Are you afraid of the dark? Snakes? Heights? Something less common?

I am afraid of bridges, clowns, and those big-headed characters in amusement parks.

-- Laura (windmills@diaryland.com), August 01, 2000

Answers

Irrational fear the first: That when I reach into the drain of my kitchen sink to retrieve an item (spoon, soap bar) that has fallen in, the garbage disposal will suddenly switch on and grind my hand to bone dust and gobbets of flesh. I always reach in with my left hand, just in case, because that's my non-dominant hand and I could weather its loss better than that of my right.

Irrational fear the second: Duckweed, water milfoil, and general bottom muck in ponds and the shallows of lakes. One blistering afternoon last summer I went to the dog park with my friend Hollie and her canine companions, and I decided to strip down and join the dogs, who were paddling around near the shore indiscriminately chasing floating raquetballs belonging to other people's dogs. The slimy milfoil leaves kept brushing and grasping my legs. I couldn't put my head down because I had an immense horror of the stuff touching my face or getting in my hair, and I couldn't allow my feet to touch bottom and disappear into the silt that held Christ-knows-what. I ended up dog- paddling around like an idiot making jokes to Hollie about "Women Who Swim with the Labradors" (she was really into _Women Who Run with the Wolves_ at the time) until I finally decided to abandon the pretense of having fun and get the hell out. Swimming pools yuck me out, too, though, esp. when they have small children in them, so both natural and artificial bodies of water are equally likely to give me the screaming heebie-jeebies. At least I'll never have to buy another bathing suit.

And earthquakes, of course. That was one of the major reasons [besides quaintness] I choose to live in a brick building dating back to 1923. If it survived the Seattle earthquake of '65, it'll probably last through the next one, too.

...unless the seismic disturbance 35 years ago merely served to weaken it so that it's now ready to crumble to smithereens if a pigeon lands on it the wrong way. I'm just not going to think about that.

-- Kim Rollins (kimrollins@yahoo.com), August 02, 2000.

I'm afraid of heights, which is at least a fairly normal phobia. But I am also completely creeped out by sunflowers. I will cross the street so as to avoid walking too close to one. By the way, a brick building is a very bad place to be in an earthquake. They have no give. Wood is generally far safer - but then you can worry about fires.

-- Miriam Nadel (mhnadel@cinenet.net), August 02, 2000.

I'm afraid of praying mantises. When I was about nine, a babysitter told me that praying mantises can spit long distances and that if they get you in the eye it will blind you. I'm pretty sure none of that's true but to this day I'm very squeamish around the critters. I also don't like the way they look and how they sneak up on you.

-- jon arthur (zanne1504@aol.com), August 02, 2000.

Scarecrows really, really freak me out. I remember when I was about 5 there was a show on TV about this scarecrow called Wertzil (I think!!) who periodically came alive - jumped straight off his stick in the field and went into town. He looked like he should be dead with all that yucky straw hanging everywhere and his hands and his half-dead face. His voice was the part that still sticks in my head. When I was little it just seemed very, very unnatural for a scarecrow to come alive like that. And he had a girlfriend who was a big doll and also came alive.

I was terrified but fascinated at the same time - I used to run behind an armchair to hide when it came on TV but I couldn't help peeking and watching it.

Does anyone remember that TV show?

-- Tammie (tammie1309@hotmail.com), August 02, 2000.

Bees. I'm terrified of them. I got stung on three occasions as a child, and have no desire to repeat the experience. When there's a bee in the area, I take off. I've left classes because of a bee in the room, although not in recent years (but only because it hasn't happened in recent years).

By extension, I'm scared of everything else that flies, and by extension, I'm scared of pretty much everything else that moves. And I'm not at all comfortable with spiders or other bugs. But bees are the big ones.

-- Shmuel (shmuel@nycmail.com), August 03, 2000.

When I was a kid I saw an episode of In Search Of about killer bees and was, therefor, absolutely terrified of killer bees. Leonard Nimoy's voice was very sincere indeed when he intoned that the killer bees would invade America in three years or whatever, and once there was the hugest black bumblebee with little yellow eyes battering at the sliding glass door staring at me as I cringed in fear. Mom was at the fence talking to our next-door neighbour, and I was sure that she would get stung and die.

I was also terrified, after accidentally watching Trilogy of Terror, that my Barbies would come to life and try to kill me.

When my parents started leaving me at home without a sitter when I was eleven or twelve or so (I had started babysitting for the neighbours up the street, clearly I didn't need one anymore), I would be afraid that they would die and I would have to beg on the street and I would try to figure out what I would wear.

When Helter Skelter was on TV, it ended with a title card that Manson would be up for parole in 1978 (it was 1976 at the time) and I was scared to death that he would come get me.

I have none of these fears now, though I will run screaming when chased by a wasp, if the bees are at the flowers in the garden, more power to them, they are too busy to bother me.

O, I am afraid of falling down stairs and smashing my nose, and I am afraid of tripping and breaking my ankle, but these are rational fears for a girl who reads whilewalking down the street and who sprained her anlke ten times in eight months while in high school.

And I'm afraid of dying alone.

-- Kymm Zuckert (kymmz1@yahoo.com), August 03, 2000.

O yeah, and this isn't a fear, but the thing that creeps me out more than anything else in the whole world is the thought of the millions of invisible bugs that are crawling all over us at all times and in our beds and in our hair and all over everything, eating our shed skin.

They make me want to peel myself like a grape.

-- Kymm Zuckert (kymmz1@yahoo.com), August 03, 2000.

O actually, do you know what I'm most scared of? My eyes popping out. I can't believe that I forgot about that. And once I read something about how rings can pull the skin off your fingers likea glove if they get caught on something, and I immediately stopped wearing rings.

I need to stop now, I'm making myself sick.

-- Kymm Zuckert (kymmz1@yahoo.com), August 03, 2000.

I am scared of the dark. Yep, 27 years old, and scared of the dark. If my roommate is out of town, I sleep with the lights on in the apartment.

I'm also deathly afraid of spiders, and terrified of June bugs. June bugs send me into a quivering, whimpering panic. I got one stuck in my hair once, and my mom had to cut it out, then pour a generous shot of whisky down my throat to calm me down.

And clowns -- jeez, they freak the hell out of me.

-- Mary Ellen (sarcasticah@yahoo.com), August 08, 2000.

My irrational fear is that a plane will crash into my house while my husband and I are asleep...I have no idea where this fear came from, but when a plane flies low over my house at night, I hold my breath until it's past.

My husband's fear is falling UP stairs and breaking all his teeth.

Oh yeah, and I agree on the clowns...they didn't freak me out until a friend described them to me as freaky, drunk rednecks. That ruined it for me!

-- Anne Schroeder (annejeff@mediaone.net), August 09, 2000.

I have not been in the ocean since "Jaws" (even though I know sharks don't target humans, or thousands of us (well, not me) would be dying that way each year.)

But the thing that creeps me out the most is the three-toed sloth. There hasn't been a movie monster invented that scares me more than watching one of those (supposedly) harmless things crawl slowly (ohhhhh, soooooo slowly) up a tree with that small face and those long arms and claws. And like tigers and pythons, they are surprisingly good swimmers. (I don't get into jungle rivers, either.)

-- Charlie (jovi775@yahoo.com), August 18, 2000.

Hornets and wasps are strange aliens from a distant galaxy. I once had one fly through the open window of my car as I was driving. It landed on my lap. I immediately stopped the car despite the traffic around me, screaming to my friend, "Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!"

Spiders, too.

-- Roger Bixby (rbix@earthlink.net), September 06, 2000.

I can't believe I am writing this, but I am only scared of four main things. The dark, water, clowns, and earthquakes. I hate the dark, it's just something that you have no idea what is out there, and as for water. I'm not a typical water hater. I hate water because I think there are sharks in any type of water. It doesn't matter if it's a swimming pool, lake, or ocean. I have a fear of sharks in all forms of water making it impossible for me to swim anywhere alone. As long as someone is with me, I feel a little safer. Clowns have scared me since i was a little girl. You have no idea who is hiding behind that mask. It could be some strage person who wants to kill you. But more reasonably it probably isn't but who knows. And earthquakes just completly freak me out. I am so scared that I am going to die in one, and you never know when they are going to happen. They could at any time, and you would be unprepared. Ok, that's enough, but those are my fears...

-- Taylor (HUICHICA@aol.com), November 26, 2000.

Oh my goodness!! I am so very afraid of swimming pool drains. I don't think that they can suck me down or anything is living down them. It's just the general fact that they are big and black(or white) and just scary. I had a traumatic childhood experience involving one. I'm 17 now, and that happened about 10 years ago..

-Tara

-- Tara (roxanne_00@hotmail.com), May 30, 2001.

I'm petrified of pool drains. I dont know why and I know that they couldn't do anythign to me, but it doesn't change anything, it still terrifies me to go in a pool that has drains in it.

-- Jade Cerff (jade@justjade.co.uk), December 03, 2001.

yes i am afraid of snakes and the dark

-- erika brooke smith (BROOKE4340@msn.com), January 06, 2002.

I am so terrified of the dark. When my husband turns off the light I make sure I am touching him so I know he is is in the room with me. I am also freaked out by bees and wasps or anything that stings you. I am allergic to bees so I am naturally afraid of the affect it has on me. But I have a paralyzing fear of bees. One time when I was working during the summer the sliding door got stuck open and let in bees and hornets. I was working as a cashier at the time and I said I had to leave the area. Well a customer made the comment that there was insect spray on display and I could use that. I sprayed it at the pest but it was foam. So I missed the insect completely and it came at me. I kept spraying the stuff at it to get it away from me or kill it. All the while I was spraying the customer at the counter. My co-workers took over for me to give me a break. The customer wasn't mad he was actually laughing and would say "hit the deck" everyitme he saw me at the counter. I know to just leave the room when a flying demon enters the room. I don't care what anyone says they are evil!

-- Angie Harvey (darbys_girl@hotmail.com), February 20, 2002.

I am so terrified of something happening to one of my children especially my oldest who is deaf that I have intense night mares and wake up screaming at night. I know this is irrational but, I have been in an intense custody battle with my ex husband over my first son for a year and I am terrified of losing one of my sons in some horrible fashion. If anybody has any idea of how to fight this please let me know. I do ok during the day when I can fight off this fear. But at night when I am asleep I cann't seem to run it off. The night mares are scaring my boys to death. Help (ps I am a sane person and I know the monsters are not going to really eat my children but you guys all know that fears never make any sence)

-- Karol Dobbs (euellkarol@aol.com), February 22, 2002.

I've been trying to find a name for my phobia but have failed so far....I have an extreme fear of falling on my face (especially on concrete or tile floors) and knocking out my two front teeth. Any idaes on the title for it?--email me please :)

IDK

-- I. D K. (Vmprehuntrd21@aol.com), May 10, 2002.

closets. Im in my 30s and still have trouble sleeping if my closet door is open even a little bit. Long ago I heard a story about a kid who was abducted by a goblin or some type of creature like that but the thing that scared me was that the people who wrote this claimed the story was true. To a child, that's pretty traumatizing. Deep down I still carry this fear around, I think because if you stop believing it will happen, right? lol. Art Bell has the same fear, I was amazed to hear about that.

-- John S (none@hotmail.com), May 11, 2002.

Iam REALLY REALLY REALLY scared of the dark and clowns i dunno know why but i cant be in the dark.When i go to bed at night my door has to be locked and my window,door and closets yes i had to buy locks for my closets so i could turn off the light and be able to go to sleep. Im 17 and i cant go anywere in the dark by myself.And CLOWNS i cant even look at a clown without getting the chills im defly afraid of clowns 2 but the dark is WAY worse if anybody got anything to HELP me PLEEEEEASE e-mail me ot IM me on aol my sn is Spiderpunk2 PLEEESE i need HELP!!!!

-- Jeremy (Funboy_71@hotmail.com), June 09, 2002.

My biggest fear is the dark. I am 23 and I still do the same things that I did when I was 10. When I go to bed, I need the doors locked, the closet doors shut, and my fiancee to put me to bed. If I get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, I am almost paralyzed with fear. I fear that somebody anybody will jump out and stab me to death. Because being stabbed to death is about as worse as burning in a fire for me. You die really slowly. I jump into bed after I go to the bathroom. This is so anybody hiding under my bed cannot grab my ankles. Then, I wrap myself up in covers as if those will protect me from the knife that will surely be out to get me. My second fear is IT. He is an evil clown. Did anyone watch this Steven King movie or read this book? He kills children and eats them. When I was ten, I watched the movie. Let's just say it is hard for me to be around showers and sinks. I'm always worried that if I close my eyes there will be the blood popping and bubbling in drains or the showerheads attacking me. IT's teeth were the scariest thing. They were razor sharp. My fiance and I decided - because he is scared and still has nightmares of IT as well since he too fell into the unlucky part of his childhood by watching this horrendous movie- that we will never take our kids to a circus or let them watch IT.

-- Kelly Hodgson (KLHDFW@aol.com), June 24, 2002.

I'm 15 and I'm afraid of drains in swimming pools. Some I'm able to be face to face with which is much easier if someone's with me. Some are scarier than others. The deeper they are the scarier probably because it makes them more mysterious being farther away. I didn't take gym class my freshman year so I have to take it my sophmore year which has not yet begun. I know that you go swimming in our school's pool which I can remember from 3rd grade that it was really scary, is really deep, cold and has lots of drains by the diving board. What am I gonna do? What if they make usdo dives. I can't bear to even think about it I'd have to do it and it'd be really scary or be humilated in front of everyone in gym class.I can't face my fears it seems way too scary. I've had many bad dreams about drains. I don't know why I'm afraid of them. I'm not really afraid of them sucking me up they're just really scary looking to me they're like monsters. I can't stand being alone and I guess pools especially lap/olympic pools are really big and seem lonely and empty. And the drains in really deep pools are scary because its so lonely down there and myserious like. I don't know anybody else who has this fear. Most people think its ridiculous and childish. My parents figured I would just outgrow it. I still haven't. I've read about phobias that the victim will do anything to avoid it as much as possibable. in doing so the fear just gets bigger and bigger. Most people don't realize how unbearable faceing this fear is. They'd think it's riducoulas and ,like those mean people think the only way to teach someone how to swim, they might throw them ime in on the drain. To them it obviously wouldn't kill me but to me it's like it would. I wouldn't conquer my fear that way even when you'd think I'd feel different when I'm by the drain and nothing bad happens but I don't I be screaming and swimming away as fast as I could. I can't imagine ever faceing my fear. I can't imagine conquering it. I can't imagine being by the drain and not being afraid of it and I can't understand how anyone can especially little kids. There I've told you everything. That's what a phobia is from perspective of its possesor.

-- Amy (slimteut@execpc.com), August 11, 2002.

I am doing a research paper on people who are being afraid of the dark. I do also have a fear and i was just wondering if there is anyone who can help me with my research .

-- Jodi (jodi_43@hotmail.com), November 01, 2002.

This is an interesting website! I think I have had phobias of everything everyone has mentioned at least one time in my life. I am still frightened of spiders but my biggest fear is the deep end of a swimming pool. The weird thing is I have had recurring dreams of pools for years. Sometimes I dream I see houses with nice pools in their backyards and I'm amazed by them. Sometimes I dream I open a door and the deep end is right there! I have to have the strangest phobia ever. And if a pool is indoors, I can't even look at it if I'm alone. I think it has something to do with depth and the biggness of it all. I am mildly scared of really large things, like buildings and statues and stuff. Please tell me I'm not the only one....maybe in another life, I broke my neck falling into an indoor swimming pool. HA!

-- nancy murphy (nstrobot-murphy@iwon.com), November 03, 2002.

It seems like a lot of people have fear of the dark. So do I, although I never really considered it the 'fear or the dark'. I'm just terrified of everything when I end up in a dark room!! Very often I can't sleep because I'm so afraid. Even if my boyfriend is sleeping right next to me, once he's asleep, he's OUT and I feel so alone and afraid! I think it's a disorder, a messed-up brain chemistry that makes me think those bad thoughts that scare me to death. The most horrible thing is, that sometimes I can't make myself STOP thinking those thoughts, no matter how hard I try! At such times I lie in my bed and cry of being so scared. Oh yeah, I'm 21 years old.

-- Xenia (fieryicy@yahoo.com), December 04, 2002.

I am quite afraid of the dark. When I am out walking in the evening, as I do every day, I always think about the worst things that can happen, like if a huge monstre came out from the bushes and killed me.

-- Vein Hardtner (life@cycling.de), December 04, 2002.

Well, I am afraid of almost everything listed above, so I won't be boring. I have something new though. Mirrors. Sometimes, when I look at mirrors, in my mind there is another face right behind mine. I can't really picture "it", but it's always holding a bloody knife or something deadly. One time, I went to the bathroom around midnight (I was trying not to breathe.), and I looked at the mirror without turning on the light. I didn't recognize the person in the mirror, and I screamed and woke up the entire neighborhood. Basically, my face scared myself. (By the way, I am not THAT ugly.) Oh yeah, another thing, I hate open doors at night especially. I have watched too many horror movies, and I always "see" a shadow lurking around the dark slit. Sometimes a hand is there too. Geez, I am freaked out right now, and Daddy and Mommy are right here in the room. I really think humans are contradictory. We invent clowns to make us laugh, and now, they scared the hell out of us. We are sooo screwed. LoL. I am 16, and this confession is embarrassing the crap out of me. LoL.

-- Amy Quan (amy_quan801@hotmail.com), December 10, 2002.

I'm SOOO terrified of trains. I also don't know why but I'm afraid of wet soil, forests, those people in the animal costumes at amusement parks and the dark. Okay ... I'm prolly a little nutty but oh well. We all gotta be afraid of somethin, right?

-- Cathy R. (dr_jahns@hotmail.com), December 22, 2002.

I've always been afraid of heights, where I could easily fall, fully alert, to my death, but Rollercoasters, ANY Amusement Park Rides, where there is NO control, are terrifying, to me. I no longer fear the dark, only because I realize that I can't sense what is usually there in the Light. From a purely sectarian perspective, I fear the opposite of man's greatest fear, that there IS some kind of afterlife;I prefer the idea of Oblivion, an eternal sleep as opposed to an afterlife in which I would have no control. It seems as though most fears are based on having NO control over one's fate, the unknown and of course, a vivid imagination, which fuel our fears.

-- Scott D. Snitzer (SDS185@webtv.net), December 24, 2002.

The phobias I have can make anyone feel sane. I have a lot more than this, but to name them all would be ludicris and would make me feel even more pathetic. So here are just a few:

acrophobia- fear of heights aichmophobia- fear of needles aviophobia- fear of flying in planes claustrophobia- fear of closed-in spaces cleisiophobia- fear of being locked in an enclosed place coulrophobia- fear of clowns dishabiliophobia- fear of undressing in front of someone haphephobia- fear of being touched merinthophobia- fear of being bound or tied up pocrescophobia- fear of gaining a large amount of weight pnigophobia- fear of choking or being smothered taphephobia- fear of being buried alive trypanophobia- fear of injections virginitiphobia- fear of being raped

I also have the fear of being stabbed, but I don't know what it is called. And my haphephobia is only a mild case; I just don't like it when people unnecessarily touch me. Also, the fear of the dark is called scotophobia and/or achluophobia. If anybody else wants to know certain phobias, go to this site: www.phobialist.com They have almost all phobias listed there. Well, umm, ok, happy phobia-ing.

-- Sara Parks (xstatic4@sbcglobal.net), December 30, 2002.

Also, Amy Quan, I too am 16, and the same thing has happened to me numerous times, so don't feel embarassed at all! Lol. But it gave me a good idea. See, I'm a teen author and I write horror novels. It's become an ending for one of my stories, and apparently it's a good one to stick with if it scares more than one person! So never feel embarassed about what you're afraid of. We are human, and the only way to tell that we are is by our emotions. Fear is an emotion that we use most of all out of many. If anyone ever tells you that you should feel stupid for what you're afraid of, ignore them...hehe.

-- Sara Parks (xstatic4@sbcglobal.net), December 30, 2002.

More then anything im afraid of dinosaurs. Dinosaurs and schizophrenics. In jurassic park, the part in the kitchen with the two rapers, and donnie darko, that movie was creepy.

-- Jennifer Alysha (aslipofthepen@hotmail.com), January 27, 2003.

I have a few fears, one of being stabbed, one of needles, one of being pushed in front of a train, but my biggest fear of all is swimming pool drains! If I am using a pool for the first time I have to walk all the way around it just to see where the drains are before I get in. And I have to swim in the lane which is furthest away from the deep end drains. However, if I do have to swim near the drain (I would NEVER swim over it) then I get really short of breath and panicky. And if all the lanes without drains are full with, say, swimming classes then I won't swim, I would rather go home. All drains are bad but the big black grates are the worst of all. I have never liked the drains and when I was little my sister shoved my hand inside one and I screamed so much she said she would never take me swimming again. does anyone know a cure for my problem because I really enjoy going swimming and go a lot?

-- Helen Jones (simbachowchow@hotmail.com), February 19, 2003.

Donnie Darko was a great movie. Full of twists and turns and the whole lot. If you want to see a creepy movie, see The Ring or The Attic Expeditions. (I'm a movie buff). Happy Dreams!

-- Sara Parks (xstatic4@sbcglobal.net), March 10, 2003.

I am 16 and embarrassed as hell... for instance, its at nite and my computer is beside a dark window. I'm afraid a white or screaming face will suddenly appear. I don't want to look at it but i do because i think seeing some gruesome 'thing' appear will scare the hell outta me from the corner of my eye. the dark is freaking me out after seeing The Ring- the girl is coming after me.. lol. i used to love the nite, but now im just not sure. im sorta getting over it? visualization, ya know? but someone if you know anything.. PLEASE HELP! or if you want to make me feel better by telling me im not alone.. lol you got my email. also, the door behind me- its gnna open and someone will run in trying to kill me. or a monster. a slow-moving freak. also, when i go to the bathroom, i have to pull back the shower curtains. god knows whose waiting there >
-- Amanda Rogers (druantia-fir@excite.com), March 14, 2003.

I am very afraid of the transfer of germs of any type or of catching a severe respiratory disease from someone. This also plays into my fear of being smothered and/or buried alive. That may have come from a scary movie I saw when I was a child. I also am growing fearful of assymetry in things, mostly physical features.

-- Denise DeRaud (dmderaud@yahoo.com), March 24, 2003.

I am afraid of swimming pool drains. Ironic since I was a lifeguard for several summers and I am an excellent swimmer. I have always had this fear. Any idea what it is called?

I can barely handle jacuzzis and hot tubs. It seems to be a little better for me if there is another person in the hot tub with me.

Also....I have a fear of strange toilets. It's not necessarily all toilets and I don't have a problem going to the bathroom in public. I've even used outdoor latrines without a problem (snakes & bugs!). My fear is of the silver ones on airplanes and the strange ones at rest stops on the highway that don't flush the paper away--it's sort of sucked out when the back/bottom of the bowl seperates. So far, the only way I can handle strange toilets is to put a lot of toilet paper in the bowl, keep the door unlocked and hover--ready to run. Does anyone else have this fear? Do you know what it's called? I can't find anything about it--it's mostly just about people who can't pee in public. Thanks!

-- Christy W. (cr_williams@hotmail.com), April 28, 2003.

I am TERRIFIED of flies!! Not flying, FLIES!! The bugs that fly around and are hairy and are black or green in the spring. I hate them. My friends think it's hillarious, my parents are sooo proud (hahaha) LOL and my teachers get sooo mad cause I scream if one gets nere me. Even in class. I'm 12, live in Maryland and I'm afraid of flies. PLEASE!!!!! If any one knows the phobia for that email me PLEASE!! Thanx!!

Ur weirdo friend, Emily

-- Emily Anne Cantrell (violinemmers@msn.com), May 05, 2003.

Oh my God!!! I can't believe so many people have the same phobia of swimming pools as i do. I am terified of the drains especiallyy the big black ugly ones. If i go to a water park and go on the lazy river, i get so nervous when we pass those big bumble bee looking drains. Its wierd because i love to swim too. When i was young i was terrified of the black lines in the pool because they looked like they were moving from outside of the pool. it was wierd. i will never go into a pool alone i think i would have a heart attack.

-- Jen (Jennimaria@aol.com), May 11, 2003.

i am terrified of sloths, omg there so nasty and slow, they have long nails and have moths that live on them. They spend long periods in trees and come down and the moths come off of them and lay their eggs in the sloths poop then crawl back on them!! That is so gross. also i have a fear of the spiders that look like crabs, im also scared to sit on a toilet seat cuz im scared a spider might be under there fixing to bite my butt...lol im scared of pool drains also. i read this one story that a girls intestine got sucked out of her you know what by them... if im in a pool im scared my hair will get sucked in a drain and ill drown, im scared of going in the car at night because it might start up and run me over... i have weird phobias i have no clue what the names are for any of them.

-- Stephanie (blinkiebabe9900@aol.com), June 19, 2003.

Thank God, I'm not a freak!!! Other people are scared of swimming pool drains. Anyone found out how to deal with it yet though? I really want to be able to deal with it so if I have children I dont pass on my fear to them. Last year I couldn't even get into the swimming pool - not good - and its getting worse.

-- Sarah Taylor (sastuk@yahoo.co.uk), July 04, 2003.

yall think yall are embarrased? im 12, live in houston and i am amazed how many ppl r afraid of the dark. i have to sleep with a night light or else someone else has to put me to bed. the only time i feel safe in the dark is when someone is there. i dont hold on to them or nething but they jus have to be there. it gives me a safe feeling when ne 1 is there. it dunt matter who. ne 1 is fine.

yall can im me at emmac531

-- jake (retardemmac@netscape.net), July 22, 2003.

I have a couple weird phobias.One I'm terrified of spiders! Not like most people I mean really afraid I cant even see pictures of them without freaking out I can feel myself start to cry at just the thought of them. Ewwwwww!!!.My next phobia is that there is always someone watching me I always have a feeling there is someone behind me watching everything I do I dont know why but I've always felt like this since I was a little kid, which goes along with my fear of closed doors closets cabinets ect...Every time I walk into a room where there is any type of closed door I have to open it an look inside also when I leave the room I do the same thing I even do it in my car I look in the trunk under the hood I get on my knees an check under the car I even check in the glove compartment. I know its sounds pretty crazy and my friends are always making fun of me for it but I cant help it.I've been doing it for so long sometimes I dont even know I'm doing it.One time I was at a friends house a couple years ago and I was in her room and she left for an minute and I was sitting there all by myself an I had to check the closets and under the bed an when she walked in I was looking inside the closet and I tried to tell her why but I think she thought that I was just making up an excuse for going through her stuff, and if that aint enough I also have a fear of straps of being tied down i dont ever wher bracelets or belts or shoes with laces all this really gets on my nerves but I'm not sure how they would be able to help someone with a fear of belts..lol.I'm not sure of the names of any of these phobias except for the spiders I've looked everywhere but couldnt find anything if anyone knows e-mail me southsideshowty@cs.com Well gotta go buh bye..... Katrina

-- katraina (southsideshowty@cs.com), August 05, 2003.

Hi my name is Michele, I'm 21 yrs. old, and I am so freaked out by pool drains..I don't think they'll suck me down into them or that they're really "alive", but they just seem terrifying to me. If I am in a pool, I like to have other people in there with me. The more people are swimming with me, the less nervous I am. At nighttime, being in a pool is ten times worse, and the drains seem even more menacing. It sounds so dumb! And no way do I like to swim over the drains...if I accidentally do, I freak out and panic and swim away like it's going to grab me or something. I also don't like the jets on the sides of the pool, or those white little flat jets on the bottom, OR the flapping filters on the sides. At least those are above the water's surface. I probably wouldn't even go in the pool if they were flapping on the bottom or something. Anyway, just wanted to let you other "drain-o-phobes" know there is someone else out there scared of drains too! --Michele N.

-- Michele N. (quietshadow1@yahoo.com), August 14, 2003.

hello jake (retardemmac@netscape.net), July 22, 2003. i have exactly the same feeling and i am 14 i cant sleep cause i am afraid of dark so much and only times i can sleep is when someone with me so usually i go to bed at 5 oclock so it will be light or i sleep with my lights on oh yeahh and especially when i watch horror movie i cant sleep at night no matter what unless someone is there, but in daytime i dont care no metter what even if i see the ghost (or killer) from the horror movie in front of me. i really need some help....

-- terry (perfect_dna_2004@yahoo.com), August 20, 2003.

I am afraid of the DARK, and I mean I HATE going to and from my basement bedroom at night, especially walking by the window.... Even going to work, I work at night, and going out to my car, I lock the car doors and get moving fast! I'm 25 and I hate that I am afraid, but I can't seem to shake the fear. I even hate the idea of someday living alone! I fear being alone at night. The day is fine but if I am alone at night I try to stay awake watching a movie or something and then turn on all the lights as I go to bed and then retrace my steps with a flahslight to turn themoff. I keep my flashlight in bed with me! oh and I am also afraid of my parents dying, and also that I might drive off the road and die or something. :(

-- stephanie (stefalupogus@hotmail.com), August 21, 2003.

I am also terrified of swimming pool drains. I'm 27; this fear has become worse as I have grown older. I have dreams about huge black drains at least a couple of times a month. The funny thing is, I was a competitive swimmer for 5 years (at the time, I thought I would outgrow this phobia). I love swimming, but I won't swim in a pool if the drain is black.

-- Stacie (spapro@earthlink.net), September 01, 2003.

I am so releived to see so many people with such a great fear of the dark. I'm 24, live in a one- room apartment and am so afraid that something is in the apartment, or in any house or space that's dark. Even when it's light, I walk in my apartment door and in front of me is the dark bathroom, which freaks me out. The awful thing is that what I'm afraid of doesn't exist. I'm afraid of: vampires, ghosts, things you see in horror movies that people shouldn't be afraid of. I do kind of believe in ghosts, but from what I've heard most ghosts are bad anyway, they're just trying to tell you something or help you. Even when my husband is home I'm still afraid. It's gotten worse lately, to the point where I'm afraid to go to bed because I keep picturing people turning evil, red eyes, claws, fangs, etc. And I always think that when I look into a mirror I'm going to see a ghosts or "beings" face staring at me, waiting for me to turn around. It's taking over my life and well-being! I've tried facing my fear- going into the dark bathroom a little ways before turning the light on or looking in the mirror without turning the light on, but sometimes my eyes play tricks on me and I think I see things that aren't really there so it's not working. I just found something on the internet that says you can repeat positive phrases to yourself ten times a day to help yourself get over your fears so I might try that, it can't hurt. If anyone else has any suggestions- something that's worked for them, please let me know. I don't know what to do anymore, I'm considering going to see a therapist my fear has gotten so bad, I cry almost every night before going to bed! PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!

-- Carolyn (vtcarolynwilcox@yahoo.com), September 02, 2003.

This may sound really weird but I am petrified of Windmills. Please somebody reassure me I am not the only one who feels this way.

-- Claire Kelly (Clairelouisek@orange.net), September 08, 2003.

Has anyone tried Hypnotherapy for their fears? I'm going to try it sometime soon and see if it works. Let you know how it turns out :-)

-- Sarah Taylor (sastuk@yahoo.co.uk), September 28, 2003.

I'm scared of the dark, terrified of spiders, and if I watch a scary movie, I sleep with the lights on. When I watched the director's cut of the exorcist where she scurried down the stairs like a spider I couldnt sleep with the lights off for about 2 weeks. How does everyone else cope with these fears? I'm 21 and I feel ridiculous...

-- Emilie (semicharmd1@hotmail.com), October 26, 2003.

I face many of the same fears. And like most others, I don't feel so scared when someone is with me. I am very afraid of the dark. Inevitably I have to get up every night to pee,and the bathroom is just a few steps away. I jump (literally) our of bed...go as quickly as possible...and then leap back into bed, you know, to avoid the possibility of that thing under the bed grabbing at my ankles. When we watch movies, you know, turning all the lights off to get the full effect, once again I always have to pee, so I run like a madwoman through the house. I am crazy :) I am also afraid of open doors when its dark. I can't stand it.

A few more we haven't heard - I have this crazy irrational fear of closed shower curtains. When I walk into someone's -anyone's- bathroom and the curtain is closed, I have to peek in...I have to. Usually I just open it a bit so that I can go and not be stressing about it. The funny thing is, what I am going to do if there is something in there Ha! Oh well.

Also, I always think that zombies are going to get me when I get in our out of my car (at home only) at night. I have no idea why. I get out of my car as fast as I can and run to the house. Talk about key jumbling! LOL

Anyway, this pretty much sums up the fears I have had since childhood. Especially the darkness thing and the closed shower curtain. I don't know anyone like me on that one! :)

-- Shonna (shonna@txacadec.org), October 27, 2003.

I'm REALLY, and I mean R E A L L Y!!! scared of the dark. I'm 26 and it has gotten worse as I have gotten older. I refuse to answer the door at night, and if anyone knocks I skake in fear, my heart races, and I feel like I'm gonna be sick. I too, sleep with a bright night light. It is worse when my husband is away on business, like he is right now. I get constant adrenaline rushes whenever I'm in the dark and hear any little noise. I have contemplated purchasing a handgun for protection, but my husband thinks I'm out of my mind...so my butcher knife works well for now. I'm soooo terrified, I can't get over it. I run from my car to the apartment like I'm being chased by a serial killer out to get me. I hear voices constantly at night. Just the other day, at my sisters I heard this coming from her garage "I'm in here...let me out!" I almost called the police! No one was there..I think I need psychological help..what do you think?

-- Tanya (tanyat@optonline.net), November 03, 2003.

i am sooo sooo afraid of the dark. that sum1 is out o get me! and i'm afraid of open shower curtains too. wheneva i go into the bathroom i open the curtain. cuz i am afraid sum1 will pop out at me if i don't!! i share a room w/ sum1 and i cant go 2 sleep until they cum 2 bed!! i'm so afraid! mel

-- mel (polynesianvahini@yahoo.com), November 15, 2003.

This is really weird but I'm afraid of being alone in a room for a long time. Like, even during the day, if i'm alone in a quiet room, i freak out every time. i have no clue what it is, but i just do. Plus, i'm afraid of the dark so my worst nightmare is to be alone in a dark room... Also, have any of you ever been in bed and been afraid to turn over because a face is going to be staring back at you? Well i have....

-- Tia (kilanu2000@yahoo.com), December 21, 2003.

I too am afraid of turning over in bed and having a face stare at me, or even having a person appear in my bed and touch me. Also I am terrified of the dark, I'm 18 and I still sleep with the lights and TV on, but some nights I get the courage to sleep without the lights and just the TV. I am deathly afraid of being watched or stalked, and I always feel like someone is in the room with me, and they can see me, but I can't see them. Once when I was 12 I had a peeping tom, and now I can't go to sleep unless I make sure you can't see in or out of my windows. Otherwise I cannot sleep. I have night terrors probably once a month because I think the peeping tom is trying to get me, and I scream and wake up the whole house and such. Also, I am not scared of animals, but I ALWAYS look in the toilet before I use it, because I'm scared a poisonous snake will come out of it and bite me, and so when I go to the bathroom sometimes I hover because that way maybe it won't get me. Especially at night I am scared the snake will come out. I'm not scared of snakes, just the ones that come out of toilets. Or maybe I'm just scared of the night because that's when all these irrational fears come out, and that's when dolls come to life (another fear) and clowns like IT come out of shower drains.

-- mackenzie (foxygauche@yahoo.com), January 09, 2004.

Oh I forgot, even though I am straight sometimes I think I will wake up one morning and be a lesbian!! Even though (no offense to anybody) I think lesbians are gross!!

-- mackenzie (foxygauche@yahoo.com), January 09, 2004.

Okay I have a few phobia's that might seem really weird to you especially the last ones I'll talk about, but I'll do these in order of how bad they scare me! first I'm terrified of Water drains! some don't bother me, like the bathroom sink, or the shower drain, there pretty little, but our dishwasher drain freaks me out! I'm not sure why but it does, not as much as the deep end of a pool though! thoes big black square things that shimmer in the sunlight! yikes! just the thought of touching one sends me into panics! I have dreams about being in the ocean and all the sudden the sand and water start going down and theres me on top of the biggest drain ever! or I dream that I'm in the shower and I'll look down and the part you stand on is like the one in the deep end of a pool! yikes again! I had a dream last night that I was at a water park! and there was a slide that slid you into a big pool, but when you look down the whole entire bottom floor was a drain! Yikes again! yep I'm almost 30 and terrified of drains, and it's not like something is in it or that I'll get my hair caught or that I'll sink into it, and drown. it's just that it's there and I don't know what's in there, it's just scary, and it looks up at you like 'hello I'm here'! I just close my eyes in the deep end and hope I don't touch it! :) I never open my eyes in the deep end! pretty soon they'll make pools where the whole pool is a drain! YIKES! ok enough about drains, :) next I'm terrified of thunder, I love lightning, and rainstorms, check my email address. I wish it was constantlly raining! I love them!, but thunder?! forget it! I'm going to plug my ears, and hope it goes away, but the rain can stay! :) next is well I'd have to say spiders.. any size I'm running away. :) pretty self explanitory!! next is well the dark! I'm not sure why but I always have to have the tv on or some kind of light!? i've always been that way.. if I don't I have dreams I'm looking inside of a drain, never fails, so I sleep with the light on! :) next I'd have to say clowns..course this phobia is going away little by little, but get it the hell away from me! or I'm hitting it. next I'm afraid of the back seat of my car, I always think someone is back there and I can't turn around and look? :) next your all going to think I'm weird for this one! Letter's "smile" at me, well not that they smile but that they stand out more or something than the rest. for instance these letters affect me:: AJKMNPRSUVWY...sometimes more if they're in italics. YIKES! stop smiling! :) anyway I know I'm weird! it's not that that is a phobia it's just a weird thing that I notice. :) hee hee oh one more thing~ :) I'm afraid of frosted windows and mirrors..ever since I was a child, actually ALL, every single one of these phobia's has haunted me since childhood... the only one that isn't fading away as I get older is that damn scary black pool drain! help! Okay I'm sorry this was sooo long, but I had fun! thanks for letting me vent :)

-- Lisa (lightning_stalker@hotmail.com), February 28, 2004.

Hey wanna see something scary!! AHH! I was doing a search on pool drain phobia's and this is what I stumbled onto!! go ahead look at the site read what it has to say! go here: http://www.insideedition.com/investigative/pool_drains.htm warning!!! IF YOUR REALLY AS AFRAID OF DRAINS AS I AM< DON'T LOOK AT THE PICTURES!!!! :)

-- Lisa (lightning_stalker@hotmail.com), February 28, 2004.

I have kind of an odd phobia. I have a deep fear of getting blood drawn. And, it's not the needle that worries me, but the rubber thing they put around your arm that makes your veins pop up. Any time I even think about it, I get tense, and feel faint. Also, for the longest time I couldn't even handle blood pressure. I don't know how to deal with is and am still looking for a way to overcome it.

-- Danica Downing (BlueAlien518@yahoo.com), March 24, 2004.

To whoever! I'm deeply scared of a lot of things in fact i came online to search for a panic attack help site(anybody?) I get horrible panick attacks that have just started now( sorry if youthink i am too young but i am 14) No you dont have to e-mail me if you think we "smaller people are not important too. I am afraid of death this is my mian reason for having panic attacks ever since my grandad dies i have been scared of losing my mum in some horrible accident.. I can't watch any horror movie but when i do i get horribly freaked out an beleive the stuff in it.... Eg Gothika It is horrible I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO IT IS NO LAUGHING MATTER... I'm scared of dark places and the dark i'm scare of planes, spiders, bees. An d i have a horrible fear of silence and being alone. It tears me apart and i'm stuck like this because my mum thinks im making all this up to get attention...Can someone help guide me in the right direction... I am afraid of people not liking me please dont hesitate to e-mail me for i fear...a lot and it is tearing apart my life please no junkmail... HEEEELPPPP

-- Janet Flint (cf_smudgywudgy@hotmail.com), April 20, 2004.

Im 14 years old and since I could remember I was afraid of pool drains. I dont really know why. I guess i thought I would grow out of it but I never did? Lately I've been gettin really worried about the issue. If other people are in the pool im not really afraid or I feel I have to be brave around my friends. I dont like any drains in a pool but I feel I can handle the drains with an antivortex cover. My fright is the feeling of being trapped under by the force of a vortex. I wont swim by myself in the deepend of a pool unless someonelse is in. I love to swim and i hope that i will finally realize that my simple back yard swimming pool isnt likely going to turn of me and suck me up. Well reading the other people with this fear has really helped me understand the way I feel so I hope maby i can help someone else feel better.

-- Daniel Lee Grafton (xtreme990@hotmail.com), May 28, 2004.

I am terrified of scorpins, just the name, the thought of them creep me out! I have to turn every light on when I go to the bathroom cause i'm scared i might step on one.

-- (Mindalyn19@hotmail.com), May 30, 2004.

hello everyone, i am scared of mirrors, especialy in the dark, ever since i heard about saying bloodymary three times in the dark in front of a mirror and then youll die or somthing, lol any way, if there wernt so many scary movies out there im sure we wouldnt be as afraid. everytime we watch a scary movie those images stick in our heads and then in the night when you start to get scared those images come back and freak us out. i now refuse to watch horror movies and iv becoe alot less scared of the dark. i still get afraid that there are gohsts in the cornor of the room ever since 6th sence gross any way, just thought id share.

-- (n.a@hotmail.com), June 26, 2004.