Things you were scared of when little (but got over)

[letsgomaths]

Not fears which have followed you into adulthood, but little things you remember being afraid of. I'll start:

My shoes walking away without me (I'd seen it in a cartoon).

Seeing a toilet with the seat up: it looked like a monster with a wide open mouth, and teeth (the rubber supports), and right at my eye level as well. Also, if I had to put it down myself, there was a danger that it might fall with a bang, before soft-close seats.

Sinking into mud, as if it was quicksand. My brother once lost a welly in some particularly sticky mud.

Alarm clocks, especially if they glowed in the dark, or had bells on top.

I was scared of feathers at one point in my childhood. A bit difficult to avoid because we had a budgie

Volcanoes
Werewolves
Quicksand

Piranhas...for some reason I imagined they'd be a regular issue in my day to day life

Dr Who, the dark and also the ghost of my grandma (who I never met as she died before I was born)

Oh and Jaws - never got over that and still don't like going in the sea...

The Bermuda Triangle
Piranhas
Quick sand

Flushing the toilet cos it was noisy!

I just to wash my hands, flush and run - no idea why!!!

Mice.
I was raised in a 1930s terrace. In the early 70s my sister and I shared the back bedroom - from time to time mice got in and took up residence in the built in wardrobes. We would hear them scuttling about in the night and were both terrified.
I still had the fear when, aged 24, one got into my own house. It was running around the living room. Me? I was standing on a chair in the kitchen peeking through the serving hatch, hoping that it would not get me. My partner (now DH) came home, hours later, to find me, still on the chair and in tears.
Now almost 60 I don't think I am scared of mice anymore.

Oh and spontaneous human combustion after my brother (10 years older) told me about it to scare me. I was scared to would happen to me

Ghosts! Now as an adult I’ve had what I thought were ‘encounters’ I realised they are actually sleep paralysis. Scary but not ghosts!

Creatures that are often the baddies in stories: wolves, foxes, sharks.

Lifts, especially old-fashioned ones with metal gates, instead of sliding doors.

This portrait

Thought my house would burn down.

Storms. Thunder and lightning used to terrify me. Love a good storm now though!

The devil. And horror film characters and scenarios. I'd catch a glimpse of someone being creepy and couldn't let it go. The dark. Strangers. Bugs. That stupid Kujo dog. Rats and snakes in the toilet at night. Looking in the mirror in the dark. Drinking from the sink tap. Needing to toilet in the woods....

Tree roots. I didn't trust them (how they make pavement crack??) and thought that if I walked too close they might grab me and take me under the ground to be stuck there forever

Toilets flushing, and in fact public toilets/any unfamiliar toilet. I am still a bit anxious if I'm going into one I've not been in before which is grotty, undecorated or poorly lit, for some reason. But I can actually use them now. This was cured the first time I got drunk which was in a hostel in Amsterdam on a college trip age 16!

The house burning down in the middle of the night. I still would not like this to happen but I don't think it's quite as likely as I feared when I was little.

Dogs, I understand their behaviour a bit more now and am less inclined to worry that one is randomly about to bite me.

Crossing roads. I can judge the speed of traffic ok now but I'm still overly cautious apparently.

Mirrors
Bridges, I thought they were going to break

Being sucked down the plughole when I was having a bath. I used to jump out of there so quick when my mum pulled the plug out!

This painting by Munch, in my parents' bedroom. I didn't like their expressions.

Other children playing pin the tail; it was freaky seeing them being spun round, and stumbling with their eyes covered and hands outstretched. But I didn't mind when it was my turn though. I used to try to go first, so I didn't have to watch the others play.

Dogs
Daleks
Triffids

The Yorkshire television logo

Am I the only person with MORE fears in adulthood?

Dogs. Still don't really like them but not scared of them.
The green chip glass things on graves, and walking on grass in graveyards. The paths were OK.
Nuclear apocalypse. Obviously still don't think that would be great but I dont think every plane flying overhead might be about to drop a bomb

Ladybirds
Toilet monster
But mostly...the little handheld spark machine that people used to light a gas cooker. We didn't have gas and so I don't know why we had one but I was terrified of what would happen if it 'got me'

The devil
The thought of being possessed
(Catholic upbringing)

Oh Good thread, op. I was terrified of
Nuns.
Those tall Street lights. There was one out side my bedroom window.
'Billy Wind' I used to call him. My mum said I used to say. "Take him away, I don't like Billy Wind..