What frightens you?

[morefutility]

I pose this question because I have recently finished Peter Straub's Mr. X. It was a well written book which I greatly enjoyed, but it wasn't exactly keeping me up at night. I am a great lover of horror lit, I consider it a necessary part of my literary diet (which is varied to say the least), but I am not always frightened by the horrors within. I, like many people I suppose, have a few trigger fears that aren't always brought into play in every novel. My biggest fears involve zombies and evil children. I think the former is sheer logic. The dead out number the living by insane numbers, and I can't reach my tire iron at any given moment. The latter has just always creeped me out. Something about the perversion of what is typically seen as the epoch of human purity gives me the chills. Also, any situation of helplessness without possibility of escap: stuck in an elevator, underground, trapped in a car whilst stalked by rabid dog, etc. What are your fears? Share them so that we may monopolize on them in our free-time (just kidding, I don't have that much free-time).

[Mr. Jingles]

Spiders, millipedes, june bugs, (anything insect that crawls or flies, basically), heights, sometimes water, and the Teletubbies.....Barney freaks me out too....oh, and also Donald Trump's hair....I mean, what the hell is up with it???

[Insomniak]

hell

[BDenbrough]

Well besides the obvious things I'm scared of (spiders, snakes, things hiding in dark water) I'm scared of things that are truly evil. The things that mankind do to each other. The evil things in the world that can happen to me. Zombies....eh...if I saw one I'd be scared, but it's so far removed from my actual existence that thinking about it doesn't really scare me.

It's hard for me to get scared by books, I can get creeped out, or get the chills...but not really scared. I've seen so many horror movies that it's almost impossible to scare me with those.

I'm also scared of flying...though I've been doing it since I was a baby. I get panick attacks really bad (I'm flying 3 hours at the end of this month...UGH!)

Evil children ARE scary though...because you don't really know what they're going to do!

[LadyPain]

Spiders, really high heights, flying, crowds, small spaces. I'm multi-phobic, but I'm getting better a bit at a time.

[marew1]

Do you know there is a book of short stories on Zombies called The Living Dead? SK has a story in there. It's a pretty good read. I find reading horror less terrifying than watching a horror movie. I actually get spooked when I'm alone in a room and someone comes in to the room and says something to me and I jump! Silly, isn't it?

[JRLauer]

What scares me the most is living by myself and dying alone.

[Natjen24]

Dangerous situations while driving. I have this idea that I'm going to die in a car crash. I don't know why I think this, but it feels like I'm right.

Also feeling trapped. Elevators, under water.
Animals don't scare me often, but a rabid dog could do the trick. I'm more scared of something happening to my loved ones, even my pets.

[Lencho_of_the_Apes]

....oh, and also Donald Trump's hair....I mean, what the hell is up with it???

Phil Spector's hair frightened me a lot more than Donald Trump ever could.

We all float down here...

[catnoel]

spiders, dentists, going crazy, loud noises, chainsaws, clowns, being homeless, michael myers, snakes, tornadoes, heights, doomsday, evil people:eek2:

[Srbo]

I`ve been to hell and back, seen all kinds of stuff and I want to say that I am not frightened of anything...

But there is this one "thing" that I can`t get out of my mind and still dream about it once in a while.

It`s called thirst.

Absolute and worst horror there is is being thirsty, and I mean thirsty in a sense of not having a drop of any fluid for days...and I hope with all my heart that no one should endure that like I have...

[Bluey Lunger]

believing, but not being believed. on the other hand, going up against belief, because "believing" makes it so. like this line from 'salem's lot, "the town hasn't decided yet." but when they do, you can bet your arse the mortar joints will be tight and impenetrable with nary a keyhole to see otherwise.

[shangirl]

The end of the world. I think about it way too often. Now this new deal with the end supposedly coming Dec. 21st 2012 *SHUDDER*

[michal]

I only fear death, or - more accurately, the possibility that there is nothing beyond this life and that I will seize existing.

That's really just about it

[Kahllie]

What frightens me..

...heights if I am on the ground (vertigo). if in a plane, I'm ok looking down...unless I'm over water. I experience that same tingle of vertigo in online games when looking down great distances to landscape beyond, but not if flying.

...water. found out very young you can't breathe there. Water in online games scares me if I have to go in over my character's head. My fear of water directly corresponds to the depth of the water.

...certain sounds. I once lived in a place that had a high mosquito population. They would squeeze through the crack between the front door and the door frame to get inside. At night, all along the room-long kitchen windows, they would attach to the screens and the loud whine was mind-numbing. When the highway is being worked on, there is some sort of pile-driving machine tamping the asphalt down. I live far enough away that it is not a loud sound, but it is rhythmic thumping that gets to me and makes me feel unsafe. I don't know why.

[Speedygi81]

Domestic violence.

[sam peebles]

The ocean. It's so vast and deep and alien. Some of the creatures that live there freak me out--weird phospherescent monsters that can only survive under immense pressure and have no concept of the sun. Giant squids. Sharks that are just homing missiles with serrated teeth. The freezing temperatures and lack of visibility. The Marianas trench.

I do swim in the ocean and enjoy boats and deep sea fishing, but the thought of it still terrifies me.

[Girl87]

Spiders,snakes and rats. Last summer when I clean up in our barn. I found a rat. And that rat was almost a guinea pig size. AND THAT RAT WAS NOT DEAD IT LIVE. That scare me most last summer.

[pagantallie]

I'd like to think I'm quite resilient - the only thing that truly scares me is the thought of something bad happening to my little boy...and not being able to stop it.

[Presque Vu]

The ocean. It's so vast and deep and alien. Some of the creatures that live there freak me out--weird phospherescent monsters that can only survive under immense pressure and have no concept of the sun.

This reminds me of the fish that King is mentioning in the Langoliers, the pressure and all... I find that one of the most wonderful sections in any book ever!

Back on topic, what frightens me... clowns!!! And I'm utterly disgusted by worms!

[Cowboy]

The thought of my kids getting hurt is very disturbing to me.

[ShootDaSquirrells]

I think spiders are the most frightening thing. They have 8 legs and the way they walk so smoothly and silently and how they are so patient. It all adds up to creepy.

Some thing that I imagine would be very horrifyin to write about are some freak occurence where dinosaurs walk amongst humans, a man using his lawn mower as a weapon...think of it, crazy pets, giant rats (i mean rats are freaks man), going to Death Row innocent

I would prefer to read things that were not clique though like sharks although evil children is such a great fear. It is a perversion of innocence and the possibilities are endless. It is more of a mind fear than well physical like torture or death. It allows for so many things to write about that people have not seen/read before in the genre of horror. It is like the start of a new musical genre. You can do so many things with it.

[ShootDaSquirrells]

The thought of my kids getting hurt is very disturbing to me.

What do you think is more disturbing...your kids getting hurt or your kids being evil. I don't have kids (in only 18) so I don't know...I am just wondering

[paper_is_sweet]

Clowns. Clowns. Holy Crap Clowns. And not just creeped out. We're talking hiding under the bed, reaching for weapons and Xanax phobic.

::shudder::

Other things may worry or distress me, but nothing else scares me the way clowns do.

Yes, It did my head in. However, I was phobic before I read the novel. Sadly that little attempt at exposure therapy wasn't terribly effective.

[Doc Wilson]

Cancer, and losing my wife or one of my shorties.

Nothing in a book could scare me, I don't think.

[BarbYann]

I am scared of things that jump, like frogs, grasshoppers, rabbits. It is interesting to note that I have had pet snakes and enjoyed them.

[thymeoperator]

usually it's just how it's written, some things hit a nerve and some don't - usually things are just eerie to me, rather than scary. to be honest, in all the SK books i've read for instance the only two things that genuinely terrified me were: the son dying in 'pet sematary' and that short story 'the ledge' because i am so afraid of heights and i lost count of how many times i nearly put that story down because it was sending chills straight through me, how vividly it brought the image to life. i couldn't believe how hard it was to read.

[Cowboy]

What do you think is more disturbing...your kids getting hurt or your kids being evil. I don't have kids (in only 18) so I don't know...I am just wondering

I brought them into this world, I can take them out of this world...:biggrin2:

[jules17330]

Clowns and heights.

[pagantallie]

I love spiders, I go out of my way to make sure i dont hoover up their webs and we politely ask them to leave if they are too large (its normally because my husband is scared lol) but me and my children just love them..Does that make me weird?

[pagantallie]

What do you think is more disturbing...your kids getting hurt or your kids being evil. I don't have kids (in only 18) so I don't know...I am just wondering

It's a bit like the situation in Pet Semetary really- being honest I'd rather he was EVIL than just plain dead. Sorry if that offends anyone but he's my baby, I can't imagine life without him..if he died and i was asked if i would choose to bring him back, even as an evil entity,I would say yes, (providing it was just my life he was endangering - this is deep) come on back honey!:dizzy:

[Bryan James]

I had a court-appointed case where I represented an 18 month old baby girl. She was living with her family in a shanty with 10 male migrant workers. The baby had a major gonorrhea infection in her esophagus and almost died. Four of the workers that could be found tested positive.

I won that case.

The last case for which I was appointed, I defended a man that admitted to raping, sodomizing, and forcing fellatio on a six-year-old girl before kidnapping her and repeating the sexual offenses.

I won that case, too, because it was my job to win, and because I swore some damned oath that hasn't earned me a thousandth of what it's cost.

I had a minor mental breakdown after that case was dismissed in my client's favor.

What frightens me?
Nothing.

[Daisygirl]

I had a court-appointed case where I represented an 18 month old baby girl. She was living with her family in a shanty with 10 male migrant workers. The baby had a major gonorrhea infection in her esophagus and almost died. Four of the workers that could be found tested positive.

I won that case.

The last case for which I was appointed, I defended a man that admitted to raping, sodomizing, and forcing fellatio on a six-year-old girl before kidnapping her and repeating the sexual offenses.

I won that case, too, because it was my job to win, and because I swore some damned oath that hasn't earned me a thousandth of what it's cost.

I had a minor mental breakdown after that case was dismissed in my client's favor.

What frightens me?
Nothing.


I'm sorry----That's terrible for you. Are you a public defender, or does the system mandate that all attorneys take court appointed cases?

[Lina]

I'm afraid of many things: insects, pain, heights, evil people, death, losing dear people and a lot of other things. Sometimes I don't know even how to cope with all these fears!

[cindystubbs]

That people pretend but deep down, they are all evil.
That they'd kill you if they knew they couldn't get caught and it gave them some benefit like ten bucks.

[Craig Zadow]

I actually feel bad for the last two posters.

Lina, you shouldn't let things like death and losing dear people control you that much cause there is absolutly nothing you can do about it and just be glad for the time and people you have.

Cindy I just hope to god you're kidding, that's just a horrible outlook on life not all people are like that and I think you read way to many books on the subject of bad people and not enough on the good aspects of people

[plgordon]

As much as I love to read and watch horror, and relish the skin crawling feeling I get from a very well written, or directed piece, truly the human conditions infects me the most in that what I don't know or understand can truly be horrifiying. Have you ever been outside (or in) you here a noise and ask the person you are with, "what was that" When they reply "I don't know" and you realize you have no idea what creature or force of nature could have created that sound!!! That can be quite frightening, exponentialy so if you are alone under the same circumstances.

[ally88]

As much as I love to read and watch horror, and relish the skin crawling feeling I get from a very well written, or directed piece, truly the human conditions infects me the most in that what I don't know or understand can truly be horrifiying. Have you ever been outside (or in) you here a noise and ask the person you are with, "what was that" When they reply "I don't know" and you realize you have no idea what creature or force of nature could have created that sound!!! That can be quite frightening, exponentialy so if you are alone under the same circumstances.

I have been in this situation, whilst alone.
I could hear noises outside of my house in the early hours of the morning (when I lived in Greece). Foolishly I went outside to investigate. What I found was a man pleasuring himself whilst looking into my large patio door windows.
Luckily I managed to get inside of the house and called a friend, but by the time he came the man had left.
I had lived in this house during the summer for 7years yet after that night I had to leave as I no longer felt safe there.
I had always relished that the house was in an isolated area with no neighbours (believe it or not I can be quite anti-social at times) yet a situation like that makes you realise as a woman how vulnerable we all are.

[EricMint]

Ally, that's totally messed up. But as a city boy, living in an isolated area with no neighbors is actually a huge fear of mine. Give me a crowded bustling street any day over a house secluded in the woods. My imagination is way too wild and dark for me to be left alone with it like that. It'll conjure up murderers and thieves at every stray sound.

But I'll tell you what really scares me, the only thing I get nightmares about: It's having to do the same action over and over and over again. Sometimes I dream about endlessly following the woodgrain lines on a floor (a la Han Qing-jao in Orson Scott Card's Xenocide) or endlessly following the loops in a strange carpet pattern until I feel like I'm part of the carpet or endlessly reading the same words and phrases over and over. After those dreams I can't get back to sleep for hours. I think I know why it freaks me out so much but I'll save the psychoanalysis for a shrink.

[ally88]

Ally, that's totally messed up. But as a city boy, living in an isolated area with no neighbors is actually a huge fear of mine. Give me a crowded bustling street any day over a house secluded in the woods.

Hi and welcome to the board EricMint :smile2:.
The reason I enjoyed being isolated is because I have always lived in the city, so being in a rural area was my idea of heaven. TBH I would still love to live in a similar area one day...but next time I will make sure I have a big strong guy around to protect me :laugh:.

Now Eric, I also have dreams similar to what you are explaining, but I don't know why I have them, I definitely need to be psycho~analysed!
A lot of my recurring dreams involve some very bad gunky though, so we best not go there.

[Rhett]

I have an active mind and a vivid (sometimes dark) imagination. I'm scared of losing my mind but keeping my imagination.
Sometimes it is only the silk like threads of a rational mind that keep me tethered to a coherent reality. Perhaps one day my smoking, bad diet, and drug abuse from younger years will revisit me with scissors call alzhiemers and cut away those threads.
Then what?

[Nutty Bavarian]

When I threw grenades on the grenade range I used to be afraid I was going to throw the pin and drop the darn grenade :eek2:. You spend so much time telling yourself, "Drop pin. Throw grenade. Drop pin. Throw grenade. Throw grenade." I was always afraid I'd do the opposite for some reason. But that's why there's another person with you. You screw up and they throw you and themselves out of harms way. Hopefully....

[Natjen24]

I have been in this situation, whilst alone.
I could hear noises outside of my house in the early hours of the morning (when I lived in Greece). Foolishly I went outside to investigate. What I found was a man pleasuring himself whilst looking into my large patio door windows.
Luckily I managed to get inside of the house and called a friend, but by the time he came the man had left.
I had lived in this house during the summer for 7years yet after that night I had to leave as I no longer felt safe there.
I had always relished that the house was in an isolated area with no neighbours (believe it or not I can be quite anti-social at times) yet a situation like that makes you realise as a woman how vulnerable we all are.

I had a similar experience. The first apartment where me and my husband lived, was in a building with 8 or 9 other apartment, one terrace barely separated from another.
One sunday morning I was taking a shower while Stanny went after bread and such, he came back in and suddenly stormed outside angry. I had no idea what had happened, until he told me my neighbour was practically on our terrace looking in at me. Shivers went down my spine and since then I carefully closed the door of the bathroom.
Unfortunately that wasn't the end of it. Stanny worked shifts and I worked from 8am till 4.30pm. He had a late shift, so I was home alone. We were notified that there was going to be some work done on the roof, so the stumbling about didn't worry me, not until I turned my head towards the terrace, and there that neighbour was looking in through the window, he was actually lying on the roof, looking in from above. As soon as he realised I saw him, he was gone. I was literally frozen. I called a friend, that stayed with me until Stanny came home.
The next day we pressed charges but nothing came of it. It was his word against mine.
So we moved, and live creepfree for about five years now. :grinning: Still it was quite a scare.

[Felipe]

Well... I don't have fear nothing specific,
with horror movies or novels, death... but
I hate cockroaches....... This's half funny, is not it?:upside:

[Mephisto]

I only fear death, or - more accurately, the possibility that there is nothing beyond this life and that I will seize existing.

That's really just about it

Trust the guy named Mephisto . . . the idea that nothing lies beyond this life is less frightening than certain alternative notions. Have a great day! :cool2:

[Matthew.Degnan]

Spiders, Heights and Deep Water that you can't see into

[Kat9]

Balloons, clowns, lifts, hospitals and loud noises. I'm a bit od a scaredy Kat really!

[mindfungus]

Lived through my daughter having two open heart surgeries most frightened I will ever be.

[brandon]

Helplessness. In its infinite forms. Let your imagination go wild with this one. Terrifying.

[brandon]

I had a court-appointed case where I represented an 18 month old baby girl. She was living with her family in a shanty with 10 male migrant workers. The baby had a major gonorrhea infection in her esophagus and almost died. Four of the workers that could be found tested positive.

I won that case.

The last case for which I was appointed, I defended a man that admitted to raping, sodomizing, and forcing fellatio on a six-year-old girl before kidnapping her and repeating the sexual offenses.

I won that case, too, because it was my job to win, and because I swore some damned oath that hasn't earned me a thousandth of what it's cost.

I had a minor mental breakdown after that case was dismissed in my client's favor.

What frightens me?
Nothing.

Damn Dude.....That is messed up.

[LopesxD]

I have fear of spirits and that b**** of the film Exorcist. Believe it, that makes me be awake 3 nights long.