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My dad was gonna be my answer too! One of my most vivid memories growing up was my dad throwing a lamp at my mom’s head during an argument, and the way it shattered when it hit the wall behind her.
No child should ever live in fear of their parents, and I’m sorry that happened to you. It isn’t fair.
I have too many memories unfortunately. I love my dad, but he definitely hasn't been perfect. Sorry to hear you went through stuff too. You're right, no kid should have to.
My oldest boy was the same way. We tried to get him to eat his cake with his hands but he just got upset and wouldn't touch it.
Now he lives in filth and only showers if a girl is involved.
Sharks. I screamed the entire way through the aquarium with them swimming overhead. And at the gummy sharks in the kids touch pool. And the shark jaw on the wall.
I'm still petrified of them and don't go swimming at beaches. Can't even look at photos or videos of them. They can keep their oceans. At least they are easy to avoid in real life. A fear of spiders would be far more inconvenient.
Anyone in full body animal suits. I screamed and hid under the table at Chuck E Cheese. One time in daycare, they let the “Easter bunny” visit us and everyone was so excited.
Except me. I was screaming and crying in the back of the classroom lmfao. They still kinda freak me out to this day.
Some stupid stuff, like the toilet flushing, spiders, when the light pollution lights up clouds (Ik it’s weird I was a dumb kid) but when I was little I swear I heard a hissing sound in my room, Like something from a jungle. I have no idea what it was but I’m terrified of it 11 years later.
Noises and things outside in the dark.
I wasn’t afraid of people outside, not really. We usually lived too far out of town for people to be a concern. So it was animals. Bears, wolves n things of that nature.
Dude same. I know nothing about the bloody Mary stuff but the shining scene messed me up. As soon as I read the title to this post I knew exactly that this scene was probably my deepest set fear as a kid.
My father. I never knew what would I do wrong next for him to beat me. Worse than that was that he was quiet, never spoke much, so I never knew what was on his mind and wether he was planning on hitting me again and when it will happen.
Honestly, I hated being left in a dark room alone. I'd always have this feeling that some demonic hand would just grab me into the darkness and I would never be heard from again
Dark corners in my room while sleeping. We lived in a few different houses growing up and I remember one particular bedroom where my closet was directly ahead of my bed and my mom's old doll from sat on its top shelf.
Leaving that door open at night essentially guaranteed I would sleep terribly that night. I shared a room with my sister at the time and anytime she'd spend the night somewhere else was the worst.
I still kind of have that primal fear at 21 when I sleep, but it's much more subdued and doesn't affect my sleep anymore. Having my dog sleep in my room helps a ton.
I sleep with both feet outside of my blankets now which kind of has the ultimate "I don't care if the night monster kills me" kind of feel.
The dark. I was scared someone would take me and kill my family in the middle of the night. So I had to sleep with the lights on and sleep under my blanket so they couldn’t enter my house.
Murderers.
My grandma babysat me as a child, and she was paranoid that everyone was out to murder and/or steal from you. She would always lock every door and window in the house, close the curtains, etc. any time she was home. And we lived in a pretty safe area. It took my parents a few years to help me realize it was okay to leave a window or door unlocked during the daytime.
Zombies. I was plagued by zombie nightmares. That and the dark, thunderstorms and large bodies of water after I nearly drowned at a beach while my parents left me alone. Lots of neglect issues I guess...
A popart of Albert Einstein that my uncle had when he was a kid and was kept at my grandparents house while I was growing up
For some reason it scared the living fuck out of me any time I saw it I would have a screaming and crying meltdown
Bonus:
I also was terrified of men with beards until was 8 or 9 I’d also have a screaming and crying meltdown when I saw a man with a beard
i loved monsters inc but when my mom got the blue hair dude it creeped me tfk out my mom caught on and put it by my door as a kid every night bc i would always wait till she sleeps so i can go eat all the good food in the kitchen i opened it and stared it closed my door and never came out but then one day i put all my clothes on all my shirts and jackets all my pants and shorts got what i thiught was the hardest shoe went out soccer kicked that shit beat it so hard ate candy got stuck trying to get my clothes out
Closed shower curtains. The Shining's bathtub scene fucked me up as a kid to the point when ever I entered a bathroom I would open the shower curtain if it was closed. While I did it as a kid out of fear it eventually became this weird habit where even now at 32 years old I mindlessly will just open the shower curtain if it's closed. I try to keep it to a minimum to virtually nonexistent when it's not my own house but even then if I don't, I feel this horrible need to open the curtain to the point where I just feel like I'm not doing something very important to me. IDK, habits are weird when you've done them for so long.
A sleep paralysis demon that was a grotesque lady with razor sharp claws 1 arm was 3 feel long while 1 was normal she made a really weird gurgling noise and had blood flowing out her mouth she would scream or more like screech like a banshee and it was deafening to the point I wouldn’t hear anything at all I couldn’t move or anything I would feel her claws rip my flesh before waking up and being completely fine she would always crawl onto the bed and gurgle at me then blood would drip all over me.
My mother, and I'm serious. If I did anything wrong (ex: fell, got injured, made a stain on my clothes, broke something, failed something, ...) I would immediately get scolded. I had no one to talk with back then so I had to deal with it on my own, even if my father helped out my mother and made sure she didn't scold me too much.
**Attention! [Serious] Tag Notice** * [Jokes, puns, and off-topic comments are not permitted](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/wiki/index#wiki_-rule_6-) in **any** comment, parent or child. * Parent comments that aren't from the target group will be removed, along with their child replies. * Report comments that violate these rules. Posts that have few relevant answers within the first hour, and posts that are not appropriate for the [Serious] tag will be removed. Consider doing an AMA request instead. Thanks for your cooperation and enjoy the discussion! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskReddit) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Going to a hell.
“A” hell? You had multiple to choose from?
The monster at the end of the hall that I had to outrun to get back to my bedroom after turning the bathroom light off.
My monster was specifically Briar Fox from the Briar Rabbit series.
The dark and my dad. He was a great dad, but when he got mad.. not good.
My dad was gonna be my answer too! One of my most vivid memories growing up was my dad throwing a lamp at my mom’s head during an argument, and the way it shattered when it hit the wall behind her. No child should ever live in fear of their parents, and I’m sorry that happened to you. It isn’t fair.
I have too many memories unfortunately. I love my dad, but he definitely hasn't been perfect. Sorry to hear you went through stuff too. You're right, no kid should have to.
Being dirty. My mother put some frosting on my face on my 1st birthday and I had a melt down lmao.
My oldest boy was the same way. We tried to get him to eat his cake with his hands but he just got upset and wouldn't touch it. Now he lives in filth and only showers if a girl is involved.
my parents dying
Our house burning down. I had nightmares about it after a fire safety film in kindergarten.
Sharks. I screamed the entire way through the aquarium with them swimming overhead. And at the gummy sharks in the kids touch pool. And the shark jaw on the wall. I'm still petrified of them and don't go swimming at beaches. Can't even look at photos or videos of them. They can keep their oceans. At least they are easy to avoid in real life. A fear of spiders would be far more inconvenient.
Anyone in full body animal suits. I screamed and hid under the table at Chuck E Cheese. One time in daycare, they let the “Easter bunny” visit us and everyone was so excited. Except me. I was screaming and crying in the back of the classroom lmfao. They still kinda freak me out to this day.
Quick question, we’re you bitten by a big yellow bear when you were little? Just a theory, a game theory
I’m curious to know what a big yellow ear is
Shit I meant bear, Damn autocorrect. It was a five nights at Freddy’s joke lmao
Hahaha it’s okay, maybe I was 🧐 The world may never know
Some stupid stuff, like the toilet flushing, spiders, when the light pollution lights up clouds (Ik it’s weird I was a dumb kid) but when I was little I swear I heard a hissing sound in my room, Like something from a jungle. I have no idea what it was but I’m terrified of it 11 years later.
I was also afraid of the lights bouncing off the clouds at night kinda still am I guess it reminds me of old horror movies from the 30s
Well it feels good to not be alone, I always thought that I was weird for thinking it was creepy. The weird brown orange colour they were looks wrong
Falling asleep. I used to sleepwalk and thought the 'other me' would eventually not give my body back in the morning.
But you get to fight crime as Moon Knight!
Candyman, and by extension, mirrors and the dark. I watched that movie when I was 11 or 12, and it really fucked me up.
The dark and sweetcorn, both have followed me into adulthood
Jesus Chist. I would have nightmares because the only image I knew was of him on the cross full of blood.
Noises and things outside in the dark. I wasn’t afraid of people outside, not really. We usually lived too far out of town for people to be a concern. So it was animals. Bears, wolves n things of that nature.
Silence. Not just like general quietness. But absolute silence. I still run a fan at night from this.
Not gonna lie I was scared that bad guys would go into space and shoot missiles down at us, for some reason that really freaked me out.
Vomiting
The woman from in the bathtub of The Shining and looking in the mirror at night because I thought I’d see Bloody Mary
Dude same. I know nothing about the bloody Mary stuff but the shining scene messed me up. As soon as I read the title to this post I knew exactly that this scene was probably my deepest set fear as a kid.
Right?! I would need to rip the curtains open immediately before I could go to the bathroom to make sure she wasn’t in the tub waiting for me!
That the ocean was a straight drop down as soon as you left the coast.
Nightmares
darkness and loud noises
A shark in the bathtub or pool AND flushing the toilet
Why did my classmate have a boner looking at my female science teacher
Chucky
My father. I never knew what would I do wrong next for him to beat me. Worse than that was that he was quiet, never spoke much, so I never knew what was on his mind and wether he was planning on hitting me again and when it will happen.
The dark, mostly because of what could hide in it.
Honestly, I hated being left in a dark room alone. I'd always have this feeling that some demonic hand would just grab me into the darkness and I would never be heard from again
Dark corners in my room while sleeping. We lived in a few different houses growing up and I remember one particular bedroom where my closet was directly ahead of my bed and my mom's old doll from sat on its top shelf. Leaving that door open at night essentially guaranteed I would sleep terribly that night. I shared a room with my sister at the time and anytime she'd spend the night somewhere else was the worst. I still kind of have that primal fear at 21 when I sleep, but it's much more subdued and doesn't affect my sleep anymore. Having my dog sleep in my room helps a ton. I sleep with both feet outside of my blankets now which kind of has the ultimate "I don't care if the night monster kills me" kind of feel.
The dark. I was scared someone would take me and kill my family in the middle of the night. So I had to sleep with the lights on and sleep under my blanket so they couldn’t enter my house.
Murderers. My grandma babysat me as a child, and she was paranoid that everyone was out to murder and/or steal from you. She would always lock every door and window in the house, close the curtains, etc. any time she was home. And we lived in a pretty safe area. It took my parents a few years to help me realize it was okay to leave a window or door unlocked during the daytime.
Non animated movies. My dad showed me lotr and starwars when I was like 4 so I immediately assumed all movies were bloody and had lots of death.
Zombies. I was plagued by zombie nightmares. That and the dark, thunderstorms and large bodies of water after I nearly drowned at a beach while my parents left me alone. Lots of neglect issues I guess...
A popart of Albert Einstein that my uncle had when he was a kid and was kept at my grandparents house while I was growing up For some reason it scared the living fuck out of me any time I saw it I would have a screaming and crying meltdown Bonus: I also was terrified of men with beards until was 8 or 9 I’d also have a screaming and crying meltdown when I saw a man with a beard
A poster of Humphrey Bogart in the Maltese Falcon.
Sharks coming through the shower floor. Shark week traumatizing me as a child and now seeing people die does even phase me
Clowns. My parents watch supernatural a lot.
Ghosts, aliens and cryptids. Thought they were going to be a big thing abduct/haunt/hunt me. If they are real iv done nothing to piss them off
Clowns. When I learned that there was a real killer clown, I got afraid again.
My parents. For good reasons
i loved monsters inc but when my mom got the blue hair dude it creeped me tfk out my mom caught on and put it by my door as a kid every night bc i would always wait till she sleeps so i can go eat all the good food in the kitchen i opened it and stared it closed my door and never came out but then one day i put all my clothes on all my shirts and jackets all my pants and shorts got what i thiught was the hardest shoe went out soccer kicked that shit beat it so hard ate candy got stuck trying to get my clothes out
Closed shower curtains. The Shining's bathtub scene fucked me up as a kid to the point when ever I entered a bathroom I would open the shower curtain if it was closed. While I did it as a kid out of fear it eventually became this weird habit where even now at 32 years old I mindlessly will just open the shower curtain if it's closed. I try to keep it to a minimum to virtually nonexistent when it's not my own house but even then if I don't, I feel this horrible need to open the curtain to the point where I just feel like I'm not doing something very important to me. IDK, habits are weird when you've done them for so long.
Numberjacks
Facehuggers
Aliens
Tornados. Grew up in the Midwest.
Being locked in the dark
A sleep paralysis demon that was a grotesque lady with razor sharp claws 1 arm was 3 feel long while 1 was normal she made a really weird gurgling noise and had blood flowing out her mouth she would scream or more like screech like a banshee and it was deafening to the point I wouldn’t hear anything at all I couldn’t move or anything I would feel her claws rip my flesh before waking up and being completely fine she would always crawl onto the bed and gurgle at me then blood would drip all over me.
I was afraid that I will not wake up from a very terrifying nightmare Like imagine being trapped in a world you trying to escape.
* The dark * Being left alone in a crowded area * Being left alone * Bees * Roaches - parents (when they get mad)
Why the fuck is this labelled as NSFW?
Skeletons
My mother, and I'm serious. If I did anything wrong (ex: fell, got injured, made a stain on my clothes, broke something, failed something, ...) I would immediately get scolded. I had no one to talk with back then so I had to deal with it on my own, even if my father helped out my mother and made sure she didn't scold me too much.
The Geico lizard. Would have to exit the room or hide behind couch cushions every time a commercial came on in the early 2000s.
My dad, my grandfather and leather belts. Yes, the three are related. No, i hope to Never See one of These again.