To want to know a light-hearted childhood fear?

[GeorgeAndTimmyTheDog]

What I mean is you can possibly laugh about it now.
For instance because of reading the Unexplained magazine growing up I was convinced I was going to "Self human combust" as that was an article in there.
Also an adult told me that bleach "Makes things smaller" so I was petrified to sit on the loo if I could smell bleach as I thought my bottom would disappear.

Cracks in the dry earth meant there were crocodiles living under the path - if I remember rightly, I still believed that when I was about 12!

When I was small, I was convinced for a time that my parents turned into (actual) monsters at night. I thought that while I was lying in bed of an evening before falling asleep, they were sitting on the sofa cackling away at the telly with their three heads or whatever. Of course I was too scared to go downstairs at night in case I saw them. Naturally, they reverted back to normal human parents in the morning.

I blame a seventies childhood watching too much Doctor Who, myself.

Car washes. I'm still quite nervous of them at nearly 48!!

The wind changing and my face staying like that

Spontaneous combustion was definitely my biggest fear. There seemed to be a lot of old people sitting in chairs and then just catching fire for no reason featured in magazines in the 80s. My big sister said it was possible too. I was scared for a long time that it would happen to me so I don’t want to get too hot in case I caught fire.

Omg as soon as I saw this question I thought of this! I'm not sure why but the logo freaked me out. Think it was on early Sat/Sun mornings before kids tv started. I'm glad it wasn't just me although have no explanation for it.

I also still have that Unexplained magazine about the combustion! Was fascinated looking at the pictures of the remains

Also Tales of the Unexpected music

There is something quite sinister about car washes and I remember being really scared in them.
Haven't lived near any in decades but I bet they'd still make me uneasy.

It must be said you really don't hear about spontaneous human combustion these days, there was a lot of it about in the 80's! Wonder if we've just got better at figuring out what actually happened......

I wasn't scared of it, but even as an adult found it very creepy. (Which I suppose was the whole point)

Falling asleep in smoking in a flammable armchair? (My guess!!)

Good point! 😁

In the film return to Oz, most of it! The wheelies and that woman who had all the heads in cabinets.

I also had a poster of the band 5ive on my wall and I was.scared of J because he had an eyebrow piercing and wore a leather jacket 🙈😂

Re spontaneous human combustion
I remember having a nylon nightie, nylon sheets and pillow cases, static shock just waiting for me in bed.
God we were just walking fire sparks looking for fuel.

Maybe a bit niche but in the middle of our local shopping was a big clock and every hour on the hour a giant frog sat on top of the clock would turn to face the centre and blow bubbles out of it's mouth. I remember being terrified of it and having to cover my eyes whenever we had to walk past it. It's still there although it doesn't blow bubbles anymore.

I was a bit of a wimpy kid, I remember being terrified of a particular bedroom in my Dad's house. I had my own room which I'd always been fine in until my step-sister's moved in and I had to share with one of them and they put us in a bigger bedroom and I HATED sleeping in there alone. I was eventually given my own room again and slept fine in there but I hated that room right up until I was given my own. Weirdly I temporarily moved in with him a couple of years ago and had to sleep in that room and I was absolutely fine but I hated it as a kid.

@YouBelongHere
I love frogs but that sounds absolutely terrifying.

That there was a monster living down the bends in the loo

The door handles in our house. Looked like cross faces to me.

The old coal mine opposite my house. I was convinced there were dead people down there burrowing their way towards me. No idea where I got that idea from in primary school, but there probably were dead people down there, they just weren't doing any digging.

My grandmothers toilet. Again, had a scary face. Still does, but as an adult I'm tall enough that I can't see it anymore unless I kneel down.

And rabies (I saw a poster in a pet shop), and the episode of Doctor Who where Martin Clunes wears gold hot pants - nothing to do with him, it's the talking snake skull that freaked me out.

*EilonwyWithRedGoldHair · Today 15:55

Martin Clunes wears gold hot pants

That Jaws would come up from my bedroom floor at night if I dangled an arm or leg over the edge of the bed

I just remembered another one. In the Tomorrow's people there was an episode "The living skins/bubble skins" about jackets that would possess you if you put them on.
I remember being shit scared of my own red stripey cagoule.

I grew up in a village with old mines, there was all kinds of terrifying stories told to us by older kids.

@SinnerBoy It's what I would find more traumatic today. He had a series of ridiculous outfits.

@GeorgeAndTimmyTheDog I can't remember anything like that. The upstairs of the school was supposed to be haunted though. I went back and did work experience there, by then it had turned into monsters. Sadly it was just storage space, no paranormal activity.

EilonwyWithRedGoldHair · Today 17:38

It's what I would find more traumatic today. He had a series of ridiculous outfits.

I stopped watching it in ~1986, so missed it!