What scares you? Back to Blog
Last Sunday, I was using the leaf-blower in my backyard (I had to–I could no longer see the patio for the leaves!), and I “uncovered” a snake. The dang thing scared me to death. Sure, it was only ten inches long and ran away nearly as fast as I did…but for a moment there, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. You see, I’m an ophidiphobic–I’m scared to death of snakes.
So I got to thinking…most folks are afraid of something, and having a fear or two…well, that just makes good character development for novels. I’ve read lots of books about people who were claustrophobic or who suffered from nyctophobia (fear of the dark or of night).
But I feel the urge to discover some more…unusual fears, and maybe I’ll use those fears in future books. Perhaps I’ll use :
- Melissophobia- Fear of bees.
- Pupaphobia – Fear of puppets.
- Selenophobia- Fear of the moon.
- Tygiophobia or Stigiophobia- Fear of hell.
- Thalassophobia- Fear of the sea. (Hey! I actually just finished writing about a heroine who was afraid fo the sea!)
- Wiccaphobia: Fear of witches and witchcraft.
- Selachophobia- Fear of sharks.
- Placophobia- Fear of tombstones.
There are hundreds and hundreds of phobias out there–I know, on account of while doing a quick Internet search, I found this great phobia listing.
So, tell me. What scares you?
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For years, I’ve had a horrible fear of dead, dry leaves, especially the smaller oak variety.
Gross!
That’s just b/c you have nightmares about them growing out of your stomach. Which, by the way, is really creepy!
I have a fear of heights. On the phobia index fear of heights is labeled as Acrophobia, Altophobia, Batophobia, Hypsiphobia or Hyposophobia. I have the oppposite of Selachophobia- Fear of sharks. I’m not sure what fascination with sharks would be called – maybe Selachomania? 🙂
Coulorophobia-the fear of clowns.
Or, as I refer to them, FACES OF EVIL!!
When I was a kid, I had a fear of Santa. Didn’t see that on the phobia list, but there is a fear of Satan. Santa, Satan, hmmmmm…..
Ashley, I’m quite afraid of heights, too. But, um…aren’t you and Nick planning on para-sailing soon? Is this going to be one of those confronting-your-fear situations?
And you know I love those sharks, too…or, rather–I love them from a distance.
Hi, Fuzz! I bet you were scared to death of Stephen King’s It. Heck, I like clowns and that movie still creeped me.