Kids are often scared of some very silly things. Common childhood fears include the dark, under the bed, and green vegetables.
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As I’ve come to discover, there are also many uncommon fears that kids have, and honestly, some of them are quite reasonable. For example, I personally have never thought about how scary horse teeth are, but now I’m probably going to have nightmares (get it?).
As kids get older, however, they tend to grow out of many of these fears. Others, they do not. How about you? Does your childhood fear make the list? If not, add it down below—I’m sure someone else will share it!
1. Reddit user u/DandWeek asked: What minor thing used to terrify you as a child?
The full thread can be found here, but here are some of the best childhood fears.
2. I had to look this up because I didn't know who it was, but WHAT IS THAT AND WHY IS IT AIMED AT CHILDREN?
[deleted]:
"Chuck E. Cheese. That giant rat used to scare the hell out of me. Once he jumped into the ball pit, and I thought I was going to die."
3. Say her name three times...
helloplainclothesman
"Mirrors. That Bloody Mary thing, dude."
4. E.T. actually stands for extra terrifying
treadgill:
"E.T. When he screamed after being found in the closet, it really freaked me out. Then the scene where he turned ghostly white traumatized me. I still can't watch E.T. to this day."
5. We watched this at school, and I had to leave the room
BurningBridges19
"The movie Spirited Away. I was terrified of Yubaba and No-Face. Also, the scene where Chihiro’s parents transform into pigs haunted me for years."
6. Moo
ilex_r7:
"I used to be afraid of the workers behind the milk coolers in the grocery store. I can remember grabbing a milk for my mom and seeing people walking around back there, and I was completely disturbed by it."
7. Drains
BARDLover:
"The drain in the bathtub. I'd use my hand to make all the water drain quietly instead of letting it yell at me."
8. Hate this
Valkyraria:
"Mr. Blobby..."
9. Never thought about it that way before
Nina_Bean
"Car washes. Loud, claustrophobic, weird smells, everything would go dark... some scary stuff right there."
10. In fairness, that would be very scary
turingthecat:
"When I was about 4, I asked my dad why he was sealing up an old cat flap. I was too young to know the word ‘drafts,’ so I spent about a year terrified that there were bands of feral giraffes wandering around England, sticking their heads randomly into people’s cat flaps."
11. Still scary! Especially with phones
roonerspize:
"The gaps between boards on a pier."
12. Okay, but not a good enough reason not to flush
tsumtsumfaithie:
"Flushing the toilet. For some reason, I was convinced that the devil could come out while it was flushing."
13. These are scary
wjescott:
"My grandpa had one of those 'Uncle Sam Wants YOU!' recruitment posters. It hung up in his downstairs workshop, and nothing scared me like seeing that face and that finger pointing at me. I would have nightmares of a dismembered torso chasing me through my childhood home, a grizzled, war-ravaged bearded man screaming 'I WANT YOU!' as I fled."
14. Pools can be very scary
Tank_AT:
"At the wave pool, I was without swimming goggles, and I tried to see what kind of mechanism was creating the waves at the very end of the pool, but I couldn't make it out with blurred vision. However, I was absolutely terrified of somehow getting sucked in or something through the metal bars that were preventing people from getting anywhere near anything that could actually harm them. Young me was very curious and very scared at the same time that day."
15. Did a cat write this?
AnUnfinishedSentenc
"Vacuum cleaners."
16. Fair
BrenTheRipper:
"Horses, mainly their teeth."
17. VALID
Climate:
"When you pressed the release button on a tape measure and it retracted at what seemed like Mach speed at my hand. I got hit on the hand once and was terrified of those things forever."
