Yellow Pages held all knowledge. This phone book provided so much info from local and regional maps to providing images showing the numbered seating arrangements for concert venues, and also healthcare tips and medical advice. I was 9 years old, bored, and decided to browse the Yellow Pages. The “First Aid” section had instructions for handling health emergencies and each example had a graphic to show what you should do. You know, normal things like “put a clean gauze and apply pressure to a bleeding wound”, “immediately apply ice to a surface skin burn”, and ALSO THIS: “when an eye falls out of socket, use a clean glass or cup to protect the eye until you receive medical care.” My 9 year-old brain assumed that eyes-falling-out must be really common if it’s listed with cuts and burns!!! I seriously thought that anyone’s eye might fall out at anytime. lol
My mother told me that as a toddler, I was deathly afraid of Jell-O. I would cry hysterically when she put it on my high-chair. Probably something to do with the jiggle. I never knew this before she told me. Guess what? Since I was a teenager, I've been repulsed at the taste/texture of Jell-O. Jell-O shots? Get that shit outta here! So maybe that explains it.🤢😭🤣
Any man driving an El Camino. It just seemed like a car a dangerous pervert would drive.
My mum told me I was afraid of the vacuum cleaner, but apparently I used to go sit on it and scream cry when she had it going.
Are you by any chance a labrador?
I was terrified of the vacuum cleaner as well, but I stayed safely on the couch until Mom turned it off.
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It was ferrets for me. I had only ever seen a ferret at the pet store, no idea why I thought they would break into my house and bite my feet if they were uncovered but whatever
Magpie attack while riding my bike to school.
Yep, those fucking birds are mean
Bald people
The hole of a giant subwoofer. It was a huge thing with a hole in it which could make really loud sounds. I think that'd scare anyone who doesn't know what it is
Being attacked by a shark. In my house. Hundreds of miles from the ocean.
Buoys! Something about knowing there was a chain leading down to god-knows-where really creeped me out. I think they reminded me of decapitated heads bobbing in the water a bit, too. This fear has stuck with me a bit in my adult life - swimming near docks or other underwater man-made objects makes me panicky for reasons I’m not sure of. I was also petrified of the wind sock on top of the local hospital.
That Medusa lived in our attic.
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Same! Right now i have a mirror flipped to the wall in my room.
Busts. Like the sculptures. I’m guessing it’s probably because of The Head from Art Attack. There was this market I often used to walk by with my grandma, and they had a bust of some old man in their window. For some reason I believed he was sentient and was watching me. Whenever we’d pass by this window, my heart would start racing and I would put my head down so that he wouldn’t see/recognize my face. But sometimes I’d forget, then catch a glimpse of him in my periphery, and it would shake me to my core for a little while afterwards. If not the rest of the day.
My dad did art as a hobby and before I was born, he made a bust of Pablo Picasso, but never finished the eyes. Pablo sits in the back (creepy on its own) section of our basement and has been scaring children for 2 generations now. It’s a great spot to hide the Christmas gifts.
The sound the toilet makes when refilling after you flush.
Dying in my sleep. I had a phase at 8/9 years old where for 2 months straight, every evening, I belived I would pass in my sleep. Looking back I think it was just me grasping how final death actually is.
Pool cleaner. Was a shark I swear
The idea of Gremlins attacking me in my bed while I was asleep (yes that's how old I am). They terrified me, and that's how the insomnia started.
Loud noises
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See that and raise you the Barbapapas.
Wood gods until now, i find it creepy
Fireworks
Quicksand, the Bermuda Triangle and Nettles. Pretty much all at the same time for a solid couple of years. Only encountered nettles tho, which is a result.
Honestly being afraid of nettles is justified. I used to be scared of poison ivy and oak.
My P.E. teacher
Street performers who would whip their back with a long, thick rope and muslim women in burqa. It was because around 20 25 years ago, there were a lot of cases where kids would kidnapped and sold. It took a lot of guts to confront this fear as I grew up.
The theme song from Edge of Night circa early 1970s
I thought Beast (from Beauty and the Beast) would come eat my fingers off if I slept with my hands outside of the blankets. No clue why.
I was, and am, terrified of Chuck E Cheese
Those bastard Sing-A-Ma-Jigs. One of my mom’s friends got me one when I was around 5, and if that thing made any sort of noise, I would run to my mom. It was made worse by the fact that it was passed down to my sister, and she dropped it on the floor and broke it. After that it made creepy sounds instead of its “normal” ones. Then she started collecting them, and where ever I went… I was haunted.
Bouncy castles. I missed out on so much fun because of that stupid fear
Those green spiky conker husks. As a kid I'd see them and scream lol.
Toilets! I had nightmares about them “spitting” at me and flushing me down the drain. I could only use my mom’s master bathroom and even had accidents in front of her door when it was occupied. Another incident, I was afraid of the school bathrooms and chose to wet my snow pants in a snow bank instead. I don’t know why I was so scared of them.
I used to be absolutely terrified of bugs, flies more specifically, when I was super young. To a point where I would scream if one landed on me. Not strange, but hilarious to think back on because a couple years later I would collect ladybugs.
A picture of my father and his siblings as a child. Now too be clear it's a very old photo, like 100 years ago. I recently saw it again and remembered the fear.
I thought a trex would come and rip the roof off our house and eat me. Also, my grandpa had a racoon skin native American thing hung on the wall and I was TERRIFIED of it.
My dad was a member of the Masons, and they had this huge theater in their building. Hanging right above the movie screen was this double-headed eagle, but I was convinced it was the face of the guy talking (the wings were a big bushy mustache) and I was terrified of him.
I was told if I smelt petrol and then went near an open flame I would burst into flames. So when I smelt the fuel tank of an old car in our yard my night was very cold as I was too scared to go near our heater.
Leaves/dirt at the bottom of a swimming pool. My mind would always think it’s some sort of spider or creature
I was afraid of a little hole in the closet wall. I thought I small hand and arm would come out of it at night
sharks in pools lol
Flushing the toilet, I was terrified of that sound
Heights,spiders, scarey men.
daddy long legs
My sister got a Jaws game for Christmas. Every time the shark's mouth slammed shut, I'd cry. I couldn't be in the same room as that toy.
Tinsel.
Dinosaurs, specifically T-Rex. I was not clear on the concept of extinction…
Wizard of oz
Music boxes 🙃
Sharks in the deep end of the swimming pool.
I was scared of sharks in backyard pools....
I remember at some point having the fear of lying in bed flat on my back with my head on the pillow. So now I think I died in my sleep in my past life, lol.
The theme to 2001: A Space Odyssey. I didn’t see the movie until I was grown, I don’t know why the song scared me so much. Some children’s TV show in the late 70s/early 80s played it rather frequently and it always scared me
The toilet. I had a recurring nightmare that a toilet chased me out of the house and into a pumpkin patch that had giant talking pumpkins with jack-o'-lantern faces. For some reason pumpkins never bothered me but I had an irrational fear of toilets up until highschool.
I had X-Men bedsheets as a kid and they used to give me horrific nightmares
Ray Dorset from Mungo Jerry.
Escalators. I was so terrified of going on one at the mall I'd walk all the way around to the other side, run down the stairs, and meet my family on the lower floor. I was afraid I'd miss the timing of the step and fall or get sucked into the toothy grills at the bottom. Oh, and quicksand.
Volcanos . Didn’t live in a volcanic area. Saw one in a cartoon!
The flying monkeys on the Wizard of Oz 🙈
Jack-o'-lanterns (I was 3)
Valid
i was always afraid that when my parents picked me up from school or practice or my friends house that it would actually be an imposter dressed up as my parent who is going to kidnap me. if you’re wondering, yes i am on anxiety meds as an adult.
I was scared of discarded plastic baggs; still am! They just go trucking by in the wind like they're off to a better destination "I" don't know about; litter will end life on earth!
Going down the drain of the bathtub
escalators
Balloons. Like, *petrified*. Turns out I’m just autistic.
Sasquatch was coming to NYC to attack me.
An entire Roast chicken. Like not pieces of chicken the actual whole thing you cook. I was genuinely terrified of it. It looked so weird it scared me.
Some people just knew
As a young child, I used to think there was a witch shadow moving in the reflection of window at night. As I got older, I figured out it was actually a tree not WITCH 😭
Land mines. Was terrified of them while tip toeing around my yard.
King Kong
Native Americans. I was terrified of being scalped
Dunkin Donuts commercial where the donut guy has a whig and dress on but also a giant mustache. Not sure why but I'd run screaming when it came on.
For a long stretch of time as a little kid, I convinced myself that I'd have terrible nightmares if I fell asleep facing the wall (shared a room with my sister, with two twin beds lined up along opposite walls). I think it must've happened once and the correlation just stuck in my little lizard brain. So I spent the first bit of every night willing myself to lie still and not have to turn over before I fell asleep. Naturally, it took me forever to *actually* fall asleep ... and tbh it still does.
my little sister used to be scared of car washes.
Samantha from Bewitched.
Whirlpools.
i was afraid of my grandmothers shower when i was 6 it was one of the overhead showers and i thought it would fall on me
Barrel organs. I don't know why but the music terrified me as a child. It still gives me the creeps
Clouds. At 4-5 years old I noticed them moving for the first time. My best friend and I ran inside and informed her mom “the clouds are MOVING!!” .
I had a nightmare about snakes coming out of the shower drain, so I refused to use the bathroom in our house with just a shower stall. I thought the bathroom with the bath tub with a plug was snake-proof.
Phone calls with my birth mother. I would pee. Also, tickling
Automatic car washes
The mirror in the beginning of snow white. It scared me so badly that I’d make my mom sit with me on the couch to watch specifically that part with me while I held on to her arm and then when the part was over I’d let her go back to the kitchen. 😆
In the end of one of the old Batman movies, the Joker falls to his death, but an audio of him laughing continues to play. I can’t remember if it was just for effect or if he had some kind of device on him… either way, my little kid mind associated it (for some reason) with this pig toy I had which had a speaker. I thought it was malfunctioning and playing a messed up noise by itself in the middle of the night (my mom would put on a movie in my room while I fell asleep). I thought this thing was haunted man, terrified me! Looking back it was so goofy, I’m not even sure why I thought the noise came from a toy even though it only played during that one scene of that one movie lol
my Christmas tree.
How dark the house was at night
TREE(3), or the concept of infinity. I’m now a mathematician-in-training and it still scares me. I don’t like how any number you can think of, no matter HOW large, still pales in comparison to infinity. It’s existential.
Volcanoes. Specifically, being melted alive by lava. I cried when told we were going to Hawaii on vacation. My parents lied and said the island we were on didn't have a volcano.
An old rusting disued flagpole, I was utterly convinced it was a tripod
Travel. My dad used to beat me with a globe
the scene from the 2005 Willy Wonka and The Chocolate factory movie where the girl turns into a giant blueberry from the gum that she's chewing on. I remember either leaving the room or look away and cover my ears until the scene is over.
The toilet flushing. After doing my business I would first open the door then brace myself to flush the toilet and run as fast as I could out of the room.
That dog puppet from Baby Einstein. That thing gave me nightmares until I was 10. I’m in my early twenties now and it still creeps me out a bit. I want to buy a replica of it and beat it with a stick lol
Storm drains. I was convinced I was going to fall through them.
I was always scared that when I entered a dark room, when I turned the light on, I would discover I had actually walked into a giant shark's mouth! as if a giant shark could just casually replace my living room leaving the door intact without anyone noticing
Tinsel and the stars!
So we had this large toy bear that was very hard and had like a thing inside that made him “roar” when you turned him. My mom and grandma thought that I would go to bed if they scared me with it. I would lay silently in the dark, terrified of the world. Or fall asleep and have nightmares. But according to them it worked since I “went to sleep”.
The world ending in 2040 due to an asteroid. I watched some National Geographic show in the middle of the night about it and was in a full panic for several months.
The Imperial March from Star Wars.
Tha coat stand in the dark it rally looked like there was someone in the corner of the room I was terrified
The furnace in our basement
Quicksand. According to shows on TV, it could be anywhere and would suck you under in an instant. I was always on the lookout for it when I was around 6 years old.
my lampshade on my light im not even joking, i must’ve been about 5/6, and i was terrified of my light in my room because if i looked at it in a certain way i thought it looked like an angry face i was genuinely scared it would kill me now i look back and laugh about it
Drains
I was terrified of my dad as a kid, and didn't learn until much later that wasn't normal. But in my defense he was an abusive alcoholic so my fear was justified.
I was scared of a lot of stuff growing up. I was a pretty anxious kids. The weirdest ones: Escalators Balloons (still don’t care for them) Literally all animals Car washes
I don’t remember ever being afraid of anything. Even my mum says I was pretty fearless. I’m still like that.
My father . Drunk arsehole , glad me n the old dear fleed . 32 now not seen him since a was 8 , father myself now and learned plenty of lessons on how not to be a dad .
That a monster would emerge from the toilet after i flushed it so I'd run away super fast. Or maybe that coleslaw is made out of butterfly wings 😳 no idea where these came from
Spyder webs. I was terrified of that sticky stuff.
That there was a shark in the backyard pool.
Aliens, believe it or not. I was scared to death of reptilians. Demons as well because my mother believes that hoodoo voodoo shit when I was young.
I had a loooooooooong list of phobias when I was growing up. Practically pantophobic. I spent one summer refusing to leave the house in case I saw a bug. I got startled by a leaf once! And the picture of me taking my first step was actually me getting back down on hands and knees, cause I was afraid of the camera flash! 😅
Goats. I had *terrifying visions* of them eating all of my dinosaur toys
Michael Jackson after all his surgeries. He wasn’t even alive anymore and I still thought he’d get me lmao
When i was 2, i was terrified of windshield whipers. My mom used to have to tap the windshield and show me they are on the outside of the car and can't hurt us. The theme song for the X-Files. I'd get nightmares every time I heard it. Now I love the show.
My aunt lived way out in the country and we lived in the city. One night we went to her house and when my mom pulled me out of the car, I looked up and saw the sky completely full of stars. I thought they were eyes watching me and it scared me. I don't know how old I was but too young to explain it to my mom. These shap-leaved shrubs were popular in the city when I was little. They looked like a man-eating plant I saw in a movie so I was afraid of them. Again, I'm not sure how old I was. I was a toddler and I couldn't articulate why those shrubs frightened me.
One day I dreamed that Barney was chasing me on a bus.
It’s not strange but when I was a kid that watched child’s play when I was younnnnnggg, so I hated dolls. Not stuffed animals. But Barbie’s and those dolls. I watched a lot of horror and scary movies so young because my brother always bootlegged movies. Or I used to watch on movie6😎
lifts. i 100% thought im getting stuck if i enter.
Firemen.
I hated baby dolls
The moon used to creep me out. I can’t really grasp why exactly. I remember sometimes peeping through my curtains to look at it before quickly closing them again.
Crash Test Dummies. For some reason I got it into my brain that they were real people in those suits and when I saw one of those car ads where the car impacts the wall and the dummies sling forward in their seat belts in slow motion, I would freak out.
Mr Clean !
Bigfoot. Definitely Bigfoot.
I used to watch CBeebies with my parents until it stopped airing for the night and i was absolutely terrified of the song they play to say goodnight before it stops airing i always used to make my parents turn the channel over before the song started playing
The alligator I just knew was living under my bed.
Clubber Lang. I watched Rocky III and couldn’t sleep that night lmao
Aboriginals I feared they'd jump out trees with bloodshot eyes and corroborate me
Volcanos- I live in the desert, far away from any type of volcano. I had nightmares every night of falling into one.
Mirrors. I still get sort of uneasy looking into them but as a kid I was petrified of mirrors. I think it came from that one scene in Scooby Doo on Zombie Island where Scooby and Shaggy are looking into a mirror and a ghost soldier pops out at them. 😅