To be scared of monsters?

[ImLadybird]

So when I was little I was terrified of monsters that lived under my bed, kind of like the troll in the Three Billy Goats fairy tale. I used to jump as far away as I could when getting out so they wouldn't grab my ankles.
As an adult I've always had a divan bed with draws and I'd forgotten all about it but I recently moved house and got a new bed with a regular frame and a huge 60cm gap underneath - a breading ground for loads of monsters. This stupid irrational fear has resurfaced and I can't sit on the edge of the bed or let my feet dangle. It's ridiculous. I try to force myself but I get all panicky inside.
Do any of you sane MNers still have any childhood fears?

Can't sleep with a leg out of the duvet, monsters will get it!

So, yes.

I close my eyes when I shut the curtains and shutters in case I see a murder and/or monster outside in the dark.

I still have to sleep under the covers with a little air hole.

I can't sleep if the wardrobe is open. That's how monsters get into your room

I'm still scared of downwards escalators, after going on the Tube in the 70s.
(Upwards ones are fine. Obviously!)

I'm guessing you know there aren't any actual monsters under your bed, but to make super-sure could you use the space to store items such as suitcases? That'll stop the little blighters from living there.
You could also use so anxiety management techniques, maybe work on your breathing pattern when you're on the edge of the bed to calm the fight-or-flight response.

I used to leap several feet across my room to get into bed after turning the lights out because they would get me.

My life was greatly improved by buying a bedside lamp

YANBU. I still keep the landing light on...

I pretend it's because it's easier to get up in the night to DS when he wakes but really it's monsters. The light obviously keeps them away.

Have you tried anti-monster spray?

It took me a looooooong time to stop running downstairs after I'd flushed the toilet. If I didn't get to the bottom of the stairs before the end of the flush noise a monster would get me.

I'm still wary of the down escalators on the tube (thankfully live in Manchester so it's rare) after watching American Werewolf in London on my own when I was about 14 (lax parents & video rentals).

Some of mine resurfaced when pregnant and suddenly stared getting up to wee multiple times a night. Had to run from the bathroom back to the bedroom because there was obviously a monster in the dark bit at the end of the hallway who would get me if I looked too long in that direction and/or didn't make it back into to bedroom in time!

Could you reprogramme yourself by singing the Rihanna/Eminem song?
Now I've given myself an ear worm....!

I fear the anti monster spray might have the same effect that my sister stamping on them had. It just made them bigger and scarier.
I love how you're all as nutty as I am!

Your witch freaked me out though. I used to have nightmares about a witch who could lock me in my room
And then fly down the stairs much faster than I could run down them when I was trying to escape. She'd also block the door when I was trying to get in. I'd feel this resistance and know she was in there.

Not monsters more ghosts I don't like the dark and if I see something in my room at night like a dress hung up I need to put the light on and check its not a ghost. I hide under my duvet sometimes too

I used to be scared of monsters and ghosts until I was about 23, but then my dp at the time went in hospital for about 3 weeks and somehow having to be in the house on my own cured me of my fears. Not really a situation you could recreate on purpose but as a side effect it was great to not be afraid anymore.

Yep. Youre not the only one.
Ive always had a devan bed as an adult incase a monster grabs my leg, and. I always have to have my toes covered up incase a monster bites them

If DH is away I have to sleep with a lamp on

I also can't look out of a window when it's dark outside, I have an irrational fear that a face will press itself against the glass!

More recently (as in last few years), I watched a horror film which said that 3am was the demonic witching time. Basically when demons come and mess about. When DS gets up during the night, the first thing I do is check the time. If it's close to 3am I legitimately shit myself and pray that he's just stirring!!

Have you mentioned the witch before Hecate? I seem to remember it.

I think I'm odd in that a happily get out of bed at night even though there is a huge gap. The cat runs under there so I don't think there are monsters.

I'm still scared of monsters too. Since I started using self help techniques for anxiety I've got loads better though.
A few years ago I was just terrified every night. I used to have to have my bed in the corner of the room and I would sleep facing the door so I would wake up if anything came in. Some nights I barely slept because I was so afraid. I now have my bed in the middle of the room and I can face away from the door. I still sleep with a lamp on and have full storage boxes under my bed so nothing can get under it. I hate locking up and turning all the lights off and I will run upstairs as fast as I can but at least I can actually do the whole locking up thing now.
I'm much braver since getting my dogs too. The cats don't help though, they are creepy weirdos!

Derlei Oh goodness I do that too with windows and worrying about faces appearing. Genuinely terrified at the prospect.

As a child, I also jumped from the bedroom door onto my bed, so the monsters who lived under it couldn't grab my ankles. TBH I still do. And when I had to get up for a wee in the night, I had to put the lid down before I flushed in case the witch came out the pan to grab me. I've grown out of that one thankfully. However in my 40's I have a new fear. When putting rubbish out in the wheelie bin after dark, I can't put the lid down quick enough, just in case a giant clown Jack-in-the-box jumps up. Christ, that one really freaks me out.

I blame Enid Blyton and the famous five book where Anne sees a face at the bedroom window when she goes to close the curtains. I have spent the following 35 years scared of closing curtains and try to do it before it actually gets dark.

Im scared of fish. Actual fish. Had hypnotherapy once but still nearly die of an aneurysm when abroad and something brushes against my leg. Not quite a monster but the fear is real