To ask what you were terrified of as a child

[pinksuede]

NC for this one as I've told some colleagues about these before.
What were you terrified of as a kid that would make you laugh today ?

I was scared of the 'radiator man'. I would lay in bed at night and hear the tinkles and pops of the radiator as it was warming up next to me. I would imagine that it was the radiator man crawling through the pipes to come and get me in my sleep. He was entirely made up of cylindrical tubes of metal, his fingers were long pipes and his body was really slim but long and shiny.
I would literally scream for my DM to come to my room and make sure my radiator was turned off before I went to bed because I was absolutely terrified that he could get to me.
It wasn't until I was in year 7 at school that I told my brother about it and he laughed and laughed at me and said he had never heard of the radiator man. Up until that point I completely believed he was real. I had clearly made it all up in my own head and couldn't believe that no one else had heard of him.

Another one was giants, I was so petrified of them I would look around my room on a night before bed for hiding places where I could go if a giant managed to get his hand through my window. My favourite place to hide was at the bottom of a fancy dress box right at the bottom underneath all of the clothes. Again, I was convinced giants existed until I was about 10! 😂

Would love to hear other people's fears as a child that were completely unfounded.

Triffids

Ken Dodds Diddy men..

The Thames flooding.. We lived right near the river in the 60s and i regularly heard the practice flood sirens. Was so scared i had a permanent bag packed, just in case!

Weird isn’t it? I had no real context at all. It’s such a sad melody.

Escalators - I had a terrible fear that I would be sucked in at the end no idea why! Even as an adult I feel a bit nervous getting on them (but ok getting off)!

The loft hatch in my aunt and uncle's house. It was a terrace in the middle of a row and they had 'through lofts' i.e. one lift that ran all the way along the row. So, in theory, anyone could climb down into anyone else's house! My uncle out a lock on the house side and there lift as partially bricked up in the end but it absolutely gave me the creeps!

Black toilet seats - can't fathom why!

Even as an adult I have some strange fears - feather dusters being one!

I must be very strange

Blood, I fainted over a small cut one time. I was scared of flushing the toilet too, i still have a habit of trying escape the room as quickly as possible( I'm normal like that)..

-shudder-

Escalators

I had a real terror of being sick myself as a child & actually well into adulthood & I had to cover my ears at the throwing up noises on Casualty etc. Quite a bit better since having DD. Actually the last time I was sick, the worst bit was the build up which lasted all night. The actual being sick was over very quickly & then I started to feel a lot better. I remember having to race along the landing & hurtling downstairs before the loo stopped flushing. I was scared to walk on pathways with cracks in the soil as I believed there were crocodiles if you stepped on the cracks. So silly!

Vampires - I remember staying over at Grandma's for Christmas and sleeping in the living room as it was full house with lots of family staying. I woke up around midnight and as telly was still on I ended up watching some vampire movie without my parents realising. It terrified me and from then on I wouldn't ever stay in a dark room or a dark place on my own and often woke up at night and trotted over to their bed to sleep with them.

At the local swimming bars where we had our fortnightly school swimming lessons and where we went in our own time, there was a big "grate"? Under the water that used to make weird banging noises when you went underwater, genuinely thought there were sharks in there and never ever got close to it

Warlocks from the older film version of the Time Machine.

Warlocks from the older film version of the Time Machine.

Morlocks! honest it's true.

The clown from poltergeist

A painting my parents had hanging in the basement. I recently saw a photo of it and I now understand why I was afraid and why my mom made my dad get rid of it instead of insisting I would get used to it.

ParliamentOfRavens I was terrified of tidal waves too and would lie awake thinking one was going to come up the nearby river and wash our house away - we were a long way inland!

In my case the fear came from watching The Poseidon Adventure which creeps me out to this day.

Those dreadful rabbits in “watership down”. Especially the big evil one.

The bogey man under the bed. I had to make a running jump from my bedroon door to the bed or else he would get me.

Now I'm grown up I've moved onto the stair man. He follows me upstairs and I have to literally fly up the stairs and throw myself into the bed. I have a nano second to do it or else

My teen was terrified of street cleaner machines and still will rush out of their way now if they are about but before this she was actually utterly terrified of them.

The only thing that stopped it was when we went to a parade and they had decorated one as a bee. That was two years ago

My gran's friends's old-fashioned hoover. Absolutely petrified me, even when it wasn't on. I only had to see it and it terrified me.
I was a strange child...

*@MrsJayy *
Hartley hare anybody remember that creepy fecker?

Yes! He was in Pipkins, the kids TV programme in the 70s that nobody ever remembers when I talk about it.
There was a tortoise in it as well.
I quite liked Hartley Hare, he sounded like my gran when he talked. I didn't like his paws though. You could see the wires they used to move them sticking out.

Jeff Lynne. I thought he was a werewolf.

Car washes
Basil Brush ...yes really found him terrifying !
Cowboys and Indians
The pop group Slade ..I know I'm odd !
Hammer House of Horror
Armchair thriller - especially The Black Nun
Thunder storms
Seaweed
Candy floss - made me feel physically ill .It
was just so pink and sticky.
Ghost trains

Oh, just remembered:
Car washes- specifically the brushes whirling around,

Porlock Hill- because it had Escape lanes on it that you were supposed to steer into if your brakes failed ( thanks dad for putting that idea into my head) I was convinced this was going to happen one day. I dreaded the annual drive to Devon for the summer holiday because of Porlock Hill.

'Thin' roads. This is what called narrow country lanes as a child. Specifically the ones where you have to stop in a passing place to let another car squeeze past. I could become hysterical just knowing we would have to go on a 'thin road' on a trip somewhere.
Again, not great when you go on holiday to Devon!

Oh and Grotbags off that kids TV show.

Haven't read yet but mine were:

Wincy Willis 🤣

Escalators

My GM's creepy house (esp long, dark creepy way back from the bathroom)

High winds. I was about 5 when the big hurricane hit and afterwards I was terrified for ages that we would be killed by fallen roof tiles/trees etc.

The man who came to collect the milk money. I thought he looked like Cyril sneer and used to hide behind the couch