When I was ickle...
I was petrified that if I walked one side of a lamp post/pedestrian in the street and my mum/sister/friend walked the other side that they would suddenly get really angry and hate me. Of course, this could be fixed by looping back round the pedestrian in question or by repeating the act around the next object in the street.

Oh, and I used to be obsessed with multiples of four to the point at which I was afraid that wolves would eat me if I sipped from a juice carton in any other way. So I could have 4, but if I took a 5th, I could go to 8 but 16 was preferable cos it was square. Of course, this had to be done really quick cos the wolves were closing in...

And then I grew up.
(PsychoticSock, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 14:19, Reply)

a friend has an irrational fear of pencils
so i bought him a huge souvenir pencil from amsterdam, and left it for him to discover in his fridge.
( mictoboy shitting in your cunt since, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 14:17, Reply)

By the way....
The button thing everyone's going on about is apparantly quite a common thing that occurs due to kids not liking school. Apparantly that's when most kids start dressing themselves and doing up the buttons of your school clothes becomes associated with going to school so you star freaking out....weird huh?
(Peachykeen, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 14:14, Reply)

Really scary
I was so scared of meatloaf (the food, not the overweight bouncing rock-opera troll) that the sight of it used to make me feel violently ill.

Things are all OK now, if you're worried, because I can eat it all I like. In fact, I am now more scared of the singer than the food
(_earwaxuk_, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 14:13, Reply)

Weirdo
I think my weirdest one is about tasting food. I really enjoy cooking and cook dinner almost every day but I can't bring myself to taste anything that's quite runny until it's on the plate. Any sauces even stews and things like that I just can't make my mouth open to try them. I don't feel scared as such I just kind of feel sick and my mouth won't open, my tongue sticks to the top of my mouth and that's it.
Freak!
(Peachykeen, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 13:55, Reply)

Butterflys
sorry to post again but nobody knows what they're up to. and those proboscis long hypodermic needle like mouths just freaks me out.
(Limited IQ, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 13:49, Reply)

Flying ants.
To the point that I have to go sick from work on 'Flying ant day', that day in September when they all come out to play. I went out one year and ended up walking down the road, flailing about like a mong trying to beat them off. I think it's a fear of them getting into orifices that they shoudn't. Ditto with spiders, not a fear of spiders themselves, but the fear that one of them might crawl up me chuff in the night.
(oiseau, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 13:46, Reply)

Manhole Covers
My ex girlfriend had the manhole covers fear too (walking over 3 together is unlucky, 2 together is lucky.) I used to take the mickey out of her about it but now i find myself avoiding the rows of three of them too. I'm not as bad as turning around to walk over twos though (i think that's down to my other fear of looking like a right weirdo!)
(Scarrott, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 13:42, Reply)

Moths....
Don't know where this fear came from but its developed over time.

They make me feel physically sick. I break out into a cold sweat when I see them. My skins crawling just thinking about it. Urgh.
(moo_girl, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 13:28, Reply)

Mine are quite odd
Knives in films, makes me want to do stuff, shiny evilness...
Getting Icecubes in my strawberry milkshake at Macdonalds, happened twice and completely freaked me out, nearly haveing a seasure in the shopping center, have you ever seen what it looks like inside? Its like what comes out of a blender if you put a human body in....

But my biggest fea, and it is Genuine....Mary kate and ashely alson, I .....hate....them, and the dolls are scary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
( Blobcat Less Jaffacakes this year, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 13:16, Reply)

Clipboard monkeys
Not just the fact that they annoy the shit out of me, but the fact that they can spend all day having people tell them to leave them the fuck alone and still not give up. Weirdo fucking cranberries.
(JamScones, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 13:16, Reply)

My fear of long words
The worst thing is when anyone asks me what sort of phobia is that I have to tell them it's Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia

Arrrrrggggg!
(manc_frank, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 13:12, Reply)

Re: fear of 3 manhole covers
mxw8 - I had a friend at uni who had a fear of rows of 3 manhole covers. If she stepped on them by accident, she'd do this wierd hissing noise and start clicking her fingers to get rid of the bad luck. Rows of 2 manhole covers were lucky though and she'd turn round in the street to deliberately walk over them.......
(emma_fisi, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 13:11, Reply)

Blood...
but only my own blood. I don't mind seeing other people spurting the red stuff everywhere but if I get a cut I'm done for. I think this was a result of having lots of tests when I was smaller and thinking they were going use all my blood.
(sparrie2k, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 13:03, Reply)

sick
My mate Andy has a completely irrational fear of buses.

Mind you he's a weirdo, he's 30 something, single, and lives on his own (since his entire family were killed on the number 67 from Oxford to Bristol).
( insignificantsnivellinglittleturd I Like Peas, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 12:57, Reply)

Has anyone seen
this film? Despite being rubbish, it's given me a sense of unease about clowns (not to mention a fear of the music associated with them).
I was (and still am, to a lesser extent) petrified of sleeping above the duvet. Even on hot, summer nights, a thin sheet just would not do. I blame the fact that people in films (any films) nearly always sleep with their arms on top of the duvet - and bad things often happen in films (I think Jaws may also have been to blame, as dangling feet/arms out of bed was a big no-no for a while). I'm mostly over it now, which has rid me of those moments where you wake up clammy and take 5 minutes to realise it is only sweat!
I was also convinced that the dog-thing from Ghostbusters was chasing me up the road at nights. On the rare occassions that I looked back, it wasn't there, but I always legged it anyway.
I'm over all this rubbish now, but I do regret watching Ring...
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 12:48, Reply)

sillyness
at uni a friend of mine was afraid of buttons. apparently when she was at school her mum had to replace the buttons on all her school clothes with velcro.

another friend was afraid of the words 'belly button'. she wasn't actually afraid of belly buttons themselves, just the words (she'd gip every time somebody said it). we always had to say BB instead.

and there was another girl who was afraid of tomato ketchup. if there was any left on someone's plate when it was her turn to wash up, she'd leave it.

or maybe that was just an excuse to get out of the washing up.

hmm...
(secretsquirrel, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 12:33, Reply)

Name that Tune
When I was about 5 or 6, lionel Blair presented Name that Tune, I would scream and hide behind the couch whenever I heard the noise the wheel made when it was spun, the thought still gives me shivers now. I'd like to talk to anyone who shares this fear as I know I'm not alone.
(Jetboy75, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 12:28, Reply)

.
Crisps!
(Mapper, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 12:16, Reply)

rally trrifying
I am rally scard of th lttr ''. spcially lowr cas lttr ''s. I hav askd for hlp, but noon blivs m. It dosn't hlp that my Dad's nam is Drk and my Mum is Dorn.
( insignificantsnivellinglittleturd I Like Peas, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 12:14, Reply)

Im terrified of mirrors
-especially in the dark. I once accidentally walked into one in my mates house and had a massive panic attack.
My sister is scared of asda loo roll packaging- apparently its something about the noise it makes. She'll run away screaming if you threaten her with it.
(moodahoo, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 12:10, Reply)

Hmmmmm?
I've always had this other irrational fear about my uncle Trevor. I used to go to his house at around the age of 8 where he would make me dress up in a diving suit and slippers. He'd then proceed to run around naked whistling the theme tune to Fraggle Rock......Weirdo!
(Mapper, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 12:06, Reply)

i'm afraid of everything.
There are the usual ones, like clowns, downs syndrome people (I know that's totally wrong but I have a completely irrational fear of them and don't know why), being in confined spaces without being able to get out.

But also:

i can't stand baked beans - especially cold ones - like when one gets left on the surface because someone has eaten them, it's so horrific... i can't touch it. They also smell like BO. My housemate can't stand them either, which is weird.

i hate driving/being driven through tunnels, i always feel like the car is going to career off the road into the side of the tunnel, or a lorry is going to hit us. especially bad is the blackwall tunnel where the lanes are really close together.

the sound of nails being drawn down a chalkboard makes me want to cry.

and yesterday i screamed because we opened the knife drawer in the kitchen and someone had put my cheese in there. for the second time!
(corruptia, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 11:58, Reply)

I'm afraid of Americans,I'm afraid of the world
no really I'm afraid that deep down people are evil and that world war will break out anytime (I thought this pre 9/11)and I think that governments control us 1984 style with brainwashing in all forms of media n stuff but hey I'm not scared of draincovers I thought three was lucky oh but hang this isn't really an irrational fear I spose. soz
(Yarrrrrrrrrr, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 11:43, Reply)

scary
I am terrified of irrational fears. The thought of being terrified of something really terrifies me.
I never go out (except to work and the pub) and can't look at anything incase I get scared.

I keep my eyes closed all the time, which terrifies me.

My Mum says it's all in my mind, and that I should 'sort myself out'. She really terrifies me.

and boil in the bag sweet and sour chicken.
( insignificantsnivellinglittleturd I Like Peas, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 11:41, Reply)

Ooh, ooh, ooh...
Chimpanzees. When I was about six I went on a school trip to the zoo and went into the Chimp house. There were all these chimps behind a huge window, going about their chimp business, i.e. poking bottoms and poking each other. Some of the older kids decided to bang on the glass, which resulted in the chimps abandoning their poking and starting to bang on the glass and shriek. All of them. Man that was freaky. To this day when I see PG tips ads I think of those hideous shrieking primates and am also reminded of the fact that they can rip a man's arm clean off.
Monkey's and other assorted apes, however, are fine.
(monkeyjam, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 11:41, Reply)

Most frightening thing ever
Lurking on every street corner, in every bus and train station they lay in wait ready to pounce with there evil war cry “BIG ISSUE” ….. No No get away I don’t want to buy a pointless folded and torn piece of recycled toilet paper. GET A JOB. I flushed that down the toilet last month with a brown mark on it. Why should I pay £1 to get it back LEAVE ME ALONE!! .
(cerberus666, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 11:39, Reply)

GROW UP!!
As a perfectly rational and fully funcionable adult I still can't walk over three of those rectangle manhole covers in a row. I'll do anything to avoid it including (but not limited to): jumping, long steps, making my missus almost fall over with a sudden sideways step etc. Whereas I actively seek the two in a row. It's an unconsious thing I didn't even notice I did it until my other half pointed it out.
( mxw8 Needs to learn about Time Management.... later on, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 11:37, Reply)

Sudden movement where there should be none...
The worst thing is if in a dimly lit room and out of the corner of my eye I see movement where there should be none. It's invariably a spider or the neighbours cat, however it bypasses my rational mind and goes straight towards the 'F*ck! F*ck! Run!' primitive part of my brain.

Also: strange noises in the night. I was once woken by this hideous scraping sound. I couldn't work out what it was and was trying not to be scared, but I kept hearing it. The noise carried on intermittently for ages, until the poster above my bed fell on me.
(monkeyjam, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 11:26, Reply)

Petrified of
any body of water I cannot see the bottom of in the sea around England mainly, but I remeber swimming off the coast of Majorca with a few friends right near a sort of drop off as soon as I felt the colder currents rising up around my feet my heart just starts pounding and I HAVE to get out even swimming vainly towards land that was miles away :(
(Retow, Thu 29 Jan 2004, 11:22, Reply)