To ask what scares you /freaks you out that you would not consider common? Mine is a children’s book!

[elm26]

My 3 year old is obsessed with “We’re Going On A Bear Hunt” after having it read to her at preschool, she knows all of the words and we bought it as one of her gifts for her birthday.

We read a book every night at bed, whenever she reaches for this it gives me such bad goosebumps!

I don’t know if it’s the way it’s written, the pictures, I genuinely feel panic when they’re trying to get away from the bear and he’s in the background of the pictures and then at their front door and they’ve forgotten to lock it. I absolutely detest it 🥴 it gives me the right creeps!

This is baring in mind that all I read myself is psychological thrillers and I’ve watched so much true crime I could probably commit the perfect murder 😂 why do I have such a panicky/spooked response to a children’s book fgs!

This is so funny, my DC also had extreme fear about Mr Pontipines mustache flying off. To the point they screamed the house down.

A Beatrix Potter for me was The Pie and The Patty-Pan. WTF ?!

People who think it's absolutely fine and normal to pretend to be a statue in public.

Street performers on stilts, especially the creepy walking on four 'legs' types. But I'm desperate to go to the Krampus festival thing so that must be a weird, exciting fear. Still gives me chills just googling them.

But mainly, the old TSB advert. With the characters with long noses. Long noses give me the heebie jeebies. Not on humans as they're never truly long, but on characters. I think it's a fear from first seeing a plague doctor as a child. Add plague doctors to the list too.

And Coraline.
My children were little when Coraline came out, they loved watching it at bedtime with me. But when they went to sleep, I had to swap the dvd over to Ratatouille or something. Was fine after actual horror movies but it was another level sleeping after Coraline. Luckily it was almost 20 years ago so I'm not as embarrassed about it now. But still, keep it between us...

Ivy growing in trees gives me the shudders. It looks so sinister and I'm convinced there are nasty things hidden in its depths.

I am also absolutely terrified of going to the loo without the light on. I need to check nothing is lurking with before I pee.

Avocado Stones.

Yes don’t put it off, the smell of rotten potatoes is shockingly bad 🤮

My boss does this when he's thinking. It's really distracting.

Actually it's not the Marnie book. It's Marianne Dreams.

Do not recommend!

The Moomins.

BOKE

@Redheadedstepchild yes, any Beatrix Potter. Those illustrations!

I have a lot of dumb phobias of everyday things but one that caused months of drama was my(at the time) 3 year old son getting spooked by something called Ginky Gecko. He'd freak out about a particular green pillowcase because I guess he dreamt it was in bed with him or something? He used to dwell on it at length. Eventually I realised it was the sticky gecko in that episode of Bluey, where it gets stuck to the ceiling and they all dick about trying to catch it. Oddly enough he was also really scared of a tiny beanie baby chameleon in my mum's house long before that, so I guess the boy just hates lizards.

my 20 year ols son is scared of Bagpuss

I am still creeped out utterly by just the thought of a rodent, since reading Lair by James Herbert about 40 years ago. I am physically shuddering as I type this.

My DS did too. He hated it. How funny, I thought he was definitely the only one 😂

My parents had the book of the film of the elephant man and even seeing the title running down the spine in their bookshelf freaked me out. When I cleared their house after they died I had to be very brave and take the book off the shelf and it still scared the shit out of me.

Rafferty from Rupert the bear terrified me.

Watership down terrified me. It's made out to be a lovey children's film about little bunnies. It's not. It's got evil rabbits and is scary as fuck.

Puff the magic dragon makes me cry every single time. I cannot sing it without breaking when in tears. Poor puff, he just wanted a friend.

But my older sister was terrified of basil brush. I thought it was hilarious when she screamed when he said 'boom boom'!

Also scared of flip flops or any shoes (or socks, shudder) that go between your toes. Watching people run in flip flops makes my toes curl up and I feel a bit sick.

Also boiled eggs, especially cold ones. The smell, taste and touch of them is pure evil!

@WigglesFlamingo the Moomins too!

I need to stop reading this thread. It is reminding me of scary things that I'd forgotten about!

I find anything that looks like a person that isn't a person really creepy. Like manekins and statues etc. I just see them in the corner of my eye and think they are a person all the time. I was really scared of quick sand and the witches as a child!

Mine is goods trains going by when you're in a station. So creepy. Used to have a lot of coal trains where I'm from and the noise, length of trains and the weirdly sinister coal poking out the top really frightened me. Still don't like it today but no coal anymore at least.

Ughh that absolutely awful kids tv show Lazy Town and also Pingu used to really get under my skin!

Underwater machinery and underwater machinery that’s been pulled out of the sea or a lake and is on land. Horrific. Wave pool mechanisms creepy AF.

Ventriloquist dummies, the old fashioned kind. I won't get near one. DS1 brought one home when he was a kid and I made him put it in the garage and lock the door. Ditto the Goosebumps book 'Night of the living Dummy'. No idea why or exactly when it started. As a kid I loved (the voice of Disney's Tigger) Paul Winchell's children's show and he had numerous dummies.

My other 'Oh Hell No' is the Vincent Thomas Bridge. No other bridges scare me and I've driven across a lot of 'big ones' in the SF Bay Area and over the Mississippi among other places. Even Ponchartrain was a doddle at 24 miles. Ditto Mobile Bay and the 42 bridges on the Overseas Hwy to Key West. But Vincent Thomas? No. My mind screams "You are destined to die on this bridge".

Clowns and ventriloquist dummies. Even thinking of the word clown makes my palms sweat and my heart race.
Birnbeck pier in Weston Super Mare, if you’ve never seen it, have a look at Google images, so creepy.
Planes, I don’t trust them. I’ve never flown and never will, I went on one on the ground once and even that was enough to induce a panic attack.

The child catcher in chitty chitty. Can't watch that film, haven't since I was terrified as a child. And Timmy Mallet.

Ive just read the first page and seen someone else scared of Bagpuss. He is also totally freaked out by baked beans.

I have normal phobias, like deep water having a magic force that drags you towards it, falling through ice into deep water and seeing your child slowly drop away into the dark nothingness, and falling through loose floorboards in a deserted mill on the top floor and finding your child in a broken heap on the ground floor.

and balloons

ET. Can't watch the film. They used to have a ride in one of the theme parks in Americs. I couldn't go on it either. Completely freaked me out.