Category: Let's talk
Hi all:
This is a really strange question, but is anyone else afraid (and I mean, really afraid) of going into and being garages/basements/cellars/sheds etc.?
It's a fear I've had since childhood (probably since I was about 7 or 8, I do remember being younger and being absolutely fine with those kinds of places). I'm now 22, and I feel like such a baby! I know it's irrational, I know nothing is going to get me, and I know I'm not going to stay in there forever... and still, I get so panicked if I have to go into one (if my aunt asks me to get something for her, for example), that I'll either freeze or start spontaniously screaming - that's not an exaggeration!
So, now that I've revealed my total insanity to the world at large, any ideas?
Thanks!
Hmm, I wish I had some good advice but I don't. Don't feel embarrassed though. I think each of us has a strange or irrational phobia whether we admit to it or not.
I personally am petrified of latex baloons and silly string.
I've never felt that afraid of the places you've mentioned, but I've always found them to be creepy. I don't like to stay in any of them for too long. But don't be embarrassed about it; Like the previous poster said, everyone has some fears that could be deemed absurd. I'm afraid of birds and other flying living things--so bugs, etcetera. I feel extremely uncomfortable with them, to the point at which I want to run when they happen to be around. I should add I'm also 22 years old. So don't be totally embarrassed.
I wish I had advice for you, but I don't. It's hard to give advice when I have a problem of my own and that's the fear of public bathrooms and toilets. I'm sort of a germaphobe and I always have this mental image of the toilet sucking me down into this lost land.
So, yeah...
It's actually pretty common to be afraid of any of those sorts of places.
If you want to face down the fear, only step inside it when the door is open, and start by only stepping inside the threshold.
Also, there is a difference between outright terror / the stuff of phobias, and the general feeling of creepy or even disgust.
Also not every single phobia has to be conquered. You just have to decide if the effort is worth the results. I've never studied psychology, so I leave the finer points to people in that field. But to be honest, even though I myself tend to function best as kind of a bad-ass, there are things I absolutely find either highly disturbing or one could even say frightening, and they are things many people find completely harmless or some would call adorable. But since I don't have to work with them, I don't have to be around them, and the effort to rid myself of that particular thing has been rather extraordinary with nil results, I simply gave up almost 2 decades ago and avoid running into them. It's all in how you deal with the situation, and what works for you, or takes you as close to where you want to go as possible.
Sorry I have no good advice, but don't feel like you're alone. I have known / heard of other people with the same fear. Leo, as always, gives some good advice. I am also comforted to discover that I'm not the only nut job on the planet who is terrified of balloons. It's such a stupid thing to be afraid of, but alas, they scare the hell out of me. Go figure. I am also afraid of electricity to the point that I have to give myself a good pep talk before I can plug something into a socket or change a lightbulb. I've gotten better on that one over the years out of necessity and simply forcing myself to confront my fear by plugging stuff in instead of asking someone else to do it.
I've known a few who were afraid of balloons.
And, I know quite a few who are afraid of electricity. One I knew was afraid enough she could not tolerate the idea of someone taking an electrical appliance or other electric device apart in front of her, unless she could see the plug was away from the wall outlet. Electricity is not one of those things I'm afraid of, though the wife probably wishes I was a little more on some occasions. And I actually have been hit bad before: any of you messed with a tube amp, a 6l6 tube from sonething like a Hammond B3 organ you know exactly what I'm talking about.
The only outlets that do give me pause are the dryer or oven outlets with 240 volts and twice the normal amperage, but those should.
Anyway I think both the balloons and the electricity are pretty common also.
A fear of electricity actually makes sense. Do lightening storms bother you as well? Just curious.
The fear of baloons is called Globaphobia. I did research on it when my son was a toddler and obsessed with the evil little things.
i used to be very afraid of balloons. Maybe is the fact that i don't really see them, and sometime they pop in front of me, its rather scarry.
Seconding Leo here. We all have our phobias, and small steps with repeated exposure, plus positive rewards, can help calm your mind.
Going into basements does creep me out, but I wouldn't call it a phobia. I can make myself do it, especially in the daytime, but if I have to go into a basement at night, even my own, my heart will be racing the whole time...Still, I have forced myself to do it, and I'm just saying this because you're definitely not alone.
I'm not sure why it bothers me more at night. I think it has something to do with the fact I'm always afraid that the light will go out when I'm down there, and I'll get trapped. Lol not exactly a rational thought, but I do have a very limited amount of vision, and in my basement where there's so much junk even a sighted person could risk breaking their neck, I guess it kind of makes sense why I would think that. But while I'm thinking about it, that brings me to another point. I happen to be very sensitive to light, so at night I tend not to turn lights on in my room. To me, my computer monitor is enough. But if someone unexpectedly turns a light on, it does trigger a reaction in me a lot like fear. Of course, it only lasts a few seconds, but I've always wondered why that happens.
As for completely irrational fears I do have, when I was a kid, I used to hate the sound of certain appliances, like the vacuum cleaner or the mixer. So when my mom would use one of them, I would literally hide in a closet until she was done. To this day I still don't like handling either appliance. Again, I've certainly made myself do it, but it's definitely a relief when I'm done.
Basements are spooky places. If you think your fear's crazy, which as far as I'm concerned it isn't, I have a family friend I've known since I was a baby. And I was afraid of her sneezing. Yes, you read that right. And they weren't even that noisy.
Glad I'm not the only one that was afraid of the Vacuum Cleaner. Todays Vacuums have gotten quieter so their not as scarry. When I was a kid I used to think that vacuums could suck up people. Use to be afraid of electricity, until someone told me you could not die from 120 volts. Thunder storms was something as a kid was never afraid, but as an adult I am more afraid because I'm in many situations that their is no one around.
Yes, I'm afraid of lightening too. It bothers me more now that I can't see it. I don't know why. It's not like seeing it is going to help me get out of the way, but I always felt better being able to see when it was getting close. Now I just feel like a target every time I'm out in the rain. Not knowing makes it much worse.
Okay, I'll admit I'm laughing at the people with fears of garages/sheds, electricity, and balloons, but I have several strange fears. I am afraid of plants of any kind excluding grass, I'm borderline hydrophobic, and I am also afraid of papers or rather rifling through any kind of papers or pages. The plant phobia started when I was about 2, before I lost my sight completely. One day, I looked at the vase of flowers on our dinner table, and I thought they looked extremely ugly. My sister pulled one from the vase and chased me around the house with it. I had nightmares for a month straight! In these nightmares, I was sitting in the midst of a lawn, and flowers with very large heads would come at me. Their petals would spread, and there would be teeth in the middle. In very high pitched voices, they would say that I looked so scrumptious, and they were going to eat me. Just writing about it scares the hell out of me.
I don't completely fear water, but I loath any part of me being submerged in it, or hearing water pool or accumulate. I also hate the smell of water from the pipes. I will not provide detailed descriptions of the two horrifying instances that led to this fear, but I'll say this: in the first, I was pushed completely under water, and in the second, I fell off an intertube.
The thing with papers just started a couple weekends ago. I was preparing a bunch of Braille materials to give them away, and got a bitchy demon of a paper cut on a magazine.
So I'm gonna need hypnotherapy for all this stuff because they all are pretty much everywhere I go.
Balloons, birds, and bugs. Been afraid of that stuff since birth. Never have seen at all, and russling from birds and bugs and popping from balloons is enough for me. Don't feel alone. I'm no neurologist or psychologist, but did read somewhere that the brain has actual allergies. One sighted girl I used to work with was scared to death of raw fish. She couldn't take them home from the store nor could she cook them.
Glad to hear about others' fear of lightning, and interesting from the vantage point of someone who had been sighted.
Ironically, I tend to view electricity as a controllable substance, at least I know how to control it, understand polarity and grounding / resistance. But lightning, while I understand how it works / the rather slim odds of actually being struck by it, still does frighten me. I guess we fear most what we cannot either fully grasp or fully control / dodge incomings.
I actually like the sounds of birds, and their flight.
I can understand fears of lightning and electricity. They can hurt you or kill you if you're not carefl. I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm afraid of electricity but I am extremely wary of it, especially when you've got a cord frayed enough that you actually hear the electricity sound when you plug it in. It's not just in the movies, even though they often exaggerate it there.
I can understand a lot of these fears but I don't have any of them. Maybe because I have a tiny bit of sight that means i'm not so scared of stuff like baloons. I actually used to laugh when they got blown up, and when you let them go the farting noise they make still makes me laugh. Totally childish most likely but just being honest y'all.
Ah yeah everyone likes that farting noise I know plenty who do. Hell farting apps on the iOS app store were the most popular.
i'm pretty scared of large leafed plants myself. normal trees or stuff like that no problem but if a plant has really big or long leaves it scares me so much i cower away from them and do everything i can to avoid the area afterwords.
While I am not afraid of ANY of these things mentioned above... I am terrified of and disgusted by....
Ants!
This stems from an instance when I was about 12, when I was sitting on the grass having a picnic and felt all these crawly thigns on my legs... up my shorts... etc.... turned out I had sat on an ant hill!
Even now just thinking about it my skin is crawling!
Kate
I am not generally afraid or creeped out by places such as those but very echoy bathrroms especially the public ones that are empty or if it's at night or both. that is truely creepy. And, especially when I have to flush the toilet that loud noise in there or my foot steps or the idea that something that might and will echo. I just can't deal with it like the one in my dorm. I litterally run out of that place and in to my room. even if I am out, somehow I am afraid of something like a demon or something, chasing me out, for some reason, even rationally if I knew there is actually nothing physically there or could actually hide, I am afraid. I am also afraid of those places in general public bathrooms especially because of germs and stuff like that, I am a little germophobic.
but I am also a little afraid of balloons too, however not very much though, just a very little. not when they are all the way inflated though. That fear is mostly when they are somewhat deflated. it's just that sort of kind of deflated wrinkly feel. it just feels not so great, so I don't like them. but otherwise no.
I am really afraid of dogs and most other animals and won't really go near them.
I am also afraid of death which is pretty normal.
Ah yes, dogs, the genetically modified wolves. Not really my thing either.
The plant thing I haven't heard of. Do we have the Little Shop of Horrors to blame for that one? lol
actually blame the banana tree i used to have when i was little, scared me half to death from it's huge leaves.
Balloons annoy me for some reason.
Innatimant things don't bother me at all.
However, rats/mice drive me up the wall. I was a psych student in college and we had to do white rat studies. I was hoping to get my lab pardner to pick them up--I actually stayed awake all night the night before our first experiment. Right before we went to get our rats she said, "I hope you'll pick it up, I can't sttand them." I was hoping to date her, so I said "no problem," and she said "Then why is your hand shaking?"
I did it anyway and didn't die, though the sucker tried to bite me twice.
Bob
Aww, poor Bob! but congrats for doing it!
Bugs freak me out. The buzzing..flying..ugh!! EWW! I am very scared of them even if it is a fly I feel the need to run..and I do. your fear is nothing to be ashamed about..I really don't like basements and find them creepy as well.
I never thought I would say this, but I am now terrified of squirrels. We had a family of them living in our attic up until my husband sprayed mama with a hose. They're gone now. LOL
I guess it kind of makes sense how people would be afraid of rodents and bugs. Rodents can carry rabies, and certain insects can either harm you or are just downright disgusting. I never was afraid of that stuff, but of course I don't like them, either. No, I guess that would make too much sense, lol. leave it to me to have the weirdest fears.
I'm terrified of escalators because I almost fell down one several years ago. I'll use them if there are no stairs or elevator around but I don't like them at all.
I know y'all are gona laugh against my scare.
Mine is lakes, ocean, waves, like water places are scary to me. That too during the night time only.
Raaj.
I am frightened of all kinds of insects and wet toilet paper. The wet toilet paper sounds strange, but that is the way it goes!
My younger brother is the cause of this.
When I was little, my sister and I would go for a walk. She would take me to the doll hospital where we live. Every time we would enter in there, I would panic and we just had to get out.
The building was pretty big. I guess at that time I was scared of going inside big buildings.
Never feel embarrassed of your fears!
Wow, thanks a million everybody!
I'm sorry I won't reply individually because I'm short on time, but thank you all so much! I have to admit I've never heard of anyone before now who was afraid of balloons, interesting!
My Mum's friend is terrified of rabbits... never understood what it is about them that scares her...
I'm not mad about water either, so you're not the only one!!
I totally agree with the idea of slow exposure suggested above - my boyfriend is going to help me with it, so hopefully that'll help!! :)
Hmm, let's see, first off, I am terrified of lightning. I hate lightning storms in general but I don't mind them so much if I'm indoors whether I'm alone or not But you can forget about me ever going outside when I hear thunder even if it sounds far enough away that it's just a rumble. If I'm outside and I hear it I have to go in immediately, no lingering around for anything whatsoever. I'm always afraid I'm going to be put in a situation where I can't take over anywhere fast enough. But this is where it gets weird. I once was caught in the shower when it started to storm and well, I was more terrified than anything. And from then on, even if it's perfetly bright and sunny out and no chance of a storm whatsoever, I always always get nervous every time I get in the shower. It's like I have this irrational fear that lightning is somehow just going to come down out of nowhere and zap me because I'm in the shower with water streaming down on me. In fact I'm so terrified of it that sometimes I find myself wondering if I'm destined to be struck by it sometime because even though they say the chances are slim to none I just feel like it could come at me any time whenever I'm exposed to a storm, especially since it's one of those things we have absolutely no control over... Heck, I feel weird just writing it now cause it probably sounds so bazarre...
Next, scorpions. I don't know why I don't mind spiders at all, since those are what people freek out over the most, but scorpions just disgust me to no end. When I was a child in Mexico my grandparents would take me to visit family out in the country, and the environment there along with the stuff the houses were made with somehow seemed to attract them like bees and honey. People were always getting stung, and in fact my paternal grandmother had a daughter that died from it when she was only two years old. but anyway, when I was four or so we were visiting my great grandparents and I was sitting in the kitchen with my grandmother one night while she fixed me a bowl of cereal. Then all of a sudden I heard her say something like oh my, what a scorpion. I suddenly had a crazy image that it popped up out of the floor and that it was right there in front of me so I panicked until she said let me kill it before it stings you. I've always heard they like to hide under and inside places so even as a teenager when I would get to go back there and visit again I always had this nasty feeling when I would sit on a couch that I might feel one get me from inside it...
As a result I'm also scared of going into closets where stuff has been stored and reaching into boxes or corners to look for something...
My new girlfriend's six-year-old daughter seems to be deathly afraid of all insects, but she goes back and fort on that score from one day to the next it sometimes seems. One minute she loves butterflies and wants to catch them. Then the next she's afraid it's going to hurt her. I can understand her being wary of bees since bees can sting, but generally speaking a bee won't bother you if you don't bother it, and even if one should happen to land on you it won't necessarily sting you unless you startle it. And I can also understand her freaking out about spiders since many varieties are poisonous enough to be dangerous to us. But she'll clam up and refuse to do something if it involves going near an insect even if said insect isn't actually near whatever it was she was supposed to do. For instance I just went camping with them last weekend and of course the bugs were out in force. Well Sandra always makes sure that Grace helps make and break each camp whenever they go for these outings. So she helps set up the tent and bring in the bedding and arrange it for use. Well if a bug should happen to get into the tent, even if it's just a harmless butterfly, Grace will refuse point blank to do what she was told unless and until Sandra catches and removes the bug, regardless of whether or not the bug would actually be in Grace's way. Yet as I said the very next moment Grace thinks butterflies are the prettiest and coolest things in the world and wants to catch them. Sandra's admitted that this behavior could partly be her own fault since she told Grace that some flies do in fact bite. Now Grace has it in her head that any fly will bite her if she so much as goes near it. So whenthe time came to break camp and go home this last Monday, we started gathering up everything we'd brought. Well naturally this involved going in and out of the tent repeatedly, which in turn meant that it was left open for easy access. Well Grace was evidently having a bad morning because she constantly thought that the tent was full of bumblebees and that they weregoing to bite her butt. So she refused to go in to grab the sleeping bags, blankets and sleeping mats we'd been using to the point where I thought Sandra was going to lose her head. And while she does have a temper I don't think it's really a very serious problem and certainly nowhere near as bad as my last major partner. But Grace's behavior on Monday definitely pushed her pretty close to the limit.I can understand being afraid of insects but after all it wasn't as though Sandra was asking her to packt them up and take them home with us.
musicgirl, I don't think it's weird. There are some practical explanations for how lightning works that may help you. Fear of lightning outside is not as irrational as most people tell themselves it is, though of course being near the lowest point, under an awning or something, is better than being straight out in it.
The short version is that lightning - like all electricity - actually heads towards the shortest path to the ground. The shortest path is not a whole ton of empty air leading through insulation, wood and concrete, and then into your shower. Wet or dry, ironically, a shower is one of the more unlikely places for lightning to find you.
The head is above you, yes, but if you took the wall off next to it and followed the pipe from the head to the intake the water main where it's coming in), it's all close to the ground and under ground. In order for the lightning to start to begin with, the two fronts - warm and cold front- have to meet, providing a bridge of water vapor for it to ark across. In order for it to reach us most of the time, it travels down an object (splitting a tree in half, a lightning rod, etc., to get towards the ground. It's most likely to strike you if you happen to be in its trajectory, out in the open, with no other higher points between its source and the ground. This is why most lightning strikes I read about living in Florida happened on golf courses and on the beach. Both are big open places. Your Western stories of lightning under the big sky on the prairies? Same thing: Big open spaces / rolling hills.
There are so many easier ways for lightning to reach the ground than to try and traverse your roof, ceiling, wall, (through material that doesn't conduct electricity), down into your shower. Electricity, water, wind, even flame, follows the path of least resistance. Obviously for each, what makes up least resistance is different. But for lightning, it's the most direct route into the earth from its source where the warm and cold fronts merge.
There's a lot you can read about this and understand how it works. Hoping this can actually help some, sounds like a fear of the unknown more than a phobia but I am not a shrink of any sort.
I figured it was highly unlikely, but I guess when you're afraid of something it's hard to stop and think about the logic behind things... And having lived in Florida most of my life with family that likes to go to the beach in the summer time I came to dread those summer afternoon thunderstorms...
I suppose the same thing could be said of my GF's daughter andher fear of insects. All they're really concerned with is staying alive. So unless it's a hungry horse fly that's specifically out for food it's most likely not going to bother you unless you bother it. And even then it most likely won't hurt you if you don't try to touch it directly. Sandra's favorite method is to take a plastic water bottle that has ust a bit of water in it and, if the bug landed ont he wall of the tent, run the mouth of the bottle along the wall until se caught the bug. The water inside the bottle would prevent the bug from flying away until Sandra was able to carryit outside and turn it loose. But of course Grace, being a child and also scared out of her wits (or so she'd like us to believe), tends not to think logically about the situation when she sees a bug.
Kids are like that though. As an adult, even if you have an irrational fear, you tend not to make a scene about it, unless it's a legitimate phobia, but even so, most people are very ashamed of those and go out of their way to hide them. But a child doesn't have the emotional control or experience to understand that sometimes throwing a fit isn't the best way to express themselves. For them, it's showing their distress in the only way they know how. And it sounds to me like maybe your girlfriend's daughter might have a true phobia. But then again, kids also go through a lot of phases, so who knows? In a year or two she might just grow out of it.
music you're not the only one, when I am in the shower, I try not to think about an earthquake, bigger then a 3 or something like that, true ones that can be bad. we're very earthquake prone here, so I freak out everytime I think about earthquakes, same with toilets. It's never happened to me, but the thought of sitting through an earthquake in the toilet or in the shower frightens me.
I know this topic is kind of old but I needed to put down some fears:
When I was yung I used to have the plant thing but don't really no why. I am afraid of certain types of animals like bears but I guess that's normal as they can harm you. Oh and when I was yung, I had a teacher who wanted to see if I could walk downstairs without my cane and I fell. I still have nightmares about it...falling from high up...ack! I was afraid of empty stairwells. This comes and goes for some reason.
Bea, that is incredible about the brain having alergies. I've got to look into this.
I hate balloons. Milar ones are fine, but latex ones are terrifying. I'm not as scared of them as I was when I was little, but I still hate them. It's not just there popping, it's there feel too. The person who talked about a partially deflated, wrinkly balloon... Ggggyyyyyyaaagggg!
And, I used to have many a nightmare about vacuum cleaners. The one I remember is of a vacuum cleaner chasing me, and when it didn't catch me, trying to reach me on the bed with it's hose.
EEWW, and don't forget about their smell, and the sound they make when rubbing together. Ick! I had to ride to a birthday party the other day with my son and a friend of his in a car filled with baloons. There's just nothing good about baloons in my book. lol Like you said, milars are ok but laytex, oooooooooooooo!
Their definitely worse when they're all wrinkly and deflated too.
I can see where you're coming from about the vacuum. I didn't like them when I was little either. It wasn't necessarily a phobia but I always made sure I was up on the couch with my feet tucked snuggly benieth me. I hated it when I had to start vacuuming at about age 11 because once I sucked up a penny and it made a horrible noise.
Bees, wasps, anything that stings. And electricity in general. Oh and I don't ever want to get on a plane again because I've been having plane crash dreams for a few years now. I'll be sitting there and all of a sudden, no engine noise.
Yes me too. I have horrible anxiety about airplanes. I loved them when I was little but forget it! I used to also hate the sound of a siren but I think that was because I'd stay up and watch horror movies where the music got all creepy. I also had this thing with fans. It comes and goes now but it used to be that I'd make sure a fan was off when I went into a room.
The Twilight Zone music used to scare the shit out of me.
Talking about scary music, do any of ayall remember that show The Hitchhiker that used to come on HBO in the 80's? That was some scary music.
During my teens, I had several dreams about fire that were so scary and realistic that I can still remember most of them. I don't necessarily have a fear of it but I'm close.
I've always had a problem with fire alarms for some odd reason.
Me too. In fact, sometimes I'll suddenly jolt awake at night, thinking I hear one.
I've done that. Isn't it odd how the blind seem to have sensory-based fears? Meaning audio of course but I guess we can't see it so that's all we have. I once had this fear of tree frogs along time ago. The damn thing stuck to my face and I slung it against the wall. Obviously it is sense of toutch in that case. I think the sucktion freaked me out.
EEWW! That would have freaked me out too.
Oh man, yeah, balloon smell is bad, and the squeaking.
If you have a really bad balloon phobia, you may not want to read the next sentence I'm about to post. I read on a website that you can get a big balloon, put a penny in it, blow it up, and then swing the balloon in a circle and it will make a screaming sound.
I also forgot to mention, I have a weird fear of dumpsters. It only started about 10 years ago.
EEWW, that's physically made me crenge.
I want a screaming balloon.
I think that'd be funny, actually. will have to try it sometime.
I know. I kinda wanna try it just to see if it'd work but the thought of doing so just makes me crazy. lol
Certain sounds used to make me cringe but I wouldn't call it a fear really. Buzzers and alarms, noises close to my face...yuck.
I think the reason sound or texture-based fears are so strange to people who aren't blind, is the visual kind of takes over. If I could through a series of pyrotechnic parlor tricks cause it to look like fireballs were shooting out of the walls over their heads, they also would become frightened, just as you might with some sounds. Or if I made it look like a blade was zipping down and preparing to cut their head off, they might logically know it's an illusion but still be frightened, just like some monstrous sounds could frighten us. It's all a matter of perspective: they simply have not been properly tested to the same levels that we have.
Leo, excelent observations and points.
So, if you could get to work on that fireballs coming out of the walls thing, that'd just be super. lol
OK, here we go. I'm scared of ambulance sound. that's since when my dad got sick and rushed to the hospital by an ambulance. Also my younger bro.
Whenever if I get to hear an ambulance sound, I close my eyes automatically.
Raaj.
Interesting reaction...closing your eyes to a sound. But I used to cringe when I heard that sound.
I thought I was the only one who hated fire alarms. But I remember how, when I was going to the school for the blind, they used to set off a fire drill in the middle of the night sometimes. I used to bolt out of my bed and run as fast as I could for the exit. There was this really old security guard who would say, "it's ok, it's just a drill. Just walk at your own pace." I would be like, "fuck that, I need to get away from this horrible sound." Plus, since I have light perception, I could see those pulsating lights on the ceiling...ack.
ug I hate those things! You actually did the right thing. I would have put the covers over my head and perhaps the pillow as well. And I would have been sweating.
Trust me, I was sweating the whole time. My goal was to get as far away from that sound as possible. And when we were cleared to come back inside, I didn't sleep at all afterwards. My heart was racing too much.
I had the same experience, Shattered. The Colorado braille jail. Pissed me off because when it was over, I couldn't get back to sleep.
okay it seems you might have a creative and paranoid mind . i have the same fear and i have a creative and paranoid. its a curse and a blessing at the same time. i don't know what i can tell you about getting over this fear but i am hear to say your not alone.
the way i get over going to the garage is that i go quickly and try to not let the thoughts overwhelm me.
i also do something a little strange but thats a secret i am not willing to share yet.
Creative and peranoid mind? Never heard that one but I think I understand what you mean. It would explain why certain fears come and go.
Talk about scary music, I remember that for a short time when I was in High School the theme song from Rescue 911 used to scare me. Yet I absolutely loved the show.
Speaking of scary music, another thing that scared the crap out of me as a kid was when I would be listening to a tape, and the tape player would decide to eat it. I cringe just thinking about it. That sound would absolutely terrify me.
EEWW, not only that but the feel of all that tape all tangle up. Ick!
That didn't bother me so much. One of my earliest memories, I must have been about 3 at the time, involves me taking a tape and deliberately pulling all the stuff out of it. I guess I wanted to see how much was in it, lol.
Eww I hated that sound!
I was afraid of the sound of a vacuum cleaner motor burning out. I still am to some degree. Another musical piece that scared me was In The Hall Of The Mountain King.
It gives me anxiety but it's not a fear but I can see that.
in the hall of the mountain king is just creepy, as is the song go down moses, gives me the shivers.
I know what you mean about cellars, kind of. When i was little i used to be mortally afraid of going down mines and of chinies and still am of fire.
Balloons creep me out kind of like nails on a chalkboard does. I can deal with them, but I'd really rather not whenever possible. Water balloons don't bother me, though. turns out I'm alergic to latex anyway, so I have an excuse to avoid balloons.
Loud noises have always bothered me since early childhood, and I have no earthly idea why. The older I've gotten, the easier they've become to deal with, but there are still those certain noises that I'd rather avoid, like...fire alarms. good thing those usually mean get the hell out of the building, anyway. I've actually tried a bit of self-therapy with this one, if you will, by distracting myself with an engaging activity if I anticipate a loud noise. More often than not, it helps.
I also have a fear, for some reason, of losing consciousness. That moment when I slip from wakefulness to unconsciousness is really what scares me. When I got my wisdom teeth out a few months ago, and they put me under, I was more scared of that than the IV. they gave me a sedative first, so I really didn't care by the time they actually put me to sleep. I knew this before hand, and still, that anticipation always bothered me. I think, in most cases, the anticipation is really the worst part of any fear. I.E. a balloon doesn't bother me if I don't know it's there, a loud noise doesn't bother me if I don't know it's coming, and...I've honestly never fainted in my life before, though I can imagine it would be the same with that, too.
I've done the self-therapy thing. Sometimes it helps and sometimes it doesn't.
yeah. the problem with that is that you kind of have to stop thinking about it like you're doing self therapy, and just think of it as more of a casual, normal, every day activity.
Yup, it's tough.
Old old topic, but...
Oh God, I thought I was the only crazy one who hated fire alarms. I never liked them, but last semester, the fire alarm in my dorm went off around midnight. I had a low-grade fever and bad cold at the time, and was in a troubled sleep. It's a relatively inoffensive sound as alarms go--not a buzz or whine, just a pinging sound--but perhaps because of the fever and the shock, it scared me so much that I apparently lunged towards my partner who was in bed with me, and let out this wordless, inarticulate sound of terror and panic. He basically had to shepherd me out of the building, I was so confused and scared. It took me almost an hour to calm down after that and ever since then I've dreaded that fire alarm. Shows up in my dreams.
Also, tapes being eaten scared me silly as a child. Yuck.
EEWW, I didn't like it when tapes got eaten either and all that tape would come out. eeeewwww.
Fire alarms don't scare me, as such, but they can startle me. That incident Meglet mentioned was...weird, put it that way. We were both sick, I was half-asleep and the first thing I said when the damn thing went off was, "Christ, what's that?" The next few minutes were odd, let's just say that. Loud sounds like that can make me nervous.
I've been to so many houses that have basements that I'm not really afraid of them, particularly not finished basements. If they're rough, all bets are off, and I usually try and get in and out as fast as I can...not because I'm frightened, exactly, but because they make me a little uneasy.
I'm afraid of unprotected heights; in a tall building, on a roller-coaster, in a plane, I'm fine, but put me on a diving board or a cliff-edge or something and I get really really nervous unless I can either sit down or have something to hold onto. Flying bugs that sting make me profoundly nervous, and I'm scared, of all things, of jellyfish. They make no noise, and I came within about four inches of being stung in the face while swimming in the ocean once. Ugh.
I've also had bad dreams and stuff about a tape player eating cassettes...the speech going all distorted and things. In fact, I had a recurring nightmare where this particular sound presaged the arrival of the true terror, a little winged creature which would hold me down and then scream or sing into my ear at high volume. Very odd, I know.
Oh oh, forgot one. I had a very specific fear not too long ago, which I have since conquered, thankfully This fear was of a particular song...I was shown it, listened to it, got frightened and then sort of shook myself and decided I didn't want to be afraid of it. The first time I heard it, it was 7 pm, in England, and I was sitting in my ex's living room next to her, with her mom and stepdad also in attendance. To get myself over the fear, I somehow managed to listen to this song with headphones, very late at night, while alone, until it stopped scaring me. I kind of took the thing apart, realized it was sort of engineered to disgust or frighten or otherwise unnerve people, and ever since then, it does little more than make me a bit uneasy.
Gaaaaah, I still won't go near it.
Ok, so your post totally creeped me out. lmao. I'm probably gunna dream about a little winged thing yelling in my ear tonight.
What's the song? Now I gotta hear it.
I used to have nightmares about my CCTV screen not turning off even when itwas unplugged. Even to this day, malfunctioning screens oog me out. Wierd, I know. Probably I watched Poltergeist one too many times as a kid but dang.
My netbook currently has a malfunctioning screen. It just displays vertical lines. Every now and then it gives me the heebiegeebies.
This is a great topic and I'm actually glad to see it come back up. I think it's interesting how many of us are ooged out by the same things.
To the last poster: Right, so, I'll tell you what it is; but trust me, if you're easily disturbed (or even moderately vulnerable to being creeped out by soundscapes) do not look this up. I'm serious. Don't. I did, and I didn't sleep properly for a week. I still get twitchy when it's mentioned directly. I'm not horribly easy to creep out, either. So here goes: Hamburger Lady. Again...don't look it up lightly, and definitely not at night, alone, if you're faint hearted.
I'm glad you like this topic and dont' mind that I brought it back. I thought it was fascinating. Glad I'm not alone when it comes to some of this stuff.
Hmm, ok yeah that was a really wierd song. It didn't terrify me but I can sure see how it could.
There's an old movie from the early 80's called Entity that has music in it that does really freak me out so I can see how that could happen.
Look up the lyrics to it, and the letter from which it was inspired. Will challenge anyone with a dogmatic end of life attitude, but it's pretty scary, and came from a real event here in Portland in the 1960s.
Put simply, it has to do with a victim in a burn unit who was burned from the waist up, she was awake and in pain for weeks on end before she succumbed.
The letter is more explanatory than the lyrics.
He describes her as looking like a 250-pound burned meatloaf sitting on a potty chair.
I always thought that the supposed event was fictitious, but maybe I just got confused. Fictitious or not, it's still pretty horrific. For me, reading the letter and the lyrics and stuff was part of not being bothered by the damn thing.
Anyone else dislike showering in the dark? I have a little vision and I feel uneasy for some reason.
This is gonna sound silly, but when i was a little kid, i was really scared to flush the toilet at night. That growling gurrgling noise toilets make would make me think there was a monster that would burst out of the bowl and drag me down. At first I wouldn't flush if i went to the bathroom at night, then I took to just flushing and running really fast out of the bathroom and closing the door.
not sure why flushing during the day didn't bother me but i think it was because in the day i knew other people were awake and could maybe come save me if the toilet monster came up to grab me. At night i was afraid nobody would be woken up by my yells for help.
Again a silly fear but there ya go. lol
NAH< SOUNDS REASONABLE>
Ok, so knowing the origin and lyrics to Hamburger Lady, I must admit it has stayed with me. lol Nothing like the image of a burnt 250 pound meatloaf sitting on a potty chair put to some seriously creeypy music popping into my head every so often. lol
I would just get hounded by the creepy singsong "hamburger lady...hamburger lady..." not to mention the intense, drawn-out "she's dying........" when I least expect it. *shiver*
Also, that toilet fear isn't as silly as it sounds (if you use me as a measuring stick). When I was very young we had a toilet upstairs that was very loud and threatening-sounding when it flushed. I used to run away as quickly as I could after flushing and washing my hands. Ugh. Hated that thing. And, yes: it was worse at night. Also, as a very young child, I was frightened of the bathtub drain and thought it would suck me in one day.
I'm actually afraid to look up the song even though I might be fine with it. lol.
I got to thinking about the toilet fear. I wasn't really every afraid of one unless it was overflowing. That used to scare the crap out of me in elementary school. I wouldn't even go into a bathroom for days if I new one of the toilets had overflowed. Wierd, huh?
I didn't like the idea of toilets flooding, either, mostly because when I was little I didn't have a clue what to do about them.
I remember one morning something went very, very wrong with our hot water tank. After I flushed the toilet and went out of the bathroom to find breakfast, an ominous roar came from the toilet and suddenly black, steaming hot water started spewing from the toilet. I guess something backed up, I'm still not clear to this day what exactly happened. It was the most terrifying sound I've ever heard. I was lucky too because I had been trying to decide whether to shower right away or not; had I turned on the shower I'd have been very badly burned. I'll never forget how scared I was. Even my mum was screaming.
Oh that sounds horrible. Oh and I heard the song...I survived it somehow.
OMG, I would have freaked.
Yeah, you survived the song, but trust me, you'll be thinking about it for days - not necessarily freaked out, but it'll just pop up. lol Or, maybe I'm just OCD. That's a strong possibility.
I'm thinking about it now. I'm curious as to what other songs that band has done. I used to be afraid of songs like that. I had this thing with certain sounds.
I'm thinking about it now. I'm curious as to what other songs that band has done. I used to be afraid of songs like that. I had this thing with certain sounds.
I'm thinking about it now. I'm curious as to what other songs that band has done. I used to be afraid of songs like that. I had this thing with certain sounds.
I'm thinking about it now. I'm curious as to what other songs that band has done. I used to be afraid of songs like that. I had this thing with certain sounds.
I've never really gone looking, as I learned my lesson with Hamburger Lady, but I know they have others which are just as horrible in their way. Their intent, so far as I can gather, is to shock and disgust people. Like a bunch of kids on a playground getting a thrill out of torturing some unsuspecting soul. ah well, free country and all
And, nah, Domestic Goddess, I doubt you're OCD. lol
GRRR, hate it when I type out a long reply only to discover that I was in the go to page field. lol
Anyway, yeah, do a google search for "disturbing music" and you'll get all sorts of hits. I also noticed one of the comments on youttube that said Throbbing Gristle also had a song called Slug Bate that is supposed to be freaky. Just the name Throbbing Gristle oogs me out. Yuck! lol
What can I say? It was late and I was bored last night. lol
I like freaking myself out.
Slug Bait is creepy, but not to the extent that Hamburger Lady is. That one tries too hard, in my opinion. "oooh, run away from my affected zombie-like vocals...and be startled by my sudden screaming...everybody run..." Please.
Throbbing gristle also did a song called something came over me. It seemed to be about masterbating. It wasn't scarry...just really odd.
Listen to some of Coil's work, such as Ostia the Death of Pasolini.
That whole Horse Rotorvator album is pretty dark, as was Current 93's album Swastikas for Noddy.
For the young and uninformed, the term 'noddy' means silly or idiot.
A few other pieces I've found unnerving or which have stuck with me. I'll explain each just a little, but not enough to freak anyone out.
Franky Teardrop: I think the band is called Suicide. This one is...relentless and ominous. Kind of drones, and may startle you. It didn't grab me too much but it is a song that a lot of people find upsetting for some reason.
Diamanta Galas, Long Women with Steak Knives: Depending on how susceptible you are, this will either make you laugh in a "what the frig was she doing?" way, or it'll freak you right out. Gibbering vocal utterances mixed with a lot of old-school vocal mixing and some reading of a French poem about Satan...sounds ridiculous when put that way, but yeah.
The cure, Subway Song: This sounds kinda smooth and classy, but has a very sudden surprise near the end. I don't care much about it one way or the other, but I jump every time.
Hello Skinny: I misremember the artist name. This song is just...strange. Very grim and ominous, and as I said before, freakin' weird. It stuck with me but not in a way that upset me at all; it would cling a little, in the way slime or mist would cling, rather than truly haunting the average person.
Delirium Kordia, by Fantomas: This is a whole album, that's basically a soundscape. Lots of musical elements but lots of just raw sound as well; it's meant to be considered with the theme of waking during surgery, so it's not for the squeamish. Everything from humming and half-whispered scat singing to the cacophony of clocks, from dripping water to discordant piano to slow, sonorous music underlaid by the sound of someone typing on a computer. I'm not going to pretend I understand it all, but it's unsettling.
Listen to any or all of the above with the caveat that most of it has the potential to unsettle you.
I'll work on building up my nerve...
Sorry, not "long women with steak knives" but "wild women with steak knives". Don't know where the hell I was when my fingers typed that one...
Okay it makes more sense anyway.
interesting hearing about the different things that scare us and i am very scared of mice, i don't like lightning because when i hear rumbling noise i automatically think it is a earthquake.
My friend use to be afraid of using public toilets so i can understand it is scary but if you have some one go in with you i'm sure that will help you as that is what i use to do or just talking to her while she was in there helped to calm her.
Your not being like a child and you don't need to be ashamed of having a fear of some thing cause lots of people are scared of things.
Verry, verry well said indeed.
thanks, smiles
I hate hate hate stuffed animals, especially if the stuffing starts to come out of them, at least as much as some of you are afraid of buzzing bugs. It's an irrational fear and the Wife says I even get goose bumps if I run into one. Really hate those things.
So there ya go, if you thought you had a strange fear there's mine.
Oh, and why do people get so uptight about people not wanting to touch things, when people all over the world are allowed to freak out, shrink away or back off from things they don't want to look at. Even for aesthetic reasons, not always revulsion or disgust or fear, or a combination of the three.
Aww, Leo. Man, that must have been tough having a little girl because we all know how kids love their stufties. Just out of curiousity, what about pillows where the stuffing is coming out?
As for your other observation about people being able to crenge with revoltion when seeing something oogy, excelent point witch I will now use any time baloons are near. lol Seriously though, excelent observation.
She had her stuffed animals, though I will now confess I would often handle them in a plastic bag if I had to. It's that bad, yes.
And I ate stuffing, so if I run into it it's this irrational fear of it getting stuck to me or being suffocated in it. It also has this creepy undertone of uncleanness to me like it maybe contains insects.
Ok I'm not writing anymore about that lol I know the Chick is right I've had to what she calls work through that, but she is patient about it.
Worst was stepping on a wet one in the bathtub. That was bad.
I can actually get nauseous from the experience.
The way I had to deal with it was to mentally convince myself she actually liked them, that it was not forced upon her by some societal thing, and of course I never interfered with her play with them. I don't know how much she knows about it, though her mom may have talked to her some at one time she would have called it aged-appropriate or something. I just knew I'm strange for this, and for some reason really affects me bad, so I just did my part to not let it affect her.
I've honestly never met someone else with the same revulsion. I do know others who were, like me, referred to as so-called baby haters when we were younger, because the kiddy music and even the smell of those scents and things they had drive us batshit.
I never had trouble with that with the daughter because the wife had us using the hypoallergenic and scent-free things and never used that nasty powder that leaves a cloying haze in the air I remember from the 70s.
And when my baby was with me she just got watch stuff her mom might have objected to some, but that is how I managed the whole thing mainly. I never resented or anything like that. Odd or twisted as this might sound, I mainly felt sorry for her being a bay, if I am to be honest about it, and gave her access to as much non-baby things as possible, more subconsciously now, but she seemed to like all of that. Plus, her mom was into wooden and educational type toys, and me I often got her the electronic fun stuff. A bit rambly for a description of how I've dealt with it over the years, but yeah this isn't something most people even know about me.
Sorry for the typos in the last post. Looks like something was causing keys to get eaten as I typed.
*hate, not ate, that's seriously revolting as a typo, as in yes I do *hate* stuffing lol
Anyway the good out of it is I'm pretty empathetic and understanding to people's fears or people not wanting to be trapped in a situation.
I have this irrational dislike (not a fear, more of a disgust) when dealing with bits in my drink. I tried bubble tea once, and was so turned off by the giant lumps of gummy nastiness I had to apparently suck out of the straw and chew, and swallow, that I never went near the stuff again. I can do smoothies, but only if there aren't any seeds, and don't get me started on pulp in orange juice or the bits of fruit in yogurt. Ugh ugh ugh! And I never dipped my cookies in milk, because I hated the crumbs at the bottom of the glass.
I had to chime in to fill in a blank. The song "Hello Skinny" is by the Residents. A lot of their music takes some getting used to, both in the lyrics and the way it's played.
I sat through slug bate and I must admit I was covering one ear and sweating profusely.
Oh God. I just tried to listen to Slugbate and couldn't get all the way through it. When it got to the point where he got the carving knife, I knew what was coming and decided to spare myself.
None of these has even the remotest affect on me in comparison to what I wrote about earlier. I guess that goes to show how strange and diverse humans of all fears and phobias can be.
The funny thing is, it's kind of white noise but at the same time it's not.
Slugbate was creepy, but that's about it. It didn't affect me much one way or the other.
Yeah, Meglet, I agree. It didn't5 stay in my head like the other one. I was more repulsed than anything. It didn't help that I had just eaten lunch. lol
I wasn't so much afraid of it as I was verry uneasy.
It does create a feeling of unease. It sort of creeps along, I suppose. I wouldn't want to hear it at night, while walking down a dark alley or anything.
Funny, they actually have some beautiful music as well.
Really? Where where where?
Wow, really?
Can't remember if I've mentioned this before or not but if you want to hear some creepy music, do a youtube search for Hitch Hiker 1980's theme song. That used to scare me to death as a kid. Creeeeeepy.
ooo searching...
Well, maybe I'm a little late here, but I also fear baloons and big echo bathrooms. I'm also afraid of graveyards and dead boddies, I can't be around them... When I was in Mexico I was in many opened casket services and, I got to dress a dead boddy, and I've been gvaves several times but I can't be around them...
I know they won't do anything to me, I know I won't fall into a grave, but, I'm very much afraid of dead boddies.
Sorry but mn iPod is acting weard and I can't finish posting for some reason, but, I was at a laboratory in Mexico about a year ago and they had these boddies in a special fridge people we had to feel there different organs, it was different... the smell was horrable, but my science teacher said that in order for us to get a good grade we were to leard from dead boddies... I am aware that it's nat-ral, but I just imagine myself in that state and would rather stay away from them from now on... I mean I tried doing lots of things like I mentioned previously...
A big part of that fear I think comes from stories passed down by our ancestors about things that go bump in the night.
Wait, you actually had to examine dead human bodies in school?
Yeah wow what grade was this?
I agree with others: this is not a strange fear. Most people trained to work with dead bodies get training so they can handle it.
It goes against all your evolution to do this, because otherwise our ancestors might well have gotten infected from the dead. You'll see even other creatures avoid the dead of their own kind.
Even elephants who have rituals and burial customs similar in cultural relevance to humans, will avoid a dead elephant unless they are mourning it.
I think you're normal whatever that is, to be put off by this.
I don't know if I'd call it a fear but I'm extremely wary of electrical outlets, particularly if the cover happens to be missing. I haven't encountered much music that actually scared me, although the theme song to Rescue 911 did come close whenI first started watching it. Strangely perhaps this was whenI was a teenager, fifteen to be exact. But I had to overcome that since I really liked the show. Then there was also some of the music of Jean-Michel Jarre. Specifically I mean the song Oxygene part II. I think this was because it was used in a film we watched in eighth-grade Social Studies. It was a film our teacher got thinking it was about the bombing of Hiroshima. It might indeed have been a movie about that event but it wasn't the one she'd wanted and so we didn't watch it all the way through. But it was a song that creeped me out and fascinated me both at the same time. Now it's one of my favorites. LOL.
I've never heard a theme song to a TV show that I found creepy. It must be especially freaky. I want to look it up, but I think I'll wait till it's morning. haha
I don't know if it was just the music itself but also the voice clips that played during it since they were of 9-1-1 calls and rescues. Someofthe people in them could be understandably emotional.
See, I told yall baloons were evil. lol
I've never found the theme song from Rescue 911 particularly freaky or anything. But I think Brian's right...the voice clips where you hear people crying or screaming, usually muffled to hell and gone through a distorted phone, intensified it. I'd say intensity was the overall emotion evoked by that particular music, since the actual tune itself was fairly harmless on its own. It would kick my adrenaline up just a notch, but I loved that show as well.
I, too, am wary of electrical outlets, but only if there's no cover on them. I'll still use them but I'm extremely cautious.
I think what creeped me out about the theme to Rescue 911 was the very beginning and very end, those parts where the synthesizer would play that sort of rising fanfare. THen those little tunes that played when they cut to a comercial break and previewed the next story or the next part of a story would always kick up my adrenaline.
Bah, a little shot of electricity now again is good for the soul, no? Gets your heart pumping, anyway. lol
Okay, okay, so I don't much like uncovered outlets either. Got shocked by one once as a little kid. Not badly, but it was enough that I knew I never wanted to do that again if I could help it. Covered ones don't bother me even a little though.
It was actually in the begining of last year in my final year of high school in Mexico. We were taking a paramedic services class, and part of it was examening a boddy that was used for science...
Oh...That makes sense. I suppose that makes me think twice about being an organ donor. No wonder my mom looked at me like I had 8 heads when I originally put that on my ID.
Well, at least if you're an organ donor, you won't be around to know it's happening to you. I actually think it's one of the best ideas we humans ever came up with. It's not like you'll be needing them anymore, after all.
Off topic, but as an organ recipiant I highly encourage people to become donors.
The theme song to that old MTV show Daria has alway scared the shit out of me. Have a listen on youtube.
The beginning of that always startled me a bit but it didn't really scare me.
And this. They used to play it on the radio. http://www.povidi.com/yourtube/vid.py?id=36nj-TS420Y
Ah good song by white zombie. I take it you don't like loud rock?
I love rock and metal. That song's just creepy.
You want creepy, try cradle of filth. The vocal in her ghost in the fog...ack. It took me 3 or 4 times to finish the damn thing.
COF is just plain annoying. Don't like that screachy shit.
but it get's high and low and just sounds evil. I dare you to listen to the first 30 seconds and call me a coward.
That was kinda cool, actually. I'll remember to play it on Halloween.
I didn't say it wasn't cool. It is jarring though.
Oh and the Inspector Gadget theme always got me, especially that go gadget goooooo!!
Really? Loved that song and the cartoon! Even the movies weren't half bad.
Yeah, the show itself was alright.
Thought I'd revive this. I absolutely hated the texture of those little spongy foam rubber animals when I was little. And my brother would leave them on the play room floor cuzz he knew that.
Also, showering at night scared the shit out of me, until I got a shower radio. Don't like total or partial silence.
Wow, didn't realise this thread was still going!! It's really good to read about all the stuff we're all afraid of, because it makes me feel less alone. I get the foam thing, wasn't keen on that either. I've also been a bit wary of that insulation foamy stuff after I accidentally ended up knee-deep in the stuff when I was about 5... took three baths to get the itching away!
Oh man, that itchy stuff is the worst.
Speaking of freaky textures, last night one of my insolated mugs broke in the dish washer. I guess you're supposed to hand wash those. Anyway, the stuff inside of those is seriously freaky and nasty. It was wt and squishy, but textured, and just all around gross. Even my sighted son didn't like it.
About dead bodies, touching my grandfather's coffin and body when I was seven weirded me out bigtime. But it also started a lifelong fascination with all things ghoulish and morbid.