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.

housefires
tankers (used to dream about them crashing)
volcanos
nuclear war and radiation sickness (child of my time)
politicians 'pressing the button'
certain people: just a vibe from them, no actual actions

The Wizard of Oz after a terrifying dream involving my dear Nan.

Julian Clary after another dream where he tried to kill me.

And having my photo taken: if anyone pointed a camera at me I’d have a full blown panic attack, shaking crying and hyperventilating.

The coal man - I used to run upstairs and hide on the floor between the 2 single beds in my room! It was something to do with the sight of him slowly trudging past the window all covered in coal with the sack on his back. Now I watch him so I can laugh at the funny little run/trot thing he does from the knees down!

I also hated going upstairs in the dark and was terrified of the back of my granny's piano because she had hung an ol blackout curtain on a curtain wire along the back of it - I think there was a big hole in the fabric on the back of the piano that she was covering. I'll have to check next time we move the furniture because we have that piano now.

I was also terrified of looking behind the bedroom door in my granny's house because my mum's doll's pram was there and for some reason I was really really scared of that pram!

The scariest thing when I was a child was my mother but my DD was terrified of the problem blob from CBeebies’ Numberjacks a couple of years ago.

Moomins- they have no mouth and it was made with creepy black backgrounds.
The weasels on Wind in the Willows.
The Dark Crystal

Escalators. It was only when I visited London for the first time aged 8/9 that I was forced to get over that fear. I once clung to the top of one screaming behind my DM in a shopping centre whilst she went down without me... a kind old man helped me down.

My Grandad's false teeth!!

I must have been two or three at the most.
I was spending the day at my grandparents house.
I had no idea what false teeth were and my Grandad thought it would be funny to suddenly dislodge them from his top gum and wobble them about loose in his mouth!!
I froze on the spot and SCREAMED!!!
My Gran came running in and I can remember her exact words (to my Grandad) "What did you do that for? You daft bugger!! You might have known she'd be terrified!!"

I look back on it now and it makes me smile!!

The Triffids 😨
Wouldn't feel safe until I was upstairs in bed as they couldn't climb stairs.
Saw the programme again a year or so back on freeview, just so bad and not scary at all

My father 🙁

Vampires. I had an odd idea they staked humans in their sleep so I used to sleep diagonally.
Being burgled so I used to hide my favourite toys every night.
"King" who would follow me up or downstairs meaning I had to fly up and down and fling myself into another room.
War. I was a child around the time of the first Gulf War and absolutely terrified of the whole thing.

There was a programme one Halloween I think in 92. I was about 7 at the time. My neighbours babysat me and let me watch. It had Sarah greene as the presenter. I can’t remember what it was called but it gave me nightmares for years. I couldn’t go in the next room without needing my mum to be with me. All I can remember now was it was about a ghost and being under the stairs.

There was a programme one Halloween I think in 92. I was about 7 at the time. My neighbours babysat me and let me watch. It had Sarah greene as the presenter. I can’t remember what it was called but it gave me nightmares for years. I couldn’t go in the next room without needing my mum to be with me. All I can remember now was it was about a ghost and being under the stairs. confused

Ghostwatch

Crane flies. We were picking blackberries and two or three flew out of the brambles towards my face, legs trailing. I don't think I'd noticed any before and screamed the place down. I'm still not entirely happy with these harmless creatures when they get into the house and those legs are clicking around inside a lampshade.
DD hates moths flying around. Once I pointed out that the intruder in her bedroom was actually a butterfly and she (teenage) instantly cooed 'Oh, the poor thing' ... All a matter of perception I guess!
A toddler cousin used to freak out screaming 'Fevver, fevver' if a stray one was floating around. Another toddler relative was terrified of her own shadow as it wouldn't go away.

Worzel Gummidge is being remade with Mckenzie Crook. Can't wait.

"Children of the Stones" and the old song "pack up your troubles in your old kit bag"

Death. I used to lie awake at night worrying about someone I loved dying. I had recurring nightmares about my grandparents dying. It was awful, I used to wake up devastated then remember that it was only a dream and feel such relief. This continued well into my adulthood. I actually had one a few days after my Granda died, woke up in tears, then thought, oh it's okay, it's only a dream. Then remembered that he had in fact died and it was awful.

Our house being broken in to / going on fire. We had loud creaky pipes and every time they made a noise I'd wake up in a panic. I never, ever had a full night's sleep. Every night I'd wake up worrying about something.

It's probably not a shocker to disclose that I have since been diagnosed with anxiety .

Oh, and the Jabberwocky in the 1985 Alice in Wonderland TV movie. Creeped the shit out of me!

Ghost trains. Not the ride at the funfair, but an actually spirit of a train. Imagine like the ghost of a horse and the rider, except a train and the passengers. Not even where there were tracks or anything, just random places so in the supermarket or at grandma’s house I’d suddenly start wailing in case we were run over by a ghost train.

Clowns and being possessed.

The Devil possessing me (The Exorcist’s fault). A shark coming out of a trap door in the swimming pool (James Bond’s fault)

Spiders (still am)
The Orchard Ripper due to dsis thinking it was appropriate to tell me what she knew about the Yorkshire Ripper (not a lot looking back) aged about 4 or 5yo. Didn't know the word Yorkshire, otoh we lived near to an Orchard.
Still dark water.

That I would slip on the lino floor in our toilet and end up headfirst down the toilet with my head stuck and drown.

Ouija Boards / people messing with Ouija Boards.

Slapstick comedy of any kind. So clowns were out for me. And a tv programme called 'Mr Pastry'. I can barely remember Mr Pastry, but my mum said she had to leap up and turn it off at the first bar of theme music before I went hysterical.

Graphic crucifix scenes in church.
Couldn't look.
Still can't.
I have to look away if someone has a necklace with a crucifix with the body on it.

I remember Mr Pastry!
We loved My Pastry.