Everyone is afraid of something. Maybe it's the dark, or maybe spiders. Or something a little less rational, like moose (they're way too big for no reason).
As kids, we were mostly afraid of really random, super unlikely things. These Twitter users brought some of those fears up, and I know that I've experienced at least a few of them as a kid.
I can't say I was ever afraid of falling into a storm drain, but I wouldn't blame any kid for that. At least they have, like, some safety features.
The Blue Man Group and the girl from the Ring are both pretty creepy for very separate, yet strangely similar reasons. And yeah, they creeped me out as a kid, too.
I don't know why thinking sharks would be in your pool was ever a thing, but I'm glad that I wasn't alone in thinking this. For some reason.
Seriously, why did we think there would be sharks in the pool!?
I can't really remember the books I was afraid of, but I know I had a few I couldn't read. I feel like book illustrators need to do some focus group testing before they put books out.
I feel like there are so many ways to spin childhood fears into things that are totally not scary at all. Like turning the Cryptkeeper into a drag queen in your mind. Whatever works.
In fact, if any part of my body isn't under a blanket while I'm sleeping, I fear it's fair game for whatever monster's hiding in my room. Yes, even as an adult, the fear is real.
Because of course, aquariums use regular old glass to keep all their fish contained. Not, like, reinforced or tempered glass of any kind.
Man, we were really going through it as kids.
I think it's just the dread of having to go back to school/work after having some time off to goof off and relax. It was definitely stronger for me when I was in grade school.
I can safely say that, no, I never once had to ballroom dance as a kid, nor as an adult. But I definitely relate to that strange fear of not knowing how to do it, because it felt like it would come up way more often than it did.
I swear, it felt like all my Sims got abducted by aliens at some point or another. I don't know why, but I was weirdly convinced it would happen to me at some point, too.
This may seem strange, but like, I kind of get it. The chance of having some weird, gross thing in your food is super low, but it's also not zero.
It's funny, but even now I'll get creeped out if I'm home all by myself and I hear some kind of creak or thump. It might just be all the horror movies I watch while I'm alone, though.
Both getting gum on your face, and the feeling that you've accidentally blown up your own head. But both of these things were a little extreme, if you ask me.
I used to be really afraid of sink drains that didn't have any kind of catcher in them, solely because I thought I could somehow get sucked down there. Even though I definitely couldn't fit.
Being an adult kind of sucks because, instead of getting to be afraid of things that'll literally never happen to you, you have to worry about taxes. It's unfair, if you ask me.
I was legit too afraid to eat watermelon for years because I thought something like this could happen to you in real life. It took me a while to figure out that cartoons were generally acts of fiction.
Pro tip: if your apple has a hole in it, there's probably a worm in there. No hole? Then you're good to go.
Try telling that to me as a kid, though.
They say TV rots your brain. I don't believe that, but I do believe it fills your head with some really strange stuff. Like a fear of quicksand, which is something most of us will never be anywhere near.
Piranhas is another one of those things that TV made a lot of us fear. I don't think I've ever been anywhere near one (apart from, like, in an aquarium), so I have no idea why they struck so much fear into my little heart.
Everything about that commercial seems so creepy. I can't believe we let Ronald McDonald get away with being an iconic mascot for so long.
