The ghosts and goblins of All Hallows’
Eve are lurking in the dark ready to jump out from behind that old dead tree to
send shivers of fright down our spines. Since we associate Halloween with scary
beings that go bump in the night, it is a good time to talk about what
frightens us.
The scene is set for me to talk
about the things that scare us. As I sit in my office working on this article,
the wind howls around the corner of the house and branches scrape against the
window. In fact, the unusual sounds are downright creepy.
Although some of the surveys show
slightly different results, I’m going to hone in on ten common fears.
Things that go BOOM in the night. A lot of folks are scared of storms. Thunder
and lightning can shake up the best of us. Throw in a tornado warning complete with
a heart-stopping siren, and you can create panic. I used to be terrified of
storms, but somewhere along the line, I just learned to respect them and find a
safe spot if possible.
Dark and spooky nights. No wonder the cliché
for the beginning of a story is “It was a dark and stormy night.” Two fears
rolled into one. The dark is the most common fear of children. I think that’s
because when its dark, you can’t see the monsters in the closet. And you can’t
go trick or treating until after dark…
Creepy Crawlers. Let’s face it. Spiders
are mean little critters that can give you the kiss of death before you can say
“Granddaddy Longlegs.” They all scare me…black widows, tarantulas, or brown
recluse…and the only good spider is one that I see first because it will become
a ghost spider.
Slithering Sneaky Snakes. I never saw a snake that I liked. A few weeks
ago, I was at a wedding rehearsal dinner where Sedalia’s own “Snake Lady” dressed
up as a witch and brought one of her pet snakes in a caldron. Fortunately, I was
sitting at the back of the room. Needless to say, I wasn’t one of the people
who let the snake slither around my arms.
Crash and burn. If you are afraid of flying, you have lots
of company. As many as twenty-five million people are nervous flyers. I don’t
think they are so much afraid of flying as they are crashing.
Hitchcock’s Vertigo. I have a love/hate
relationship with heights. I love looking at scenery far below, but I can freak
out if I get too close to a canyon. The spinning sensation makes me feel that I’m
just going to topple over the edge, plunging to my death far below.
Hell Hounds. I’ve never really been scared
of dogs in general, but I’ve had a couple of close encounters. One time I was
handing out some literature door-to-door for a local organization. At one
house, I knocked, but no one was home. As I started back to the car, a German shepherd
wedged himself between me and the car. I talked really nice to the dog as I
slowly backed around him, never turning my back. “Nice doggy. Aren’t you a
pretty boy? Are you having a good day, little doggie?”
Coffin Claustrophobia. Nobody likes to
feel like they are in a tight spot where the air is hard to breathe. I’ve known
fearless men who would climb a high wire or chase storms, but put them on an
elevator and their knees began to knock.
Evil Drilling Dentist. Some people
treat the dentist like he’s Dr. Frankenstein and they expect him to drill right
through a tooth and into the brain while laughing manically.
Mice and Rats. Yep. Rats are pretty
scary if they wind up in bed with you. That happened to me while staying at a
very nice resort in Mexico. Not one of my more restful nights. But still,
better a rat touching my hair than a ghost.
I don’t know why, but ghosts didn’t make the list. I’ve had a few experiences in my life that would be classified as supernatural. I’ll save those stories for another time. In the meantime, I’ll wish you a spooky, spine-chilling Halloween.
copyright © by L.S. Fisher, October
2014
https://earlyonset.blogspot.com
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