I had too much imagination as a kid
The human brain has evolved to pick out patterns in things remarkably well and is pretty much how what you see is processed. It also is very good at recognising faces in things. Faces that are little more than a few swirls or patches.

As a kid I used to pick them out all the time, usually in my bedroom on the night when I was trying to sleep. Although the door was shut, there was a pane of glass above and the glow of the lights on downstairs combined with the glow of a streetlight outside was just enough to be able to see vague outlines of things in my room. The swirly pattern on my brother's wardrobe opposite my bed contained at least four tenuous faces. The pile of stuff on top of my wardrobe looked like some monster looking down at me, there was some stuff on the windowsill which looked like some small creature hiding there and a collection of shadows and a speaker from my brother's stereo on the wall looked a lot like a large person standing in the corner of the room waiting for me to fall asleep with my head out of the covers.

I spent a lot of my childhood sleeping under the blankets. How I never suffocated I never know. What made it worse was when I needed the toilet during the night, I had to walk across the room to put the light on, and then I used to tear along the landing to the bathroom in the dark because for some reason there wasn't a light-bulb in the light. Then I used to come as far out of the bathroom as the light cord would let me before turning it off and bolting back to my room, turning the light off and darting under my covers.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Thu 7 Apr 2011, 14:54, 9 replies)

I used to think there was a lion in my room,
But an upright lion like in wizard of oz, I used to sleep under the blankets thinking if any part was sticking out it would be eaten. I would also just in to bed from several feet away so nothing could grab me from under the bed.
( Peej, Thu 7 Apr 2011, 14:58, closed)

My bed
was an old bunkbed so there was a lot of room underneath. I used to pile books and games under there at the edge so if there was anything under there, it couldn't reach round because there would be stuff in the way
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Thu 7 Apr 2011, 15:08, closed)

Same for me.
Woodchip wallpaper doesn't help matters.
(oneinthepink is at your cervix m'lady, Thu 7 Apr 2011, 14:59, closed)

I'd say that's more
tasteless than creepy
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Thu 7 Apr 2011, 15:06, closed)

It was the early 80's.
Still tasteless then really.
(oneinthepink is at your cervix m'lady, Thu 7 Apr 2011, 15:20, closed)

Same shit...
I used to do that...always seeing faces and shapes that weren't there...used to scare me shitless then again I was always on edge when home alone

Talking to my brother about what we would do with my parents house he told me he always felt uneasy as well then his daughter said that she saw 'shadows' from time to time.

When our parents die we are going to sell the damn house...Hank Marvin or not!
(Lip Up Fatty Fatty Reggae still loves BBQ food on, Thu 7 Apr 2011, 15:00, closed)

I used to the same thing
With the lightbulb cord!
(ab1kenobe, Thu 7 Apr 2011, 15:23, closed)

Me too

( shinyshinyscalp less a man, more a way of life, Thu 7 Apr 2011, 17:16, closed)

I grew up in an old-ish house c1830 and always got freaked out in the bathroom. It was almost certainly somebody's bedroom to begin with; the house predating indoor bathrooms; but what creeped me out was the irregular surfaces of the walls. These reflected the light so you could see shapes that looked like skulls in them. I think it was the way you couldn't always see them immediately, so I'd study the patterns until I picked them out. This was slightly less scary than accidentally glancing up and seeing a skull pattern jump out at you.

I hated baths, especially the bit where you'd close your eyes to rinse your hair; you'd have to open your eyes after and look for the skulls all over again.
(Cameltoad, Mon 11 Apr 2011, 8:48, closed)