What were you afraid of as a kid. I hated thunderstorms. My mother loved them. I would

[applegrove]

hide under my blankets while my mom opened the front door so she could hear the rain. I also hated jellyfish (my dad told me about them - I was never stung - but that was enough for me to be terrified of the ocean when I was 4). And finally fireworks. I can remember balling my eyes out as my parents tried to calm me the whole time the display went on.

[mackattack]

1. I was terrified that

1. the world would end

2. my parents were going to die

Im sure there is some psychological meaning behind all this.

[Vanje]

2. Teen-aged boys

and cowboys.
Still scared of cowboys.

[applegrove]

4. Yeah I was afraid of teenage boys too. I had to walk by a boys private school on my way to school.

That was one side of the road. The other side of the road had huge dogs who used to run out at me. Was quite the gauntlet.

[femmocrat]

3. Bombs.

We had those drills in elementary school to prepare us in case someone dropped a bomb on Podunk, PA.

[applegrove]

6. We had one of those air raid sirens in our schoolyard when I was very young. I think it is gone now.

[bigwillq]

5. Stairs.

Still can't stand the bastids.

[Major Nikon]

7. Catholic day care

And yes, they really did wash your mouth out with soap.

[applegrove]

8. Oh my dad washed my mouth out with soap at least once.

[elleng]

9. Things that go 'bump' in the night!!!

[pink-o]

10. My curtains. Seriously terrified.

I used to have this recurring nightmare where I would be dragged into the window against my will. When I reached the glass, the curtains would wrap around me smothering and strangling me. I'd always wake up before the end, just petrified

But I later figured out the window represented the future, where one is inexplicably drawn and one has to eventually leave the comfort of the room and go outside he window. The drapes represented the fears and anxieties about facing the outside--as well as the fears of my parents who wanted me to embrace the world, yet protect me from it. Oh, and did I mention my family is Jewish? Do Gentiles have these neuroses?

Now I have very few abstract fears. I guess I have been through the Worst of them!

[pipi_k]

11. Oh lord...everything! Except

thunderstorms. I love them today, even.

I was afraid of:

dogs, water, blood, heights, open spaces, the end of the world, people, airplanes (B-52s flew over my house all the time), dirty hands, swallowing cold water (I didn't know about the esophagus and thought it went straight down into the stomach over my heart), vomiting...

And that's just the beginning

not afraid of dogs or vomit, and I know cold water doesn't wash over a person's heart

the rest...still there

[lunatica]

12. Invading martians. For real.

I loved watching those martian invasion movies but later, in bed I was terrified that they would walk through my room and notice me in my bed and pulverize me or zap me into oblivion.

[Capn Sunshine]

20. I was just going to post this

I saw the 50's version of "Invaders From Mars" and it scared the shit out of me. It's the only thing I remember being scared of, looking out my window in a thunderstorm and seeing the ship land.
Here's the movie in its entirety. The original scene @ 4:30 where the kid sees the ship crash during the storm just freaked me the hell out. Probably because we lived above a similar Sand Dune.

[hlthe2b]

13. Our front door had 3 little windows up at the top & I once saw a face peer in late at night...

when I was a child. They didn't knock and my parents didn't really believe me when I told them (even though I sort of freaked out, I think they just thought I'd imagined it)...

The entire time we lived there, I could not look up at the front door without being terrified I'd see someone peering in. To this day, I know what I saw....And it scared the shit out of me.

[Kali]

14. caterpillars and the drain in the bottom of swimming pools (only at night thought)

I wasn't a very fearful kid. Now the worst thing is public speaking - especially if I have to use a microphone

[applegrove]

15. I used to let caterpillars crawl all over my hands and arms as a kid. I tried it when I was a teen

and was totally revolted.

[Kali]

16. sorry, Kali just went running out of the room screaming

she should calm down and return shortly

[applegrove]

17. LOL!

[ChazII]

18. Elevators

especially the glass ones on the outside of buildings.

[applegrove]

26. Escalators.

[murielm99]

19. Fire drills at school.

I would have nightmares about them. I did not worry about an actual fire at school, just the drill.

[laundry_queen]

21. Ghosts and other paranormal activity.

Those things fascinated me as a child and I took out as many books on them as I could from the library. I wasn't so scared of things I could see, more of things I couldn't see, LOL. I had quite an imagination and could work myself up into such a frenzy I was CERTAIN I could see black clouds of floating mist above my bed. After awhile my parents banned me from taking out those books. I can't imagine why they didn't want me screaming for them at 3 am every night.

Thunderstorms only bothered me when I was very young. As I got older and interested in tornadoes, I loved watcthing storms. Then an F-4 hit near our house when I was 12 and I was scared again. Still am sometimes.

Oh, and I was only scared of fireworks once - my parents took me closer than usual and I thought they were going to fall on my head. Next time we sat further away and it was all good.

[orleans]

22. i actually did see my grandmother's sister

after she passed. i was playing by myself in the basement, riding my tricycle. when i started to get off the bike i saw her. she looked just like she always did, seemed pleasant as usual and spoke to me. scared me to death! i started screaming and ran up the stairs--my mom and grandmother were just up in the kitchen. my mom ran and met me halfway up the stairs. i was hysterical and told them what happened.

after that i was afraid to go into the basement. after awhile i completely forgot what happened--and managed to block it out of my memory until i was 12. i think i finally felt safe remembering it. and i recalled every detail.

[AsahinaKimi]

23. For years..as a kid I had terrible dreams of being in a Tsunami

Though the waves were nothing like what I saw in Japan on 3/11. Its amazing how the mind can create its own images of what you think something must be like.

[chromotone]

24. Santa Claus and circus clowns

Really! They frightened me!

Also, really, really big tarantulas that could barely fit inside a one-car garage.

[surrealAmerican]

25. The dark, and the popular kids ...

... but I learned to like the dark when I got older.