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.

That is messed up!! 😳.

Haha, clever, but then there'd be two, and the boogeyman will get extra strength from drinking it.

The new patio, what were they thinking, could be a whole family by now.

Made no difference to me, and these days we have our very elderly little dog on the bed, too! I’ve solved the overheating problem by having a very heavy cotton empty duvet cover on my side as well as the regular duvet, so I don’t overheat and I always have something to hide under whatever the temperature. The only drawback is that a couple of times I’ve woken up in the morning with the thing wound around my neck! 🤣

I’m not keen on mirrors at night in case I get the inexplicable urge to say ‘Candy man’ into it. Then I turn to go back to bed and find a 7 foot giant with a hook ready to rip me to bits 😳 By day I’m 54, come night I’m suddenly 5!

@InterIgnis yes that is a headfuck.

I worry about the sharks in swimming pools and 'things' inc sharks in uk waters

There are sharks in UK waters

Honestly OP you could be the single most reasonable poster on Mumset.

Obviously the under-bed monsters. Then whatever it is that gets you if you sleep without every part of your body being covered.

Oh me too. Every one in my family knows (and gently teases me) about my irrational fear.
Up to about 17 from 10 I was totally terrified of vampires. Would only sleep facing the door so I could see them but they couldn't bite my jugular. I also had a small crucifix hidden in my bedhead to keep them away. My mum found it and thought I was converting to catholicism.

I lock the bathroom door even when I'm home alone so the likes of Michael Myers can't get to me. Also sleep with the landing light on when home alone too so no monsters grab me when I go to the loo

In UK swimming pools? 😯

I said UK waters…

@Ohwhatfuckeryitistoride but you have to invite the vampires in to be at risk!

I still sleep with one hand on my neck after watching Nightmare on Elm Street as a child! It's just become a habit now and sometimes I can sleep without doing it but it's still a thing at age 52

You wouldn’t survive in my house, my 2 male cats always barge their way into my bathroom when I get up in the night fora wee 😵

It can’t actually get to your heart if you swallow it!
you can however choke on it, I worked in an office funding holidays and I’ll never forget that a persons death was caused by choking on chewing gum … my kids have never had it and I’ve stopped chewing it since then

Almost everything that’s already been mentioned 😅 my main one is thinking there’s someone behind me when I wash my face in the sink!

You’re completely doing the right thing @Flowersforyourchocolateprettyplease… I also freak out when I have to put my feet down when I get up for the loo at night, or get back into bed in the dark ….. there was a Dr Who episode that explained that one too … 🫣
my brother, a very clever professional 55 year old, still gets 😱 over the episode of Tales of the Unexpected where the man invents a machine that can hear plants and trees screaming when
you pick or damage them

No the baby boogeyman wouldn’t fit under the bed @Flowersforyourchocolateprettyplease
There is only a teeny tiny gap.
Stop trying to scare me.

This is me too, I grew up in the Jaws era 😂

If I get up in the night to go to the loo, I can't look in the mirror in case I see something stood behind me. Also don't like going downstairs to fetch something at night without turning all the lights on. Perfectly rational 40 something year old who in daylight doesn't believe in paranormal stuff but in the dark, I'm not as sure!

I can't look in the rearview mirror when I drive down country lanes at night.

I know it is sitting there, just waiting for me to notice it, staring at me through the mirror. But as long as I don't give it eye contact it won't 'get' me.

I will eventually get to a well lit street and realise I'm 39 and being absolutely ridiculous.

Until I'm in the dark lanes again.

I can's have a dressing gown hanging up in view in an unfamiliar hotel room and am not keen on there being a spare bed in the room. Even clothes on a chair can take on an unpleasant shape in the middle of the night.

https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/jamesmr-ohwhistle/jamesmr-ohwhistle-00-h.html

I take a little plug in night light with me everywhere. My excuse is that I need to get up in the night to go for a wee and don't want to fall over something in the dark (true), but really it's to keep the ghosts away. As obviously they are put off by a small night light.😅

This reminds me that I always look in the back seat and footwells for this very reason! 😵

Many years ago I worked part time in a medieval house museum, and it was sometimes my job to lock up at night. Due to the doors/lights/alarms arrangements, the lights for the building were all switched off as I left the office, and I then had to walk the length of the house in pitch darkness to leave by the back door. I looked neither to right nor left as I walked, just followed the small beam of my torch and never stopped to investigate any sounds behind me. I am mortally afraid of the dark inside buildings and always sleep with a nightlight on. It was the stuff of nightmares for me.