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Childhood is full of fear and uncertainty for many of us.
We think monsters are lurking around every corner and that the world is a very unsafe place…which is kind of true, but as kids we have a lot of irrational fears as well.
Let’s take a little trip down memory lane.
AskReddit users shared their interesting childhood stories.
1. That is pretty weird…
“I used to have this repeating dream that scared me to death. I was always in a skyscraper made of windows, and a giant toddler would walk through the street. If the toddler saw you, you died. Weird fucking dream, but I dreamt it repeatedly for years.”
2. My mom used to tell me this, too.
“Escalators. My mother told me that they will catch my shoestring or pants hem and pull me down and cut me into shreds. I still think if that every time I step on one.”
3. Stay away from drains.
“Drains. Showers and tubs and pools. Especially unfamiliar ones.”
4. Beware of gators.
“I thought an alligator would climb up the wall of our house like a lizard and come through my window and eat me in my sleep.
I lived in Mumbai. We dont have alligators anywhere. Also, they can’t do that.”
5. The stuff that nightmares are made of.
“Willy Wonka.”
6. Ghost dust.
“Dust.
Uncle told me it was left by ghosts.”
7. That’ll scare the hell out of you.
“The windows XP startup and shutdown noise.”
8. A lot of fears.
“Rats, snakes, roaches, etc climbing up the pipe to the toilet and biting my ass.
My grandma’s cocker spaniel jumping on me and knocking me over. He just wanted to lick me and was excited, it turns out.
Other people driving. This one is weird because I trusted absolutely nobody but my mom—if it was anyone else, ie her friends, babysitters, or even my dad, I was absolutely convinced I was going to die.”
9. Not as uncommon as you might think…
“Ceiling fans.
Bro, same. My sister convinced me they would detach and fly across the room. Didn’t help that the fans made weird noises at high speed.”
10. Clapping can be dangerous.
“If I clapped my hands above my head, the nightmares would start. If I clapped them up there again, they would stop. (This didn’t actually happen; it was what I was afraid of.)
Consequently, I had to make sure I only ever clapped my hands above my head an even number of times. If I accidentally clapped them, I had to clap them again.”
11. Scared of balls.
“Balls. Literally any round object was fucking terrifying to me apparently. According to my mom, if she wanted me in a room but didn’t want me to go anywhere, she’d put a ~hand sized red ball in the exit. I was apparently too scared to even go to that side of the room.”
12. The orange glow.
“On a trip to London as a ten-year-old, I woke in the small hours of the morning due to jet lag and was horrified to see an orange glow outside the windows.
I convinced myself that a nuclear explosion had occurred and somehow I had managed to sleep through it.
Nothing happened for an eternity of terror.
So I mustered the courage; I slid out of bed and crawled across the floor, to peep over the window sill and look out on the devastation, the city burning
The street lights were orange, for fog. They don’t have them where I’m from.”
13. Run for it!
“As a child, I used to be scared of the 20th Century Fox themesong. I would run out of the room screaming each time it would come on before or after a movie.”
14. That is kind of creepy…
“The live action Grinch scared my brother when he was a toddler. If he didn’t go to bed on time my parents would threaten him with the VCR tape of it & he would race to bed.”
15. Hyperactive child.
“I was a very hyperactive child, I use to eat and walk around the house and mess it all up, once my grandma told me that if I will keep eating while I’m standing all the food will go down to my legs and feet and they will become so fat I wouldn’t be able to wear shoes anymore.
I stop eating and walking until today.”
Those are pretty darn funny, if I do say so myself.
What were the things that scared you as a kid? Share your memories with us in the comments!
