Monster under the bed.

[Flowersforyourchocolateprettyplease]

Middle of the night, lying in bed facing down, my arm falls to the side and swings freely for a couple of seconds. Feels lovely and freeing but I quickly lift it back up and back under the duvet. Close call I say to myself, lucky the boogeyman didn't grab it.

I'm late forties, reasonably well adjusted, honestly.

Also won't close eyes for too long when in the shower, I wash my face super quick then look around with a sense of, phew, made it!

What's your U for a grown up fear? Not genuine ones like spiders, and before someone says,
"they're more scared of you than you're of them", unless you've been a spider in a previous life, you can't know for sure.
They probably fake being scared so they can pounce when unawares.

Every morning before I go to work I feed the birds, when the mornings are dark and as I slide the glass garden doors open I have to tell myself that there really isnt an axe murder/zombie/alien/ferocious black cat waiting to pounce on me as soon as I turn my back

In our old house I would get a really terrible feeling that there was someone/something in the house if I was there by myself. Id put the dog on the lead and drag her round the house with me as I opened every cupboard, looked under every bed and flung the shower curtains wide open.

I'm sometimes the last one to leave work (an old jumble of creepy Victorian buildings!!) and have to turn all the lights off as I walk through corridors to get to the main door. I have to work very hard to stay calm and not sprint through the place as I just know if I give into the feeling I will never be able to stay there by myself again.

Werewolves.

Have always, always had an irrational fear of them. Couldn't watch Teen Wolf or the Thriller video when I was young (the full length one where MJ is a Werewolf). American Werewolf was a huge no for me when I was a bit older too.

I read The Howling (1,2 and 3) at quite a young age and that didn't help.

Oddly I love full moon and as an adult I'm fine with Werewolf characters (I've watched Wednesday and I've seen some of the Twilight films as well)

I also cannot watch the first Nightmare On Elm Street film. Watched all of them as a late teen but to this day that first film haunts me. Years ago DP recorded it and I couldn't even have it on our saved list.

Always make sure all the bedding is tucked round me at sides so the monsters cannot get to me
always tuck your feet underneath yourself or the tootsy monster will nibble your toes

Not just me then 😱.

Ye, the wardrobe is another one. I went through a phase of poking through the coats and long dresses in case someone/thing was hiding in there 😅.

Ever since reading about the BTK killer I’m so scared someone has broken in and is hiding. Totally get the under the bed thing and sometimes I’m scared someone has crawled round the bed from the door and is crouching beside me. I have to check doors and cupboards before bed.
oh and shutting a window at night at ground level I live in fear a hand will reach out and grab my arm.

His baby could.

Love the fresh air gap, can just picture it 😅.

Driving in the dark on unlit roads I'm always certain I'm going to look in the rear view mirror and something undead is going to be looking at me in the reflection from the back seat. Inconvenient because you do occasionally have to check your mirrors don't you.

Oh I hate those country roads with the trees nearly touching in the dark. I always think if I was alone and broke down what would I do!

Escalators. Scared of being sucked up.

And scared of the witch that comes through the keyhole in the door. And also won’t have my feet poking out of the duvet.

Being inside a well lit room at night.
When you cant see out the window.
But someone outside could see in...

It’s all justifiable fear. Just putting it out there but people have been killed by monsters in their homes at night in the dark. People have drowned in dark swimming pools. There have been instances of murderers lurking in cupboards, garages, dark back yards, country lanes. Knifemen and axe maniacs would definitely be looking for open doors or windows too or watching from a bush…

Monster that lives under the stairs. Makes me panic and leg it up the stairs.
Werewolf that hangs out in the dark alley ways. Have to go past as fast as possible with our looking 🤣

ETA - the toilet monster that comes out at night when you flush.... No thank you

Swimming pool drains !

Ever since reading about the BTK killer I’m so scared someone has broken in and is hiding

I have a house alarm for reassurance

I have a lower-than-normal bed (2-3” off floor?) so I don’t have to worry about serial killers hiding under it anymore😌.
But I often walk about the house late at night with the lights all off because in my head I’m going to sneak up on them first if we’re all in the dark! @snappyg666this too, I know there’s curtains etc but god I hate the thought of this!

shower curtains- at home, in hotels, always has to be a little gap, and I just try to be careful not to splash. Watched Psycho once in my teens - now I got a half-see through shower curtain just so I can keep an eye out for criminals. I am not sure what my escape plan would be after that point. Put shampoo in their eyes? It would have to be the grown up shampoo, the baby shampoo is non-tears so that's not gonna do it. Attack them with my shower comb? Exfoilate them aggressively while I call for help?

X files Tombs terrifies me because I couldn’t work out how to protect myself!

I agree with you about your spider comment, OP. The enormous monster that charged at me a couple of weeks ago most definitely wasn’t scared of me. It knew exactly what it was doing when it ran towards my feet.

I felt like a zombie when I had psychosis - its terrifying and im still not the same as I evr was. I feel half dead.

I had psychosis and had terribel irrational fears but the worst part is that that made all my worst nightmares come true - I lost everything and it feels like I lost my sound who I am

When I was about 5, my mother told me that her mother used to tell her not to be vain, and that if she looked in the mirror for too long she'd see the devil looking over her shoulder. Ironically, I think my mother felt she was demonstrating her superior parenting because she portrayed this as a nonsense story that it was very irresponsible to tell her as a young child. Obviously the end result was the same, and I have spent my entire life (now 62!) vaguely haunted by the sporadic fear that something will loom up behind me.

I'm not actually that vain (possibly as a consequence!) and rarely wear make up, so don't need to look in the mirror for ages. But if I do for any reason, such as applying something to my hair, I make a point of looking away every few seconds to counteract any devilish suspicions of vanity. Luckily my eyesight is now crap, so when a mirror is required for possibly satanic tasks like removing chin hairs, I use a magnifying one which means there's no room to see anything (or anyone) behind me.

Do you live in Sunnydale, by any chance? 🤔