We all have them. What are yours? Here are mine. Maybe we share the same fears. Let’s find out.
10. Shipwrecks.
The ocean is full of many things. Many scary, scary things. What’s scariest to me is stuff that doesn’t belong down there. That’s a ship. That ship should be on the water. Not at the bottom of it. I don’t need to see this. There’s barnacles on it and everything. Imaging just snorkeling along, looking at fish or whatever (I’ve never been) and all of a sudden there’s a giant creepy ship under you. And there is nothing you can do about it. A lot of people think that shipwrecks are cool but I see them as underwater haunted houses.
IMAGE: Andy Morrison photography.
9. Cotton balls.
People have a fear of cotton balls. I do not, although I cringe at that scene in Elf where the Elf pops them into his mouth like candy. Oh God. Imagine chewing them. The feeling against your teeth. Cotton balls are very different from cotton candy. They’ve done studies about this. Fun fact: Jonathan Rhys Meyers has a fear of cotton balls, only he calls them “cotton wool.”
IMAGE: Dynarex.Fashionstylist.com.
8. Veins.
I don’t like looking at my veins. Those slightly raised blue lines that eguhgdjshsd I almost passed out, sorry. Have you ever had to get blood drawn from there? And have the nurse miss it? I don’t like seeing these. Especially when they burst forth from someone’s forehead, like an angry snake under leather. Veins are like spiderwebs beneath our skin. Hey, you’re welcome for this image.
7. The Zodiac.
They never caught him. He is probably dead by now. The Zodiac was a serial killer who sent coded letters to The San Francisco chronicle, making Jake Gyllenaal very angry. Someone recently cracked part of the Zodiac’s code in one of these letters that was un-deciphered for years. In the end of the letter, he revealed his identity as Arthur Lee Allen, the lead suspect in the case who died in the ’90s. But one cared. I did. I cared a lot. When I was in San Francisco I just assumed that every old man who walked by was The Zodiac. It’s a fun game – see how many Zodiacs you can spot! He didn’t limit his killings to San Fran, he enjoyed murdering in lots of Northern California locations. What a cool, great, fantastic guy.
IMAGE: Totalfilm.com.
6. Bellybuttons.
Does anyone else suffer from this fear? I decided to check on the internet. I found a brave soul on Yahoo! Answers who discussed their bellybutton fear. The highest voted reply was, “I’d say go see a counselor.” So I guess we are few and far in between. I hate bellybuttons. Hate them. I understand why we have them, but I wish we didn’t. Things get trapped in there. And the idea of cleaning them out almost makes me faint. If someone touches my bellybutton I scream and get very angry. It’s a reflex. People think I’m kidding so they poke it. And I turn into a helpless baby bunny. But one that screams. Maybe this fear started when I saw an episode of Clarissa Explains It All when Clarissa’s dad asked her what the kids are doing these days and she says, “Using paperclip ends to clean out their bellybuttons.” Melissa Joan Hart, I love you but you have scarred me in impossible ways that you will never understand.
IMAGE: Nurturingheartsbirthservices.com
5. Your bathroom mirror at night.
We’ve seen this coutnless times in horror films: heroine (sometimes hero, but rarely) gets up in the wee hours of the night to either wash her face or get something from inside her bathroom cabinet and when she looks up from washing her face or closes the cabinet door BAM SPOOKY THING! Don’t ever keep your eyes away from your mirror when you go to the bathroom at night. Stare it down. You’ll be fine. When you wash your hands, keep staring at the mirror. Screw it, don’t wash your hands, JUST RUN BACK TO YOUR BED.
IMAGE: bathroomcabinetswithmirrors.com (seriously)
4. High ceilings.
Aren’t these ceilings pretty? Yeah, they’re great until you realize how small you are and it would take hundreds of you to touch the ceiling, so you may as well just huddle in the corner and take a Xanax. The sky is infinite but when you build something that makes you realize this, it’s very scary. It’s like a reverse fear of heights, I guess. Do you ever get the urge to just climb up as far as you can go and jump? Not because you want to but because it seems like there’s an outside force compelling you? Right?
Should I see someone about this?
IMAGE: Scottvisnjic.deviantart.com
3. The fear of being in your own version of The Truman Show.
This is officially recognized as a fear. It’s called “The Truman Show Syndrome.” I don’t want to be mean, but you are not special enough to have people spend millions (if not billions) of dollars chronicling your entire life and building a fake town around you. Especially since probably all you do is sit it front of the computer. So don’t worry. No one cares about you. I love this movie. I like the part where Ed Harris overacts. So I guess that’s 60% of the film. The whole film reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode. That show is also terrifying. Use the buddy system when watching The Twilight Zone. But anyway, you know how that camera on your computer seems like it’s off? It’s isn’t. You’re a star!
IMAGE: 9gag.com
2. Hunstman spiders (and all spiders from anywhere and basically all creatures from Australia.)
On the count of three, nobody go to Australia. One…two…three!
IMAGES: Negativeion.com, Natural-Japan.net, Whatsthatbug.com
1. Mt. Everest.
It doesn’t want us there. The Mountain does not want us there. It doesn’t want us there. IT. DOESN’T. WANT. US. THERE. Stop visiting it. You’re making it angry. It doesn’t want you. Please climb a nice safe rock wall instead at your local gym. There are bodies frozen on Everest since the ’90s. There’s also some from the early 1900s but for some reason, the idea of a stumbling up a frozen hiker wearing Eddie Bauer disturbs me a lot more.
The irrational part is that I am never going to wind up on Mt. Everest so it’s pretty easy to avoid. Also, it’s a giant mountain. It’s not going to unearth itself from the ground and start chasing me with crazy chomping jaws and googly eyes. But I just don’t like the fact that it exists.
So kids, if you’re looking to die a horrible slow death, come on down to Mt. Everest!
IMAGE: Ryantmalone.com
I live in Australia and none of our animals have tried to kill me yet…
I am terrified of swans though. We have black swans and I am so scared of them that I will quite literally refuse to go near any body of water that I don’t expressly know is free of swans. I hate them.
Actually, I lied about the animals not trying to kill me thing – magpies do regularly, they just don’t do very well.
hhahah I’m affraid of spiders too, i was in Australia for a year and i was so affraid of them that i couldn’t even bare the thought of killing, normally when i see a spider my instant reaction is to kill, but here they where so big that it was more scary to actally kill them, so I always ended up taking the longest walks to get anywhere just to avoid spiders
Lately my thoughts have been deep daydreams and I find myself fearing crazy things. For right now, my greatest fear is my memory. Do you remember what you were doing at 3:13pm exactly 1 week ago??? Exactly. The fact that I can forget something is terrifying.
And even last week I was telling my mom about how I opened something and had been using it. She was confused and said she had opened it. I then searched my mind and found no picture of myself actually opening the product. Scary, right?
I relate to so many of these including the bellybutton and shipwrecks… I thought I was the only one. Thank you for giving me at least some valid reasons to be afraid, ha.
Ditto on the reflections at night! also, dark rooms at night.
I’m afraid of heights, being the only person on earth (like the world is made just for me… uhhhh. selfish and weird, I know.), bats and rats, and getting hit by trains.
Roaches, roaches, roaches…and tornadoes! The first one has me screaming and running, the other has me hiding in the closet. I hope there is never a roach in the closet when I need to hide in there because of a tornado. Not sure what I’d do. Yikes!
My biggest irrational fear (that I’ll admit online) is exoskeletons. Any creature that has one freaks me out, even things like hermit crabs or butterflies. Out of all the exoskeletons possessing life forms, scorpions are the ones I really can’t deal with. Even looking at a picture online will make me feel so anxious that my body freezes up. I won’t visit anywhere that has them.
Sometimes I wonder if earth and humans are actually some other civilization’s experiment. Like, the rest of the universe is simulated and there are a bunch of scientists just watching earth and recording data. I’ve had this weird thought since about 6 years old. Where does a 6 year old get that from?!?
I hate you for putting pictures of those spiders up. They are forever burned in my mind and now I’m fighting the urge to vomit. I’ve got the shivers…. I only saw them as I scrolled by quickly. Even pictures scare me!
Yeah Marleen it happens to me too that I sometimes get paranoid about people being able to read my thoughts :S Especially when I’m in church (not religious person per se but you know… funerals and stuff). It’s like when I enter those big doors I know I have to control my thoughts because they are now open for everyone to hear, and I always end up in my own head thinking all sorts of wierd shit and not paying any attention to the sermon…
“L’appel du vide” Literally translated as “The Call of The Void” is a french phrase that refers to that inexplicable urge to jump from high places.
I know my life isn’t that fascinating.. but I’m still convinced I am in a tv show
I am just waiting for Ed Harris to call me and be like ; hey could you please do something interesting?? Also a weird fear; that people can hear my thoughts (which sounds a bit like schizofrenia I know, and no i haven’t sought treatment for it.. yet) This mostly freaks me out when i am on the train and think weird things (which often happens.. my mind wanders around freely when i am in a train) Anyone else out there who recognises this???
I kinda wish I hadn’t read this post… THANKS for making me think about my fears. LoL. A lot have been covered here, and I’ll add on.
As for your list, I agree with Spiders (& snakes & bugs) though I don’t think most of it is irrational.
I feel like I must look into my shoes before I put them on. People laugh at me about this, but the fear was confirmed three days ago when I put my foot into my shoe where a massive wood roach was hiding. It bit me, then scared the crap out of me when I realized what was going on – SO HORRIBLE!!!!
Also, Truman Show… I dislike acknowledging the paranoia that comes over me at times… but it happens.
The mirror at night… I avoid it, and closet doors must be shut. Those were initially due to movies. To further add to that I have had paranormal experiences my whole life, and being half-asleep just welcomes things to happen – So although they might seem irrational to most, they are super serious for me.
I also look behind shower curtains, and my window curtains MUST be closed at night. I don’t think it’s irrational, though.
My family watches a lot of “Criminal Minds,” and “Without a Trace.” I had to stop watching those because it was making me insane like I need anxiety meds – STAT!
I also had the subway-pushing fear, and when I was in Junior High there was a staircase that I just knew I’d get pushed down. I was/am SO happy that that never happened.
Someone mentioned being thrown over railings.. I have that one, too. I don’t have a fear of heights… I DO have a fear of losing whatever is keeping me safe while I’m up high.
I also hate paintings of people where it looks like the eyes follow you wherever you go. My family used to have one & I was SO happy to see it eventually thrown out.
Things hanging over me in restaurants scare me… the junk on the kitschy walls & ceilings, you know? I guess that actually applies to anything hanging over me (TVs, bookshelves, chandeliers) where I’m sitting somewhere comfortably on tables, couches, bed, or whatever.
When I was really young jets often flew over our house – sonic booms all the time.
I often had dreams where they blew up or crashed & landed in my yard.. which made it super scary every time I heard one. Sometimes when I’m near airports now I’ll get that feeling when I see the low-flying planes.
My post is entirely too long.. Perhaps I need help? Heh!
OH.. I looked at that Everest post, pix, and comments. It was an interesting read!
Lizards.
I would rather find a snake in my bed that a lizard. It’s so irrational, but I swear I’ve cried over a lizard crossing my path.
Also, I read the Mt. Everest article and I see what you mean.
Oh! And I have a fear of someone hiding under my bed. Thanks to reading a book about how the BTK serial killer HID IN A GIRL’S ROOM while her family was IN THE HOUSE, then killed her. Like…how terrifying is that?!
So, let me tell you about one time when i got home. I shut the door, looked up and thought, “I’ve never noticed those spots on my ceiling before”. Then I realised, “oh shit, theyre moving”.
Turns out a mama huntsman had built a nest, and out popped hundreds of baby huntsman.
My fiance was sitting on the couch, blisfully unaware of our new visitors.
We (fairly) calmly brushed them all outside using brooms and feather dusters, because I believe in spider karma (you kill one and ten come back in it’s place).
Babys, I can deal with. Actual huntsmans, yeah, they’re gross, despite the fact they’re harmless. Seriously, harmless. As a rule of thumb i tell visitors that the big ones are ok, it’s the small ones you have to watch out for. Except for funnel webs. And yeah, they’re as frightening as they sound. ..
I think someone with a true fear of spiders wouldn’t even come close to Googling a photo of them, copying said photo, and adding it to their page to be blown up on everyone else’s computer screen. I was NOT expecting that (thank GOD I scrolled past the Australia one), and when those kind of pics pop up like that I get a *stab* in my heart that shoots electric panic through my upper body, to my finger tips. So thanks for that.
Among some of the answers here I am going to agree; criminal mock-up photos are eerie as hell, I don’t sit on the toilet and worry about snakes, I worry about spiders crawling on my butt, & thanks to a movie I saw about a house coming to live I fear the garbage disposal cutting my fingers off.
Earwigs, and the possibility of a cockroach crawling in my ear. A spider bite that leaves hundreds of eggs in your skin. I don’t like ladybugs on me, when they sprout wings and take off it scares the bejesus out of me, and I hate bees! Flies are terrifying and ruin my day if one ends up in my house. Dark water is a no go. Walking alone in the dark; inside or outside. Even in my own home. Looking in the peep hole of my door makes me feel like someone is going to poke my eye out. Speaking of eyes, I can’t watch anything on TV having to do with an eye obtaining an injury. Wiggling of a knee cap; NO. If you touch mine, I kill you.
And one of my strangest fears; the holidays. I think of that time when the fall crisp comes, followed by dark nights coming sooner, the coldness of Halloween time (and the inside of Halloween stores, *shiver*), and winter Christmas with all the songs, and lights! These few months just send a wash of “something bad is about to happen” over me.
Uggh spiders, spiders! you are on my side with that paranoia of spiders coming from everywhere and its eggs… Actually, the pic I posted before; a high heel with a tarantula inside (*shivers*) I asked my mom to search it! But someone send that pic to me once and it gave me nightmares of being on the MTV Awards, wining one and going to the stage only to realise that my shoes where those and the tarantula was out…
Christmas are creepy, you’re right.
I must say I don’t mind bellybuttons in general, (I’m not so fond of the kind that sticks out)…anywho, I WILL NOT ALLOW anyone to touch my bellybutton, I cringe everytime I have to do it. It just doesn’t feel right!!!
DOLLS! of any kind especially clown ones! When I was a kid I tied my dolls up and put them in a pet carrier which I then locked, I shoved it in a closet and barricaded the closet door… and I never liked barbie!
Apart from that I agree on all the things on your list
But the crazy spiders won’t stop me from going to Australia though, if a spider will be the death of me then I’ll gladly risk it to see everything else that Australia might offer xD
Fears shouldn’t stand in your way of living your life
Oh and parasitic worms and such like is pretty nasty…
My biggest fear is that while I’m waiting for the subway train some random person pushes me on the tracks…… and i’m afarid of pigeons! I swear those stupid birds are creatures from hell………. is it just me!?
*Oh and mirrors at night of course.. and monsters hiding under my bed/in my closet. I’m like a 4 year old.
I worry about that while waiting for the subway, too! With so many people in New York there has to be at least one crazy subway killer out there. I view this fear as 100% rational.
I am terrified of dinosaurs too!! I cry on that Disney ride every time!!
I always feel like a three year old admitting this, but going to the bathroom at night is probably the scariest thing in the world for me, and it’s because of the mirror. My solution isn’t to stare down the mirror, it’s to avoid eye contact with it at all.
I’m terrified of dinosaurs. Yes dinosaurs. Those animatronic ones give me a freaking heart attack. Yes I was the woman screaming on the “Dinosaur” ride at Disney World. They should never be life-size!! Or moving.