What was your most irrational fear as a child?

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by candygirl200413

Clowns, and anything that wears a costume (basically if I can't see your face I freak out)
But I never exactly grew out of this fear...

This. From clowns to Santas to mimes to those freaky Easter Bunnies - they all must die. And my mil insists on giving me a Santa ornament every year. May she never find my ebay account!

Never outgrew the fear of going blind, either. Having my mother become legally blind did not help.

[AXiD SmileyFace]

When I was a kid I was obsessed with everything that had to do with Barbie. One day when I was 6 my dad let me watch the movie Child's Play about the serial killer whose spirit inhabits a doll and goes to town killing people left and right. From then on I feared my dolls would come to life while I was sleeping and kill me. I used to rip every dolls head off and put the heads in one drawer and the bodies in another. I figured if they were going to kill me in my sleep they were gonna have to really work for it.

[TPA85]

Tornadoes. Not an irrational fear in itself, but how I perceived and coped was irrational.
Every time the slightest bit of wind would come through I was sure the whole house was about to be blown away. Then I would go sit in a ball in one specific corner of the living room where I couldn't see directly out any windows.
I was a mess.

[StealthMode]

Originally Posted by AXiD SmileyFace

One day when I was 6 my dad let me watch the movie Child's Play...

My parents wouldn't let me watch it so I sneaked into the room where my cousins were watching one day. I had (and still have) an absurd amount of stuffed animals, dolls, and toys. I laid awake every night for weeks convinced I was in a room full of murderers. You are not alone.

Originally Posted by TPA85

Tornadoes.

The only natural disaster to ever send me into a blind panic--you are also not alone.

[Still BLUTANG]

bees, hornets, yellowjackets.

although i've never been stung (and to my knowledge do not have an allergy), i was was convinced i was going to be stung to death by a swarm.

actually had a recurring nightmare about the blue angels/thunderbirds performing a stunt which turned them from planes into a swarm of bees.

[ThetaPrincess24]

I had a fear, that if any arms or legs dangled off the side of the bed, something sinister from underneath would reach up and grab it. While that obviously is not true, I'm still funny about letting limbs dangle off the side of the bed.

To the tornado comment above--each time there was a tornado watch (which I often confused with a warning), I would go to my room and collect my baby dolls, My Kirsten American Girl doll and all of her stuff, and bring them to the basement (barbies were already in the basement) so they would not get blown away. Drove my mother NUTS!

[naraht]

I was absolutely convinced that my handwriting was so bad that I wouldn't be able to do things like drive a car and get a job when I became an adult. (Note, I also managed to fail typing in High School)

[tld221]

Originally Posted by cheerfulgreek

As crazy as this is going to sound/read, I was afraid of wood ticks and parasitic worms when I was a kid. As I got older, I started to have a love/fascination for them. They're so amazing. I was also afraid of black holes and I thought Earth was going to get eaten by one. The things I was once afraid of, I am now fascinated by.

Someone explained black holes to me in undergrad and I'm still shook.

Mine are really effing weird.

As a child, I would get chills/goosebumps by seeing the Batman symbol (there it is - just got them as I typed it). Separately, the part of awards shows that do tributes to people who have passed away. Lastly, and this one still frightens me, that statues would out of nowhere start moving.

[AOIILisa]

I was afraid of clowns, test patterns, and... quicksand. For some reason, I always thought quicksand would be a bigger part of my life. Anvils, too. Maybe I watched too many cartoons.

I still dislike clowns!

[AZTheta]

There is always one in every crowd: I wasn't afraid of anything. My mother about lost all her hair worrying over me. Some of the stunts I pulled, and the trouble I got into, were truly stupid and dangerous. My brother was afraid of the dark, so was my sister. Not me. Nothing scared me. Absolutely nothing.

I'm still pretty fearless. Except for rattlesnakes. Those suckers scare me big time.

[Bluebell4]

The Planters Peanut Man who used to walk the sidewalk in front of the Planters Peanut Store in my hometown. I would start crying the minute my mother tried to go on that block.

[Sen's Revenge]

Originally Posted by tld221

Someone explained black holes to me in undergrad and I'm still shook.

Mine are really effing weird.

As a child, I would get chills/goosebumps by seeing the Batman symbol (there it is - just got them as I typed it). Separately, the part of awards shows that do tributes to people who have passed away. Lastly, and this one still frightens me, that statues would out of nowhere start moving.

[amIblue?]

Originally Posted by AXiD SmileyFace

When I was a kid I was obsessed with everything that had to do with Barbie. One day when I was 6 my dad let me watch the movie Child's Play about the serial killer whose spirit inhabits a doll and goes to town killing people left and right. From then on I feared my dolls would come to life while I was sleeping and kill me. I used to rip every dolls head off and put the heads in one drawer and the bodies in another. I figured if they were going to kill me in my sleep they were gonna have to really work for it.

With all due respect, WTF was wrong with your dad?

[WhiteRose1912]

Standing at the top of staircases, or ascending stairs without backs (where you can clearly see through to the ground below), has always made my stomach knot and my hands and feet sweat. It's gotten much worse with age. I'm near phobic of falling.

Playing or watching others play platformers, like the Mario Bros. series, is stressful and physically painful. My friends get a kick out of my reactions. (Probably funnier to witness than experience.) I don't think it caused quite as anxious a reaction when I was a kid, but I remember coming into the living room with a glass of milk and seeing my mom playing Super Mario World on my SNES. The next thing I knew, my parents were shouting in alarm at me--I was so transfixed by the possibility of Mario falling that I'd stopped paying attention to my glass and I was slowly pouring the milk onto the carpet, oblivious.

[GammaGirl1908]

*The big one: escalators, especially very fast ones. I was convinced the teeth would eat me. If my poor mom forgot to hold my hand stepping on to the escalator, I would stand at the top or bottom and sob, and she would have to make the full circle, grab me by the hand, and attempt once again to head to our destination (DC folks: the escalators at White Flint mall usually were the scene of this drama).

*When my mom would make me wear blue or red socks, I was miserable. Like, tears. I was convinced I looked like a boy. Please note, I *still* don't like colored socks, and I hate and avoid hosiery in general. I have many pairs of white socks for the gym, a few pairs of black socks for very cold days when I have on black pants and black shoes...and that's about it. Since I have been dressing myself, I don't think I have *ever* left the house in anything but white or black socks.

*John Merrick, the Elephant Man. A classmate did a report on him in 5th grade, and I was freaked out for MONTHS. (This was followed by a unit in a different class on the hangings of the witches of Salem. My parents were very confused about why they kept waking up to find me sleeping on their bedroom floor.) (Also note: 25+ years later, I STILL will not watch that movie.)

*A couple others have mentioned: the creature under the bed and stinging insects (Please note, I am 39 years old as I write this, and I have never been stung by a bee...largely because I flap my arms and scream).

*Also funny: My oldest friend was TERRIFIED of turtleneck shirts as a child, because she was afraid she would not come out of the other end.