Is there something completely “normal” and everyday that gives you the chills for no apparent reason?

[Dontate]

Whenever I hear the jingle from an ice cream van I get that horrible swoosh of anxiety but I just got a particularly bad one!

I was upstairs, with all the windows open, when I heard a jingle which sounded extraordinarily loud and sort of echoey. It really sent shivers down my spine and made me feel very on edge.

Is there anything relatively “everyday” which sets you off?

@GiantGoose I came here to post this and I’m massively reassured I’m not the only one

@AutistGoth

I don't like piers, either. Walking out over the sea and being able to see the sheer drop between the planks. I'm sure the gaps widen under my weight.

I don't like staircases without risers - the vertical piece between each step - either. I remember my dad once joking with me that the builders of the staircase always said to themselves: "We'll leave these gaps here so AutistGoth can fall down them!" It was a joke, but urrrghh!! [Shudders]

I hate those stairs too (and piers). My aunt had polished teak 1960s open stairs and they gave me nightmares when I was small, I was scared to go up them, and as the youngest, my sibling and my cousins would be upstairs having fun while I was frozen at the bottom of the terrifying, slippery stairs.

@MotherofPearl

Harbours Dry docks The underneath of boats and ships

I have no idea why, but all of these things give me the absolute creeps and a feeling of total dread. Very odd.

So many of us have this, just thinking of those hulls now is making me feel a bit sick. I wonder why ? Is it the size? The way they loom ? The sheer depth of the area that would be underwater ?

Yes, definitely the sheer scale of the hulls is part of it. Also a feeling of the unknown and what lurks beneath!

Chalk dust on my hands. Just no.

Stickers on apples
Used Plasters
Used face masks on the floor

This might sound mental but I find gardens that have very space out bedding plants in their borders really depressing. Especially if they are orange flowers with waxy leaves. If I walk past and see it I can feel the joy draining away from me! I feel like it's associated with unhappy homes I don't know why!

I agree PeacheyPeach those waxy Begonias with the bright orange flowers make me think of funeral homes, and the feel of the leaves is fleshy. The big blank gaps always look slightly unnatural.

People walking behind me, if we're walking together. Had to train the kids not to do this on the way to school. We looked like a line of ducks. Makes the hair stand up on my neck.

Long beards make me feel sick.

@Appletreehat. Apart from the stickers on apples same.

@APJ1

The mention of ice cream vans reminds me that I always feeling uncomfortable hearing 'Greensleeves'! I can't think of any bad association though.

I'm not a fan of Greensleeves, either- but not was my dad! No real idea why, but I wonder if it's medieval connections? That weird, odd time of short lives, superstition, violence.

Continental shelves. One moment it's sparkly clear water, coral reef, darty fish; then suddenly it drops away to 'the abyssal plain'.

Scuba diving over the edge, though you stuck close to the coral wall, you always look down into the darkness.

Miljea, I wish you'd not said that about continental shelves. I feel sick at the thought of it. I would never be able to go scuba diving anyway (my dread of the underneath of boats would be an issue) so I guess I won't ever have to see this.

@Witchesbelazy

People singing happy birthday Conga lines Sweet Caroline /come on Eileen /cha cba slide

Any “fun” that’s really overly organised I can’t deal as I feel pressure

Same 😂

Oh God, continental shelves 😓

Wish I hadn't Googled them now

@Chocolatebuttercream

Anchors. The bigger they are the scarier- I hate it when they are used as decoration in harbours etc.

Flour or very fine sand - the feeling of it on my skin is intolerable.

I am absolutely terrified of anchors! And you're the first person I've 'met' who shares this. How do you feel about buoys, @Chocolatebuttercream ? They scare me senseless.

Fog and fog horns really give me the chills. What is out there?

This is from watching the film 'Hound of the Baskervilles' on TV when young, it has creepy scenes in it with fog.

Derelict mills give me the creeps. It's the rows of blackened windows I think and the sheer size of the building,. I can't look at them or walk past.

Bridges -. Going over them , especially the Tay Railway Bridge where you see the tombstones of the previous one below as you cross the River Tay on the train.

Kincardine bridge gave me nightmares as a child as the bit in the middle splits to let boats through. So of course our car falls in the water in the nightmare .

Turtles, phone voices, shower floors, lakes, video games, and same as another poster, people walking around barefoot. Also tv shows or movies set in high schools in the 90s or 00's.

The first three (and people being barefoot) make me feel instantly a bit sick in the stomach and the rest just give me what I can best describe as dark vibes.

@ThreeImaginaryBoys I don't think buoys freak me out in the same way, but now you mention it I can see the similarities

Totally agree about anchors and buoys.

Bowling balls.
I had to take a client bowling every week. I managed to convince myself that someone had pood in the holes.

I don't have any fears like this, but they way you all describe yours .... I can feel your horrors. I can now see that in the right circumstances, all these things could be absolutely terrifying. It makes me want to write a horror story, and incorporate as many of them as possible. I think I'll do it, for a writing exercise.