What things irrationally scared you as a child?

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

I had this thing as a kid where I was terrified of black widow spiders magically spawning in my covers when I went to sleep. This may have had something to do with the fact that the covers were tucked in under the mattress and thus had a lot of empty space.

For some reason, I felt safe sleeping on the floor, or using pillows UNDER the covers to blockade half of the covers.

Then one time the covers weren't tucked in and I was like "hey, I can wrap myself in them completely so there's no empty space!" and I never had a problem again.

This is on top of the usual kid stuff like spooky music or laughs or scare chords getting stuck in my head.

EDIT: Oh yeaaaaah, reading more of these made me remember that I used to have a massive fear of vampires as a kid. Like, the dracula "AH! AH! AH! AH! AAAAAH!" laugh kind of vampire. Sesame street count wasn't that bad because he was a goofball, but I was afraid of leaving my room at night in case a vampire was going be outside my door to turn me into one of them, or just kidnap me and use me as a reusable blood bank.

My dreams have always run on video game logic, so it didn't help when I ran into a vampire in my dreams and tried to hit it with a Thundershock or whatever only for them to laugh it off and keep slowly approaching me with that menacing look in their eyes.

It was so bad I couldn't SAY the word vampire because it freaked me out so much. XD

 

[Ogoid]

Quite a few; I was a really weird kid, looking back on it.

The weirdest, off the top of my head, would be swimming pool drains and inlets (yes, really). I don't think I could have told you, even back then, what was it about them that bothered me, but I wouldn't go anywhere near the damn things.

Statues and sculptures in general (particularly faces without bodies) also used to make me really uncomfortable, because I was absolutely sure if I looked at them long enough they would pull faces or talk to me. Many a nightmare was had involving that precise scenario.

 

[09philj]

Spoiler: The Wrong Trousers

It's actually hilarious though. Seriously, you should watch it.

 

[cathou]

The game Venture on Colecovision. when you stay too long in a room, there's a sound and a skull appear trying to get get you. i was so afraid of that thing that each time i was running to hide behind the couch...

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Huh... I can't think of a single thing.

EDIT: Ah, zombies. Till now, I hate the things. I havent played Last of Us until now. The idea of a zombie virus being real, and having to possibly kill members of my family, scared/s the shit out of me.

 

[Newway12]

Growing up their was this series of commercials called Mysteries of the Unknown. I found out I wasn't the only one who was freaked out by them either.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmlovDofeR4&t=21s[/youtube]

 

[Silvanus]

The X Files theme tune, spiders, aliens, being buried alive, death, having nightmares, being lost in the woods, burglars, leaving doors unlocked, the dark, losing my senses.

Most of these fears have gone away, except for spiders and death. The rest have been replaced by a paralyzing fear of rejection that is uniquely adult.

 

[BiscuitWheels]

When I was really young, the full moon scared me. Seriously, I'd have nightmares of it dragging me out of my bed and up into space. I was an odd kid. I thought there were bigfoot living in the woods behind my house.

 

[Karthesios]

I was born in 1982 and thus remember when television really began using fancy graphics for station idents and TV show vanity plates. Certain ones would freak me out when I was about 5-6, such as the CBS eye logo and the ABC circle logo. Weird part was it was only certain logo/background color combinations that would do it, such as black logo on just about any color background. Looking back at it, it seems pretty dumb (and I get a bit of nostalgia from looking at old vanity plates), but back when I was little, it could be unsettling.

When I was really young, the full moon scared me. Seriously, I'd have nightmares of it dragging me out of my bed and up into space. I was an odd kid. I thought there were bigfoot living in the woods behind my house.

Oh god, that reminds me of a dream I had when I was about five: looking out my bedroom window and seeing two full moons approaching the house like they were fighter jets or something, and I could hear what sounded like radio chatter between the two. I had a weird imagination. And I still do, now that I think about it.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Bigfoot and I personally blame all those documentary shows having scary sounding music soundtracks and athmospherics.

 

[Elijin]

Does needles count as irrational? It feels irrational now. I mean I'm still not fond of them, and have to focus away, but when I do....they rarely hurt, and are done pretty quickly.

But when I was a kid, I cracked my head, and the shot of local anesthetic into open wound was just the most painful thing I had ever experienced. Ruined needles for at least 15-20 years after. Its the sort of thing where I don't even remember how bad the pain was. My child memories says 'The most pain you've ever experienced', but.....I have serious doubts it was that bad, from all the way up here.

 

[Pyrian]

Target. The store, Target. I'd never been inside one, and I needed something that only Target carried nearby. And I worried myself silly about whether I needed a membership card or needed to know something about how shopping there worked. I finally got up the gumption to walk inside and it's just another store, really. Sheesh. I sometimes wonder how the heck I functioned as a young man at all.

Mahatma Gandhi. Don't ask.

He nuked you, didn't he? XD

 

[DeliveryGodNoah_v1legacy]

Does needles count as irrational? It feels irrational now. I mean I'm still not fond of them, and have to focus away, but when I do....they rarely hurt, and are done pretty quickly.

But when I was a kid, I cracked my head, and the shot of local anesthetic into open wound was just the most painful thing I had ever experienced. Ruined needles for at least 15-20 years after. Its the sort of thing where I don't even remember how bad the pain was. My child memories says 'The most pain you've ever experienced', but.....I have serious doubts it was that bad, from all the way up here.

I hope not. My mind reacts to needles by passing out. Drawing blood, injections, every time (since I was about 13) I feel sick to my stomach and then pass out without fail.

It's likely just because I freak myself out so much that the anxiety just catches up with me once it's over with.

I mean...people always say it doesn't hurt that bad. Like a pinch. But that's a LOOOONG ass pinch, and a pinch doesn't pierce my flesh. And a needle looks so foreboding. Like...make it rainbow colors or something. ANYTHING. JUST MAKE IT LOOK LESS TERRIFYING. Put Winnie the fucking Poo and Ninja Turtles on it!

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

Washing machines. I was really afraid to go into the garage, my own or my granny's, when I was really young because I thought the washing machine would come alive and swallow me.

Also, dogs for a long time. Although that one was not irrational, considering I once got attacked by a German Shepard that managed to escape the junkyard it was supposed to guard. Knocked me down and mauled my back. Left me a sizeable scar.

 

[Kolby Jack]

I remember being terrified for years after this spooky story called the "donkey lady" my cousin told once. I didn't have a standard fear of the dark itself, because I could be in the dark just fine if I was out and about, but when I was nestled in my bed suddenly I was pretty spooked that the donkey lady would get me.

I also didn't like clowns for a while because I had a dream once where a clown face-painted a slice of pizza I had.

Oh, also, I for some reason was HIGHLY against make-up or getting my face painted. Honestly I still don't like the sound of it even today, but I wouldn't throw a tantrum over it at least. I remember during my elementary school Christmas play when all the other elves were getting make-up put on so people could see their faces better, I REFUSED, to the point of tears. I'm not sure why it bothers me so much, to be honest.

 

[Silence]

Slugs and crab shells.
And jellyfish. I hate jellyfish.

 

[Pinkamena]

For me it was flushing the toilet, of all things. Of course I still did it (like the big boy I was), but the loud noise scared me. I had seen some childrens cartoon about an alligator that lived in the sewer and would walk around in the tubes and up through the toilet. Whenever I flushed it I imagined the alligator or some monster would come out. This irrational fear is still somewhat present. If I go to the loo in the night, the sound of the flushing still gives me a bit of a raised pulse.

 

[Nature Guardian]

The game "Microsurgeon" for the Intellivision. How could some game in 1982 disturb someone, you ask? Well, this was the box art:

And then you had to go through this barely-recognizable representation of a human body, with that ever-present heartbeat:


For a seven-year-old kid, that's pretty disturbing stuff!

I haven't played that game but I'm sure it would have terrified me too.

 

[sky14kemea]

When I was younger I had a really bad fear of Danny Devito when I was going to sleep, so my older brother gave me a watch that he set to like 8 hours ahead, so that it was always daytime on the watch when I was asleep. He told me it would confuse Danny Devito and he would think it was daytime and get scared of the sun and leave me alone.

 

[Raddra]

Standing at the foot of very tall buildings. Standing there and looking directly up, it always felt like they were looming over about to fall on me.