What Weird Things Are You Scared Of?

This morning, just like every morning, I took a shower. And just like every other morning, I made sure to keep my eyes open THE ENTIRE TIME…

Sometimes, I’ll see a commercial for shampoo or body wash, where the person is luxuriating in the shower spray, enjoying the scent of Herbal Essences with their eyes closed. And I’ll think to myself, “But how will they see the monster?!”

I suspect it began with that blobby bathtub slime thing that frightens Sigourney Weaver in the original Ghostbusters, and only grew from there.

As a kid, I was afraid of all kinds of things. I saw wolves in the shadows (thank you, children’s books, for always casting a wolf as the villain) and alligators in the drains. I lived in perpetual fear that clowns would pop out of the closets. Why? Who knows. Most of these fears have fallen away, but others remain.

In all moments right up until this one, I am low key terrified of other people’s spit. I never want to share a drink, and if some unknowing person takes a sip of mine, I will very quietly put it down and never pick it up again. I picture the saliva swimming around in there, multiplying. I just… can’t.

But if anyone asks, “Can I try that?” in reference to my beverage, I never say no. I good-naturedly offer it over with a smile that I hope won’t give away the panic rapidly unfurling in my heart.

(“How do you kiss people?!” says everyone. My boyfriend is the only person who is exempt from this rule, which means I must like him.)

For similar reasons, I am afraid of Kombucha. There are organisms doing laps in there! I’m also freaked out by aerial trams (they dangle on cables!); every knife anywhere, other than butter knives; and lighting a match. And back when I had a bed frame that left ample space under the bed, I was known to leap into bed from a few feet away. Because of the ankle-grabbing monsters, obviously.

Anyway! I always think it’s interesting to hear about the random things people find terrifying, so…

Do you have any irrational fears? No judgment — the more ridiculous, the better.

P.S. A trick for whenever you’re freaking out and a comic about irrational fears.

(Photo from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.)

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Lindsay

April 26, 2019 11:16pm 11:16 pm

I have an irrational fear of sharks in all forms of deep water. I am talking swimming pools, rivers, lakes! It goes back to my aunt telling me to watch out for Jaws in a lake as a kid!

Kera

April 26, 2019 9:43pm 9:43 pm

I have a fear of spiders and scorpions hiding in shoes, but mostly scorpions. I remember when I was a kid hearing stories of people pulling on their boots only to be stung by a scorpion. We would often find scorpions in our home growing up and it stuck in the back of my mind. Even when we moved away from Texas to Maryland as an adult I still continued to check my shoes. I wasn’t even aware that I was doing something strange until a friend asked me why I always shook my shoes upside-down before putting them on. Now that we’re back in Texas and I hear these stories come up every summer, along with the warnings to remember that scorpions travel in pairs, I’m terrified that my toddler will find one (or two) in his room or something.

Vanessa

Reply to Kera

April 30, 2019 9:52am 9:52 am

I live in Brooklyn and I check my shoes for (biting!) house centipedes – which look like evil murderous prehistoric monsters – after having one literally crawl out onto my finger from a pair of Vans. You are NOT ALONE.

Amanda

April 26, 2019 8:45pm 8:45 pm

When my family went to the Grand Canyon, the other tourists were ENTIRELY too relaxed about getting close to the edge. Toddlers were playing mere feet from certain death! People were taking selfies with their feet dangling over the edge! I am not a panicky person, but I had to walk away.

rachel

Reply to Amanda

April 27, 2019 12:53am 12:53 am

oh no, i cant even read that without getting dizzy and sick

Abby

April 26, 2019 8:11pm 8:11 pm

I am so scared of getting in lakes with nothing on my feet, I can’t help but picture a fish biting off one of my toes. Insane, I know.

Solveig

April 26, 2019 5:35pm 5:35 pm

I am madly terrified of jellyfish. I can even deal with the small ones that I KNOW are harmless. I keep my head down and use my hands like blinders in the jelly section of aquariums and don’t even get me started on the jellyfish scene in Finding Nemo! It’s a funny fear because my favourite animal is the octopus. Honestly, I think the qualities that terrify me in jellyfish are also the ones that excite me in octopi – it’s a fine line between fear and exhilaration.

Amy

April 26, 2019 4:37pm 4:37 pm

This post is making me feel a whole lot less weird. I have three phobias – irrational- and I’ve learned to never tell people who are in my vicinity because it delights them into springing into action and forcing me to experience:
1. yellow foam. I cannot explain why, but the stuff inside couches and mattresses- a dry kitchen sponge. It causes me to lose my breath even just to think about it. I’m typing this with itchy palms and a disgusted scowl.
2. Praying mantises. They are UP TO SOMETHING and it’s definitely got something to do with your demise.
3. Patrick Swayze (RIP) – I dunno. Also Ray Leota.

Leigh

Reply to Amy

April 27, 2019 12:47am 12:47 am

Good luck with everything. Keep on fighting because you are worth it and you will figure it out.

Sara

Reply to Amy

May 5, 2019 8:01pm 8:01 pm

I have the yellow foam phobia too! Something about how dry it is. *shudder*

Kimberly

April 26, 2019 4:37pm 4:37 pm

It seems that true fears/phobias are being mixed with quirks…I could name plenty of things that scared me at roundabout ages but as an adult (and I am shocked others have not said this) I am truly terrified of dying. When? How? Why? What happens after? It is so final, you do it alone and the unknown is scary, maybe that is why people agree on such things as space and deep water. What is out/down there!? Also, things out of our control…earthquakes! And bats…I really do hate those things.

Sarah

Reply to Kimberly

April 27, 2019 9:33am 9:33 am

Pangolins. The first time I ever saw a photo of one I had a physical, visceral reaction. I got all sweaty and short of breath, even a little dizzy! Nothing else bothers me, so I was really taken aback by my irrational reaction to an ANIMAL that I will probably never come across!

Asia

April 26, 2019 2:38pm 2:38 pm

Reading the comment on Jo’s post today made me remember what weird thing I am scared of: putting my fingers in bowling ball holes. Just, ew.

Mary

Reply to Asia

April 28, 2019 5:54am 5:54 am

I never thought of this……Now that you mentioned it…..I don’t think I can ever bowl again…..ewww

Carmen Tomas

April 26, 2019 1:58pm 1:58 pm

my partner is on a canoe trip and i could not get to bed last night because i was TOO SCARED! i saw the trailer for “US” over a month ago and am still terrified to see my “tethered” self. whyyyyyyyy? so tried today. :-(

Emily

April 26, 2019 8:19am 8:19 am

Moths. I hate them. I can deal with every other bug, even spiders but I have this irrational fear they they will fly into my ears while I sleep (I know… that’s earwigs!). and I have an actual phobia of caves. I had to go into one on a work trip and actually cried. I can’t even look at them in video games or anything. No idea where these fears came from hahaha.

Cora

Reply to Emily

April 27, 2019 1:39pm 1:39 pm

I am also petrified of moths. I have trained myself to not get panicky around butterflies, but moths, not so much. I hate that they fly all over the place, you never know when they’re coming toward you. Ridiculous, but isn’t that how fears go?

Nathalie

April 26, 2019 7:43am 7:43 am

I’m terrified of clusters of holes, it’s called trypophobia, they truly make me cringe.

Natasha

Reply to Nathalie

April 27, 2019 10:59pm 10:59 pm

Ugh yes, so gross

Eileen

April 26, 2019 12:04am 12:04 am

Driving behind pickup trucks with stacks of poles or ladders sticking outside the bed. Because of the book Time Traveler’s Wife, I get huge anxiety that somehow the truck will stop abruptly and the poles will come flying out of the truck, through my window, and impale me.

Also of any home invasion with just me and the kids at home and my husband out off town. We have an alarm and a dog, but I still keep wasp spray by my bed as you can spray a person/ hurt his eyes from like 25ft away.

Clara

Reply to Eileen

April 27, 2019 1:54pm 1:54 pm

same! I think of that book so often when I am driving. Poor little imaginary kid, losing his mum like that <3

Andria

April 25, 2019 10:28pm 10:28 pm

The vacuum catching fire when it runs over the shreds from an eraser! My teacher used to tell me that would happen?She also said we’d get lead poisoning and then lock jaw if we chewed on our pencils too much! Why do adults insist on scaring children to death when they don’t like their behavior!?

Kate

Reply to Andria

May 5, 2019 8:11pm 8:11 pm

I went to a catholic school and in second grade the nun told us that if we sniffed our noses the snot would go to our brain and we would die.

Amanda

April 25, 2019 9:42pm 9:42 pm

For some bizarre reason, whenever I go into an empty bathroom I’m terrified that I’ll discover a dead body or a severed head or something. I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THIS FEAR CAME FROM.

KRez

Reply to Amanda

April 25, 2019 11:53pm 11:53 pm

Same!!

I fear finding a dead body in a bathroom.

No idea where this came from. Glad I’m not the only one.

#murderino

Amy

Reply to Amanda

April 26, 2019 4:41pm 4:41 pm

bathrooms with the lights off. won’t do it.

Lenae C

Reply to Amanda

April 26, 2019 9:57pm 9:57 pm

Omg yes – the thought finding a dead body in a public bathroom stall is something I always think about. Even at work, in my nice, very secure building. Because not only would it be so scary and shocking, it also would then be my responsibility to address the situation. Check for a pulse. Do CPR? Call out for help, call 911. All the things. It’s a lot to think about every time you need to pee.

Rachel

April 25, 2019 5:47pm 5:47 pm

The comments are too scary! I, too, do the bed leap if alone in the house, and can’t allow any body parts to dangle over the edges for the same reasons.

Sarah

Reply to Rachel

April 27, 2019 1:53pm 1:53 pm

Lakes. And the ocean anywhere not close to shore. I think I’ve read too much about bodies being dumped in lakes (and some of them being created by flooding an old town.) Basically, any water that’s not clear worries me. And the vastness of the depths of the ocean gives me chills. I don’t understand how anyone wants to go down to see the Titanic wreckage. Nope.

Carrie

April 25, 2019 4:31pm 4:31 pm

A semi throwing a rock which will fly into the window of my vehicle, pierce my brain and I will die. Thanks Final Destination. (also works with loose wheel caps)

Mona

Reply to Carrie

April 27, 2019 5:16pm 5:16 pm

My greatest fear is being touched in the armpit, specially the bone one feels in ones armpit, with something sharp.

As a child I read that according to cannibals the tastiest meat is the armpit of a woman and I just can’t..!

Bianca

April 25, 2019 3:48pm 3:48 pm

Someone hiding in the back seat of the car. I have to check every time I get in, just in case there’s someone creepy back there.

rach

Reply to Bianca

April 27, 2019 12:55am 12:55 am

oh em geeee, me too!!! and i work nights, so when i go home at 0330 its dark!

Anna

April 25, 2019 3:34pm 3:34 pm

I grew up in a very old house that made a lot of scary noises at night. I couldn’t go to sleep without closing the closet door because the big dark open space across from my bed scared me to death! There was also a huge HVAC intake grate in the hallway that I had to run past because it was so huge and scary haha. Flash forward 20 years and I’m staying in a creepy bunkhouse on a business trip and my room features a huge deep closet with no door AND a huge intake vent on the wall! Also creepy artwork, haha!

Kate

April 25, 2019 2:27pm 2:27 pm

Curtains. But only when I’m awake in the middle of the night. They’re fine in the daytime.

And getting OFF of escalators. ::shudder::

Kelly

Reply to Kate

April 28, 2019 1:38am 1:38 am

My boyfriend and I were at Newark airport and we were on the escalators on our way to baggage claim, with one step in between us, which is odd bc we had no bags so why would we not stand next to each other?

We were almost to the top and the whole thing jerked and the stair in between us SPLIT IN HALF!! I was on the lower stair and the sudden stop of movement threw us forward and I had to jump over the metal shards sticking up from the split stair!! People rushed over to see if we were ok (we were not hurt).

I think of this every time I have to ride an escalator. If I must ride one, I must be in a “readied position”, ready to jump from possible exploding escalator stairs!

April 25, 2019 2:09pm 2:09 pm

Taxidermy. All kinds. I can’t go in bars or restaurants with any in there–sends me into a full panic. BECAUSE WHAT IF THEY ALL OF THE SUDDEN COME ALIVE AND RUN STRAIGHT FOR ME?

Emily

April 25, 2019 1:52pm 1:52 pm

Not locking my front and back door at night. I double, triple check before getting into bed and sometimes still have to check, just one more time.

Katrin

Reply to Emily

April 26, 2019 8:09am 8:09 am

Yup. This! I‘d always been afraid of burglars, and then, when I was 11, we actually had a burglary in our house. All fears confirmed, they skyrocketed – of course. Now it‘s calmed down, of course, but I still have to check almost every night again if I REALLY locked the door and all of the windows.

Elle

April 25, 2019 1:31pm 1:31 pm

OK, I am just going to say it…

I have this very bizarre fear of any celebrity who is no longer living. Yes, you read that right–I am scared of dead celebrities. I wish I had an explanation for this, but for some reason ever since I was little, I remember being TERRIFIED.

The weirdest part of this whole thing is that I am enthralled with all things pop-culture and love hearing anything that is celebrity related.
I may as well have a job at E! news with all the random facts I know about Hollywood’s elite.

When Heath Ledger died when I was in middle school, I remember being so freaked out that I couldn’t go to school the next day. I could not & still cannot watch 10 Things I Hate About You without getting full blown shivers.

The list goes on….Brittany Murphy, Bobbi Christina, Luke Perry, MICHAEL JACKSON. I cant look at pictures of them in magazines or watch something on TV when I am alone in my apartment without having to sprint into my bed and pull the covers over my eyes.

My family and friends all make fun of me and I realize as I type this that I sound crazy!!

Shan

Reply to Elle

April 25, 2019 8:13pm 8:13 pm

You’re not alone! My husband hates it when I play songs by deceased singers. He gets massive goosebumps.

April 25, 2019 1:12pm 1:12 pm

Fire escape stairs in the city falling down when I walk past.

Erin

April 25, 2019 12:53pm 12:53 pm

My list of silly fears is:
-Mirrors at night (because you never know when some spirit or Bloody Mary will decide to use it as their portal and show up in your mirror).
-Space. It’s so huge and unending and that terrifies me!
-Tripping and knocking out my front teeth. I hadn’t thought about that until I saw others mention it and was like “Yup!” But is that really a silly fear? It could happen.
-Fiberglass insulation. I’m low-key nervous about it and I know it’s because my dad told me when I was little that it was made of tiny shards of glass.
–Having my closet door ajar at night. Again, portals. Not gonna tempt the monsters!

This is an odd one, but ever since I discovered that there is a creature like Bigfoot called a Dogman (a huge wolf-like creature that walks on two legs) that a surprising amount of people have claimed to have seen, I’m much more nervous about the woods. It’s infamous in my home state and I’m glad I didn’t know about it while growing up in the woods!

Chelsey

Reply to Erin

April 29, 2019 10:27pm 10:27 pm

Ditto on OUTER SPACE. It’s weird…actual space, planets, stars, etc. don’t bother me at all. I have a real fear of being sent into space, having to ride a spaceship, living in space, etc.! Like if our planet wasn’t viable and we all had to evacuate to space/another planet, I’d just be like…nah I’ll stay here. It’s my main motivator for taking care of our planet :) :) REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE OR SPACEEEEE

Shannon Thompson

April 25, 2019 12:42pm 12:42 pm

Sharks. In the deep end of the pool.

Liz

Reply to Shannon Thompson

April 25, 2019 1:45pm 1:45 pm

LOL LOL LOL I have this same fear! Also swimming in a pool at night for the same reason.

Joanna

Reply to Shannon Thompson

April 25, 2019 10:14pm 10:14 pm

Me too! My sister and I only progressed to a certain point in swim lessons – the level that would have required us to swim full laps in the deep end. Nope, not doing it.

Charlotte Longenecker

Reply to Shannon Thompson

April 27, 2019 7:12am 7:12 am

Same here! I thought I was the only one.

Anonymous

April 25, 2019 12:24pm 12:24 pm

Ok, this might be a rather controversial comment seeing as I know some of y’all here are his fans, but here goes: I have a horror of watching Jamie Oliver cook!

I once watched this video of him making Chilled Cheesecake (which is the dumbest thing ever because it is NOT cheesecake in any sense of the word — true cheesecake is either baked or set with gelatin in the fridge, not the freezer as per his recipe — his variation was basically cheesecake flavored ice cream which had only 2 textures: frozen rock solid or melted!!! Ok end ranty tangent) and half way through to separate the SIX eggs required for the recipe he STUCK HIS BARE HAND INTO THE BOWL OF RAW EGGS AND GRABBED THE YOLKS TO PUT INTO ANOTHER BOWL!!!!

Y’all, I felt physically ill. ?????? I’m sure that move required Masterchef level skills but salmonella!!!!!!

And then he proceeded to wipe his hands everywhere BUT on industrial-strength antibacterial wipe, touching all the other raw ingredients with his bare hands AND dirtied an entire kitchen’s worth of dishes. Y’all. I can accept using more than one bowl if the occasion/recipe really calls for it — as not all of us have an army of assistants to clean up after us — but not the cavalier way he does it. Also that chilled cheesecake is a criminal waste of perfectly good cream cheese.

April 25, 2019 11:39am 11:39 am

these are so funny. a similar thread of pet peeves would be entertaining too

Brynn Louise

April 25, 2019 10:29am 10:29 am

I sleep with earplugs every night and periodically I can’t immediately get one out, just for a moment I struggle to pinch it out. It instantly fills me with this TERRIFYING primal fear of having them permanently stuck in my ears–of having to go to the ER to have it removed by a doctor.

Chelsey

Reply to Brynn Louise

April 29, 2019 10:29pm 10:29 pm

I also have this but with my Diva Cup. If it takes more than a second to remove I panic that its stuck forever

Katie LeFave

April 25, 2019 9:18am 9:18 am

Orbs, especially when they are grouped together. Like a bowl of peas or those bath oil ball things. They make me cringe and feel really uncomfortable.

Tara

Reply to Katie LeFave

April 25, 2019 12:28pm 12:28 pm

thats called trypophobia and I have it too!! Like, break out into sweat and chills.

Tricia J

Reply to Katie LeFave

April 25, 2019 3:16pm 3:16 pm

Me too!! I literally can’t even.

ANN FOLEY

April 25, 2019 9:14am 9:14 am

Sunflowers. Big scary reach out and eat you sunflowers. Flowers are not supposed to be that big.

Megan

April 25, 2019 9:03am 9:03 am

Flushing toilets in airplane bathrooms. WHAT IF I GET SUCKED OUT?!

Live fish out of water. NOPE.

Annnie

Reply to Megan

April 27, 2019 10:44am 10:44 am

Live fish out of water x 2. I feel physically ill.

Jasna

April 25, 2019 3:15am 3:15 am

Glitter!! When I see those particles flying I cringe, I feel as though I am going to inhale it and die :-)

Also, the saliva thing! If someone asks to try something mine, I cannot finish it after. My friends know and never ask to share drinks. Sharing is reserved only for my kids and partner and I don’t have problem with it at all.

I also don’t share lipsticks, ever. When I hired a professional MUA to do my make-up for an occasion, I used my own lipstick and I have put it myself. I could never be a model lol :-)

Margot

April 24, 2019 10:03pm 10:03 pm

A past coworker of mine said her greatest fear is wrongful imprisonment. I’d never really thought about it before she mentioned it, but now I’m like, um yeah! Being locked up for something you didn’t do. Omg.

Amy G

April 24, 2019 9:47pm 9:47 pm

1. Something lurking under the bed. I remember being kid and my mum watching a crime procedural show, and a hand sheathed in a black leather glove poked out and grabbed a woman’s ankle as she got out of bed in the morning. I’ve never been able to get rid of that visual.
2. Sleeping without a sheet or blanket on top of me. Must have a barrier between me and whatever is lurking in the dark, which is especially laughable because isn’t a sheet the flimsiest barrier ever? For this reason, tents confuse me – how is that canvas and zipper meant to protect you from anything except rain?!
3. Frogs in toilet bowls. This is a genuine fear as I grew up in rural Australia and one year we went camping, and my aunt went to the bathroom only to have a frog jump out of the toilet bowl while she was going about her business. I just can’t.

Pip

Reply to Amy G

April 25, 2019 12:47am 12:47 am

Haha – completely get no 3. I once found a huntsman spider in my toilet bowl and I was living in inner Sydney! I definitely always check now ;)

Alexandra

Reply to Amy G

April 25, 2019 11:48am 11:48 am

I’ve had the frog thing happen to me! I was traveling in Africa, went to use the toilet and suddenly something frantically jumped against me. It was a poor little frog. Such a horrifying experience.

Yulia

Reply to Amy G

May 1, 2019 2:42pm 2:42 pm

Listen to this. Once I was about to sit down on the toilet and for some reason just absently happened to look down as I did it. There I saw a small soft squishy tree frog peacably sitting on the rim. It hadn’t been there a moment ago. If I hadn’t looked down again all those years ago, I would have killed an innocent creature with my butt. Imagine this happening to you. The unexpected squish. The puzzled discovery. The horrific shock. THE CLEANUP. :(

Ashley G.

April 24, 2019 9:20pm 9:20 pm

Does my work email count? For some reason, once I leave the office, I’m too afraid to open my work email on my phone. It’s not about just not wanting to do any work after hours. It’s truly being afraid of what kind of emails I’ll receive. And there’s never been an email that’s been so bad to warrant this fear. I can’t explain it.

Also, balloons. HELL. NO.

Amy G

Reply to Ashley G.

April 25, 2019 8:41am 8:41 am

Yes! I have the email thing as well, and I think it’s because I know I’ll stew on whatever I find in there and ruin my time away from the office.

rachel

Reply to Ashley G.

April 27, 2019 12:58am 12:58 am

i also LOATHE balloons!!!

Amy

April 24, 2019 8:32pm 8:32 pm

Sharks (I live in Michigan—what?!). Decapitation (highly unlikely). Loose teeth (on anyone, even age appropriate kids). Weird bumps on leaves (which I now know are due to parasites which cause the tree to form galls on the leaves, still ew). Clusters of small eggs (as in frog, spider, etc.).

Jessica

Reply to Amy

April 25, 2019 9:23am 9:23 am

I once found this cluster of tiny white eggs, all attached to very fine tendrils of what looked like hair, attached to my car’s side view mirror! It was awful, I couldn’t drive without seeing them every time I looked in the driver’s side mirror and I did NOT want to think about those minuscule eggs potentially detaching and flying everywhere once the car picked up speed!! Something about them gave me the *creeps*.

Sarah M.

Reply to Amy

April 25, 2019 3:25pm 3:25 pm

I can not handle missing teeth. Whenever a friend posts a FB picture of their kid holding up the tooth they just lost, I have to block the picture with my hand while I navigate to the menu feature that “hides the post permanently.”

Leah

April 24, 2019 8:28pm 8:28 pm

A snake or a rat coming up through the toilet or tub drain. It happens. My plumber said it happened to him when his dog went nuts one night and he heard splashing around in his toilet. Lifted the lid – rat. Aghhhhhhhhh! My across the street neighbor had a snake come up through his tub drain. Seriously. No. No. No.

Diana

Reply to Leah

April 25, 2019 10:06am 10:06 am

My grandma told me a rat came up in her toilet in her house in Florida and every time I use the bathroom there (to this day… and I’m 37) I shut the lid and RUN when I flush! Only in Florida though!

Sue

Reply to Leah

April 25, 2019 12:16pm 12:16 pm

Ugh, yes. I worry about this too. An old X-Files episode had rats swarming out of a toilet, and later some weird monster/human creature also came out of the toilet. So scary.

Mia

Reply to Leah

April 27, 2019 2:03am 2:03 am

Yep. I found a live rat in my toilet 2 years ago when I lifted the toilet lid to do my business. I thank my lucky stars I saw it before I say down! I definitely screamed and was frozen in shock and fear.

stephanie

April 24, 2019 8:16pm 8:16 pm

TICKS. disgusting little (real) monsters

Sarah

April 24, 2019 8:11pm 8:11 pm

33 years old, and I still have to try and calm myself every time I swim over a drain/vent in a swimming pool. My heart starts to beat faster, I miraculously pick up speed, and find myself arcing to the opposite side as the vent. I am positive this harks back to watching James Bond movies as a kid (specifically the one where sharks are released into the swimming pool).

Addy Emery

April 24, 2019 7:34pm 7:34 pm

When I was in elementary school, I played recreational soccer, and every time we had a game – without fail – the soccer ball would find a way to hit me square in the face and give me a bloody nose. Now, anytime a ball or something is thrown near me, I flinch and close my eyes in anticipation.

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