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Original poster

Fears - what everyday things are people scared of

212 replies

FairViewRosie25 · 15/06/2025 22:45

I’ll start - sounds stupid but I am scared of the top stair. As soon as I have started down the stairs I’m fine but it’s just that first step.

OP posts:
JohnTheRevelator · 17/06/2025 17:27

Spiders. I think it's one of the most common phobias. I even know quite a few men who are scared of them. I'm not as bad as some people,I don't mind small ones. I just hate the way they scuttle so quickly. You take your eyes off them for a second and they're gone. 🤢 My mum was terrified of them too,as was her mother,so I definitely think it's learned,as I'm not remotely scared of any other insects.

JohnTheRevelator · 17/06/2025 17:31

MistressoftheDarkSide · 16/06/2025 20:54

Ooh, getting on and off escalators. Especially the really big ones into the London Underground. Probably related to the height / vertigo thing. Adding in movement and surging crowds of people gives me a really panicky feeling. Going down is far worse than going up of course. And also I have long hair and wear alot of scarves, and the horror of being strangled or choked after falling is very real.

My granddaughter (18) has this fear too. If she absolutely has to use an escalator she has to hold onto someone and is practically having a panic attack.

MistressoftheDarkSide · 17/06/2025 17:37

JohnTheRevelator · 17/06/2025 17:31

My granddaughter (18) has this fear too. If she absolutely has to use an escalator she has to hold onto someone and is practically having a panic attack.

Show quote history

I feel for her, I really do. I have perfected an iron grip on the handrail.

Itiswhysofew · 17/06/2025 17:46

BrickHare · 15/06/2025 23:34

It’s because of the scene in Final destination? Don’t look it up if not but that scared me as a child 🤣

Show quote history

Looked it up. Bloody hell, that's severe!🫣

ladyamy · 17/06/2025 19:45

Mazzika · 16/06/2025 00:17

That's an arresting juxtaposition @LaLaLaLavaChChChChicken

For me it's driving up steep hills. Especially, but not limited to, hill starts. I have an irrational fear that that the car's engine will not be enough power to keep going, or we will somehow fall off the hill backwards.

Me too! There’s a horrible junction where where I live with a set of traffic lights at the top of a very steep hill. Always hold my breath hoping the lights won’t turn red as I’m driving up.

NormasArse · 17/06/2025 19:49

More a phobia than a fear, but belly buttons 🤮.

Judiezones · 17/06/2025 19:50

Being in a dark room with the curtains/blinds open. I feel like I'm being stalked

GreyCarpet · 17/06/2025 20:57

FourNaanJeremy · 15/06/2025 23:08

My MIL is terrified of buttons, especially big ones. She says they make her feel physically sick

Same.

Big ones and especially small ones with 4 holes 🤮

Decorative buttons. Non functional buttons. Random buttons that appear to serve no purpose. Loose buttons. Random fell of an item of clothing buttons...

I can just about cope with military style buttons.

God they make my throat sieze up!

SillyMillieMops · 17/06/2025 21:49

Peacocks. There’s two of them roaming about in my village. Everyone loves them. They give me the eebies. Ugh. Shuddering just thinking about those nasty feathers on the top of their heads. And their beady eyes. And don’t even get me started on the claw feet.

SillyMillie90 · 17/06/2025 22:24

muddyford · 17/06/2025 17:25

Moths. I can cope with spiders and snakes but moths have me reduced to a gibbering wreck.

It’s because they’re insects but they’re big and furry like mammals. It’s just not right 😂

DiscoBob · 18/06/2025 13:17

shreddednips · 17/06/2025 01:44

Birds, but only birds of a certain size and type. Robin or bluetit size is fine and find them very cute. Blackbird size or larger fills me with absolute revulsion and horror, especially if the eyes are ‘beady’. I think it goes back to seeing a dead bird of this size as a child- it had been eviscerated by something, and I can remember being absolutely horrified by its innards. Poor thing.

I also think that they have an oily, sort of ‘crunchy’ look about them which I dislike. I have a recurring nightmare that a goose or albatross breaks into my house and smothers me with its horrid, greasy body (I have no idea if they are actually greasy). I’m aware this is totally irrational.

I’m also horrified by anything with a torpedo-like, tapered shape that moves in a ‘gliding’ manner through any medium. Sharks, submarines and large ships for example. But particularly jumbo jets, there’s this horrendous video of a jet coming in to land and it swoops low over a beach, and it makes me feel ill. I went to an air show once (god knows why given my particular fear) and there was a Boeing manoeuvring around low in the sky, I went all faint with fear and had to leave. Airports are a problem, I don’t like being inside planes or in close proximity to them from the outside either. I’ll avoid driving routes that take me near airports because the planes fly too low for comfort. It’s completely irrational, but they cause me to feel absolute terror. Small, Spitfire-size planes and helicopters are fine!

I think your description of the birds has made me look at them differently. I think blackbird size is ok but geese etc or big seagulls are quite gross. I once got attacked by geese as a child!

I saw a seagull eating a flattened pigeon carcass the other day. He looked so pleased with himself.

So your nightmare about the giant greasy goose is bringing back some stuff. I don't think of them as greasy, but their beaks are very sharp and their poo is vile.

RaraRachael · 18/06/2025 13:57

When my kids were little we went into a bird enclosure at a zoo. I had to come out as I just couldn't cope with them flying freely around me.
I had no issues with a butterfly place and even had them land on me.

Snails and slugs give me the fear. I have to get somebody else to deal with them. I once couldn't go in my front door as there was a bloody great snail crawling up it. I had to use the back door until it had wended its way off the front one.

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