I’ll admit it, I was a pretty scared kid.

And one of the things that REALLY terrified me was the dentist. I dreaded when my Mom told me I’d be going to the dentist the following week. That meant a whole week of not sleeping, worrying, and having nightmares about that appointment.

I don’t know when things changed, but now I love going to the dentist! You get those pearly whites cleaned and walk out there feeling like a million bucks!

So, basically, I eventually realized it was harmless.

Let’s dig into these stories from AskReddit users about things that scared them when they were kids.

1. I’m uncomfortable.

“The THX sound effect that preceded most movies in the early-2000s.

It always scared me as a kid. I listened to it last night and it still makes me uncomfortable.

Not sure why.”

2. I remember this one.

“Swallowing seeds from fruits.

Was teased that they would grow and take over my insides and a tree would eventually burst out of me.”

3. This is good.

“So here are some weird things I was afraid of for literally no reason, and what I did about them:

That someone would stab me in the back in the night. I had a big stuffed bear I slept with on my back, his arms tucked under my armpits. He was Bagel and his job was to give his life for mine.

I was terrified we’d suddenly have to run in the middle of the night (I never knew from what). I kept a “go bag” under my bag with a change of clothes and underwear and shoes and some books and travel games and such (other than the clothes, everything in the bag was useless).

Honestly I don’t know why I did these things. No one in my family had ever had to run from anything. No one had ever been attacked. We lived in a safe neighborhood.

But they were my greatest fears as a child.”

4. Don’t look at them!

“Lawn flamingos.

My big sister told me that they could take your soul if you looked into their eyes so I’d run past them with my eyes covered.”

5. Anything and everything.

“Apparently everything.

My mom was always the worse case scenario. No matter what I did it was don’t do that, you’re going to poke your eye out, you’ll crack your head open, and the list goes on.”

6. The sky spiders.

“Helicopters.

I remember freaking out and crying if I saw one.

They were like sky spiders.”

7. Fearful.

“That the knot in my bellybutton would come undone and all my insides would leak out. I wish I was making this up. (I also realize now that your naval is not an actual knot)

Also, that if too much of my arm or leg was sticking out from under the blanket, the bad guy would be able to get me.”

8. This is very specific.

“Terry Fox.

So in Canada we have Terry Fox Day and the Terry Fox walk because this guy, Terry Fox, tried to run across the country on one leg to raise cancer awareness.

My child brain however didn’t quite understand why. I didn’t really understand what cancer was and nobody would tell me anything more than ‘it’s what took Terry’s leg’. I assumed it was a person or something.

So all I knew was that we were walking because a dead man with one leg said we should spread word about Cancer who stole his leg and giving him money. I was so scared that if I forgot to donate or if I missed the walk that Terry Fox’s ghost would come with whoever Cancer was and take my leg too.”

9. Something under there…

“That f*cking alligator under my bed that wanted to eat my feet.

You gotta turn the lights out and jump in bed quick to avoid its wrath.”

10. Hang on tight!

“Whenever the floorboards creaked, I imagined myself or my bed falling through the floor into the basement.”

11. Maybe you saw Jaws too many times.

“That little rope of buoys that separated the deep end from the shallow end in the pool.”

12. Yes!

“Escalators scared the sh*t out of me.

Trying desperately to fit within a rectangle before it becomes a step, jumping off of them at the end to avoid being sucked down into oblivion.

And there was one or two anecdotal stories from the news to convince me that they were, in fact, killers.”

13. Beware of monsters.

“Old televisions right after you turned them off, they would glow for a bit.

That’s when the monsters could come out of the TV and get you.”

14. Be careful…

“Ceiling fans.

I was afraid that it would come off the ceiling still spinning and chop me up like a helicopter blades.

That and millions of bugs crawling through the windows and covering my bed like the plastic casket things people used to lay in on Fear Factor.”

15. Sharks!

“Sharks in the swimming pool.

It could only be 3 feet deep and I was still terrified Jaws was just gonna leave only my trunks floating in the water.”

16. Run for it!

“Turn off the lights to the basement and then running up the stairs.”

17. Me, too.

“The concept of eternity.

I was raised Christian and was terrified of the idea of spending forever in either heaven or hell.

Forever sounded scary.”

18. Creepy…

“I know this sounds odd, but water heaters, boiler tanks, etc. in cellars and basements. I have no idea why.

They looked like monsters to me when I was little.”

19. Hahaha.

“Mascots!

Like the people that dress up in those costumes that are fuzzy and have giant heads? TERRIFIED me. Literally I would crawl up my dad and bawl my eyes out.

One time at an amusement park a guy dressed up as yogi bear kept coming towards me despite my terrified screams, and my dad almost had to kick yogi bears *ss. True story.

I’m 25 and they still spook me. I keep my distance…”

20. Too many horror flicks.

“Could not sleep with my closet door open.

I saw way too many movies with scary things in the closet, so I figured a shut door guaranteed my safety.

I was a weird kid.”

21. Biggest fears.

“My three biggest fears as a small child:

• Leaves. One came down out of a tree and hit me in the face when I was 3, and freaked me out.
• “Heat Monsters”. My parents house had electric heat and the radiators would make these weird crackling sounds that I thought were monsters in the heater
• E.T. F*ck E.T. and his stupid glowing finger and stretchy neck. I was especially frightened by white E.T. when he was dying.”

22. Logos.

“The Pep Boys logo.

Or really any mascot that included a stylized person with glasses but no eyes to be found behind the glasses.

Freaked me tf out!”

23. Snipers.

“As a kid, I was afraid of a sniper shooting me through the window.

I was afraid they would be able to see me through the gap on the window shade that allowed a thin band of sunlight into my room during the day.

I used to tape my window shades to the sides of the actual window to close the crack.”

24. Same here.

“Getting on and off escalators.

I thought I’d slip getting on and scrape myself on the edge and need stitches.

Or get my shoelace stuck at the bottom and trip and need stitches.

Also, stitches.”

25. Just couldn’t do it.

“Talking to adults, especially cashiers.
I begged my mom for ice cream once when I was about 6, sitting at McDonalds. She said Sure! I got all excited. Then she handed me a $5 bill and told me to go get it. I think that was my first ever panic attack.

My heart started racing like a hamster on crack and I just kinda sank back into my seat and said “actually never mind I dont want ice cream anymore””

26. That’s strange…

“Ladybugs.

Instead of the monster under the bed, I thought that a million ladybugs would come out from under my bed in a wave when I came back from the bathroom at night.

I also thought they would crawl up the wall my bed was against unless I was looking at it.”

27. Slimmy little creatures.

“Slugs – still am terrified.

Poor things, they are the most “minding my own business” “harming no one” creatures that decorate the streets with their squished guts and it made me so sad seeing it. but they still terrify me.

I’d find them just chilling in bathroom n I’d need to scream for my dad so he can gently pick them up and put them in the garden.”

28. Don’t look at it!

“The moon.

I watched the Thriller video and was convinced that staring up at a full moon would turn me into a werewolf.”

29. I remember those things.

“The rubber chicken that had an egg in water when you squeezed it.

I always thought it would hatch one day and the baby chicken would eat me so I took it outside and tied it to the garage door.

Crazy times.”

What scared you as a kid? Talk to us in the comments!

We’d love to hear from you!