People Are Sharing The Absurd Things That Scared Them As Children, And It's Hilarious

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26-04-2025

Redditor u/ kismeticulous recently asked the people of Reddit, "What's something absolutely ridiculous you were terrified of as a kid that still kinda haunts you today?" Read on — that is, if you're not too much of a scaredy-cat:
1. "I was staying at my cousins' house and saw something on the floor. It looked like some kind of mold or mushroom I'd never seen before. Over the next week, my imagination got the best of me. It became a flesh-eating virus that was going to kill me in my sleep. One day, while waiting for it to rise up and attack me, a breeze rose up and the bane of my young existence fluttered. It was paper-thin. I touched it. It was slick. It was smooth. It was….a picture of the butt of a polar bear!"
—u/ Suitably-Unsuitable
2. "There was an episode of Hey Arnold! where his grandpa tells some story about a train engineer that went mad and drove the train into hell. I had nightmares for weeks, and it still slightly freaks me out if I think about it now."
—u/ Algothia
4. "The whale at the bottom of the pool, or the shark that will come out of the filters and pool drains."
—u/ vintage_chick_
Universal / Everett Collection
5. "I was afraid of bugs crawling into my ears as I slept."
—u/ Alive_River_4304
6. "I was terrified of the inside of the human body. For some reason, I went to college and studied the inside of the human body for eight years."
—u/ thesevenleafclover
7. "The song 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow,' sung by Judy Garland in the original Wizard of Oz film. It gives me chills and a feeling of dread — and I don't know why."
—u/ Lragce
8. "Dolls — especially those freakishly realistic ones. My siblings used to tease me with Annabelle and Chucky. It's not as bad now, but I'd rather still avoid them."
—u/ kublyy
9. "There was a map of Quebec that hung on the wall of my third grade classroom. Dominating the right side of the map, of course, was the Atlantic Ocean. The increasing depth of the ocean was illustrated by deepening shades of blue. I remember the top right corner of the map, where there was the largest stretch of ocean, the water started light sky blue at the shore…then azure…then cobalt…then ultramarine…then navy…then indigo…and the very top right corner of that map was dead black. Every day, I stared at that corner. I imagined the abyssal depths it hinted at, the monsters lurking in that lightless world. Horrors that had never seen the sun. That map fucking terrified me."
11. "I was terrified of ketchup. I couldn't be near it, and the thought of it touching me repulsed me. Got some on my shoe in high school, cried, threw away my shoes, and walked barefoot for my last two periods of school."
—u/ Ishinehappiness
12. "Coconuts. As my mom tells it, when I started crawling, my mom would find the biggest, hairiest coconut she could find at the grocery store and put it on the floor anywhere she didn't want me to go. I'd crawl up to it and immediately engage my reverse gear. Can't stand the things to this day."
—u/ Individual-Spot2700
13. "I lived across from a forest, so at night I was always scared that there would be wolves that would come out and get me before I made it to the front door. I was always so scared when I was young, and I'd rush out the car to the front door."
—u/ Roneobo
14. "Getting diabetes or cancer."
—u/ serenagallen
15. "I had a reoccurring dream that Yosemite Sam lived under the backseat of my mom's minivan and would burn my legs with cigarettes. I hate riding in backseats of vans. My legs feel so exposed."
—u/ beeksy
16. "The idea of dying. It got to the point where, if I thought about it, the thought would leave a hole in my stomach until I came to terms that I was being selfish for favoring life over death. I was terrified of it, solely because I didn't know what it would feel like or when it'd happen."
—u/ cqane
17. "Escalators. I was convinced that some part of my clothing would get caught in the landings, and I would be stuck or mangled. I still have the habit of hopping onto the first step and hopping off the last to avoid the landings."
—u/ Mamamollusk
18. "Grasshoppers. When I was really little, there was this massive grasshopper on the wall, and we were all looking at it. Some kid threw a rock at it, and it jumped off the wall onto me and crawled up the outside of my dress, up my face, and the top of my hair. I cried until my mum came and picked me up."
—u/ I_love_ice_hockey
19. "Pinocchio. It's so weird, but he freaks me out."
—u/ ceheyun
And finally...
20. "The music video for 'Black Hole Sun' by Soundgarden. Holy shit, did that creep me out when I was a kid. I saw it for the first time while I was hanging out in the game room and I sprinted to the storage closet with my dog and refused to come out. I still think it's…unsettling."
—u/ BeetlePies