To ask what irrationally scared you as a child? *lighthearted*

[liverbird10]

My mother insists I was terrified of the Chef from Sesame Street as a toddler, I would howl whenever he appeared on screen.

I was also petrified by the 2ft Bugs Bunny my brother bought me.

A few years later, it was the Gorgs from Fraggle Rock. I seem to have got over that fear though, my fella resembles a blond one slightly.

Was anybody else round here equally odd?

The KFC Corneral.
Anytime we drove past KFC etc I would scream and cry.
I remember one time when I was like 4 my mum was getting her tires fixed and I was waiting in the car, I happened to look down and see a sachet of kfc salt with him on it and screamed the place down.
Everyone thought I was getting murdered

The noise the toilet made when flushed at night.

The astronaut in the video to Oxygene by Jean-Michel Jarre. My brother was in hospital when I was about 4/5 and I was taken in to see him - he put the stethoscope-like earphones on me so I could watch the TV in the corner of the ward.

I refused to go back again, which everybody was really surprised about - I never said why, but I was haunted by dreams of that fucking astronaut.

Return to Oz - the heads!!
Worzel Gummidge
Roland rat

Big Bird from Sesame Street. Most of the male members of my family used to work for the Post Office and they used to hold a big family Christmas party every year. One year the surprise guest was Big Bird I never moved so fcking fast out a room in my life.

House fires.
They came into school and showed us this public information type film. The family had to leave their dog behind. I was absolutely petrified and had nightmares about it.

(I think the fireman did bring the dog out at the end, but I was still traumatised!)

The boiler in our bathroom cupboard which was covered in some sort of dark insulated padding. My sister told me it was a witch and I was terrified

The “Boy from Space” on TV at school. More specifically his uncle. I imagined being chased by him when I was walking home.

Yes to sharks in the swimming pool - particularly traumatic for me as I went swimming literally every fucking day.

As a slightly older child I was really disturbed by a drama programme I saw on a Sunday night which was set in WW2 times and some women had their heads shaved. I used to think about it every night in bed and it really scared me.

@Hotterthanahotthing I was terrified to walk across piers because I was scared I'd fall through the gaps and be swept out to sea!

Random one and possibly outing as never met anyone else with this fear and friends and family think I'm a right weirdo - sunflowers! They are too tall looking over peoples fences and their giant middles freak me out too! Seriously hate them! Husband's gran bought me a pot for my bday when we'd not long been together and I was like arghhhh his family thought it was the most hilarious ridiculous fear!

When I was a preteen I was terrified of spontaneous human combustion so slept with a fire extinguisher next to my bed 😂🤦‍♀️

Jaws from Moonraker.
Clowns (one dies at the start of a Bond movie).
The Witches (the film)
The scene in bedknobs and broomsticks where the nazis are invading England and she brings the armour to life. There is some very deep singing which combined with the ghostly armour freaked me out.

Flushing the toilet in anyone else's house.
The filters in swimming pools - I was convinced I'd get sucked into one.
The witch and monkeys from The Wizard of Oz.

Yes to The Boy From Space - the character of the Thin Man terrified me but at the same time I also loved watching it at school!

My brother was scared by the lion that roars at the start of some films.

My old housemate was apparently scared by Windy Miller in Camberwick Green going into his windmill. Apparently he thought he would have his head chopped off by the windmill's sails!

@snozzlemaid yes I forgot about that I was also scared of getting my hair or foot caught in swimming pool filters and being drowned!

Tsunamis, strangely enough. I was reading an article in National Geographic as a 7 year old which had an illustrated story of a Pacific island hit by one. It was the (drawn) picture of people looking in horror at a hundred foot wave approaching their mud hut village. Children were running in panic. All the domestic animals shown were about to be killed. I was horrified, and it is a fear that still lives with me. I always keep an eye on the sea when I am near it, and am very aware of the warning sign of the sea suddenly retreating.(not that it's ever happened to me). Even as a (very) mature adult, I still have nightmares about large waves. It is amazing how impressionable a child can be.

Really weird one but when I was small I was scared of the sound effects on the catchphrase game show 🙈

Also ET

When I was little in the mid 70s there used to be a cartoon owl when kids programmes stopped at tea time. He used to say "heads under wings, beaks under blankets.... goodnight".

I used to get so hysterical my mother had to use distraction techniques on me then quickly turn the telly off before it came on the screen

I thought fat people ate small children..... All stemmed from a very obese lady telling me that she "liked children but couldn't eat a full one". I had nightmares for months and refused to walk the very short trip to school on my own!

I was so scared of Myra Hindley's mug shot as a child to the point I still can't look at it now as an adult
Santa Claus
The dark
Any noise in the night, I would should down to my mum every night "what's that noise if I heard a creak or bang
Used to cry when there was thunder and lightning
The slightest gust of wind scared me after a bad storm one boxing day which caused a lot of damage near by
Fireworks even sparklers

I guess they aren't really irrational but I really was a total wimp as a child.

The grain dryers on the farm, despite them blowing air out I was terrified of being sucked into it!

The man riding the snail on the never ending story.

Me-tin foil
My dd-aged 22-clowns-her granddad watched a programme about John Wayne gacy when she should have been asleep on the sofa
My son-13-lifts-hes never liked them even as a baby

Also Worzel Gummidge - urgh.

Zippy from Rainbow. Scared me shitless.

Steam trains and the tiger I was convinced lived behind the bathroom door.

Apparently my Dad bought an inflatable World Cup mascot when I was tiny and I was petrified of it.

I also hated any kind of mask until I was about 17. I still don’t love them.

Darleks. And bleach. I mean I know bleach shouldn't be kept in reach of children but I have an actual terror of it as if it were radioactive. I thought even being near the bottle could poison me.