This thing scared me unaccountably when I was little:

[AlienGirl]

It still creeps me out a little. :scared:

Are you scared of anything silly?

Tucker

[blondeatlast]

1. Reddy Kilowatt! I loved that guy.

As for scared of anything silly, I'm inordinately scared of bees. Terrified, even; yet I've never been stung at all.

[Floogeldy]

5. Me too!

He was a cartoon character for the utility company. Nothing scary about that.

:)

[Oeditpus Rex]

2. Yup

So silly that I ain't tellin'. :blush:

[otherlander]

3. When I was little...

I was scared of figs. The first time I saw one was on a table in kindergarden. I thought it was the head of a tiny monster that was going to kill me, and for, like, a year after that, I thought that a fig was the same thing as a goblin. :crazy:

[qnr]

35. We love figs, but we call them waterbugs n/t

[ceile]

68. waterbugs?!

That's what we call roaches!

[qnr]

72. yeah, they've always reminded me of big ol' brown waterbugs. n/t

[bluethruandthru]

4. earwigs!

My sister's husband - who was alot older than me - told me that they would crawl in my ears at night and eat my brains. I used to sleep with cotton stuffed in my ears!

My daughter was terrified of the McDonald's Hamburglar for years!

[mad-mommy]

8. I hate earwigs too

[bluethruandthru]

14. I've made my peace with bugs.

As long as they stay outside where they belong...I don't mind them. I just don't want them in my house.

[mad-mommy]

18. exactly

[hunter]

17. I think earwigs are cute.

When I was a little kid my mom could put me in the backyard and I'd look at creepy crawlies as long as I was there.

[mad-mommy]

19. my son has tweezers and does that....

i guess it's better than having an irrational fear such as I do.

[Whoa_Nelly]

27. Did you know that earwigs are a close relative of the cockroach?

Yuck!

[hunter]

33. It's not clear what "close means"

Cockroaches are more closely related to termites and mantids than they are to earwigs.

http://tolweb.org/Neoptera/8267

So cockroaches have an even closer relative that's sort of cool, and not quite so icky:



Stagmomantis carolina
Carolina Manitis.

[Whoa_Nelly]

37. Earwigs are a distant realtive of the cockroach family

So, I was wrong...not close, but distant :spank:

http://www.answerbag.com/q_view.php/57800
Earwigs are a distant relative of the cockroach family. Much like roaches, they can compress their bodies down to an almost paper thin thickness. This enables them to enter through the tiniest of places.

Both earwigs and cockroaches are from the Orthopteroid Group
http://www.cals.ncsu.edu:8050/course/ent425/text02/orthopteroids.html

[hunter]

39. I love this stuff...

Cool link.

Arguments about phylogenetic relationships can be awful.

;)

[ashling]

43. Same here about earwigs

My older cousin was the one who put that in my ear LOL

[bertha katzenengel]

6. ME TOO!

Am I you? Are you me? Are we we? ;)

[AlienGirl]

7. Did you think he might sneak into your room and do push-ups on the walls?

That was my big fear. :shrug:

Tucker

[bertha katzenengel]

25. I just thought he was following me. And I was scared to death of

electrical plugs in the walls. :scared:

heh heh . . . push ups on the walls. funny what kids can be scared of. but not funny when they're scared!

[AlienGirl]

28. The electric outlets were *where he'd done the push-ups*!

[SeattleGirl]

9. This "thing" scares me NOW.

:scared:

[blondeatlast]

22. AGREED.

If I were a kid, I'd freaking hide when I saw that.

Not the way to get the li'l ones into BK.

[SeattleGirl]

30. You've got that right, blondeatlast!

What a freakish "THING" that is!

[YankeyMCC]

42. Agreed!

I did a double take the first time I saw one of these commercials. Very disturbing.

[hfojvt]

49. I think the announcer's voice on the ads is just as creepy

but Jay Leno's dream was hilarious. He did a skit where he was driving and the Burger King is suddenly in his back seat offering him a sandwich. He freaks out and crashes the car. Then we are at his funeral and Burger King is there too!! He offers a sandwich to Kevin, who starts chowing down.

[ceile]

69. AHHH!!!!!!!!!

Me too! I hate the one where he's in the back yard and keeps getting closer and closer to the guy's window. :scared:

[mad-mommy]

10. Clowns creep me out

[Floogeldy]

16. That's not a clown.

;)

[zanne]

11. `That God would call me on the phone.

I went to a Catholic school and the nuns would tell us that God might "call" us to become nuns (or priests). For awhile I hid under the bed every time the phone rang.

[Evoman]

31. BWAAA HAHAHAHAHA

Thats hilarious!

[zanne]

53. In my 6 year-old mind...

Being a nun meant never going to the bathroom again.

[hfojvt]

50. it would be nice

if the guy was that clear with his directions. Then once I had gotten the call, I could plow over anybody, saying "I'm on a mission from God!"

[hunter]

12. Fly a kite into a powerline and YOU WILL DIE!

Bwahahahahahaha.

Yeah, I remember him. He was creepy.

[Flaxbee]

13. Semi trucks w/o the trailers look to me like heads rolling down

the highway. You know, the cabs that aren't hauling anything? Freak. Me. Out. Heads without bodies on the highway. Terrified me as a kid, still avoid looking at them now if I can.

[deadparrot]

15. Oh, man, when I was little,

there was this ClayMation orange on Sesame Street, and to show the different emotions, he would perform one expression, then his entire face would fly off and a new expression would fly on. It scared the hell out of me.

I have very vivid memories of running into the kitchen from the living room, screaming and sobbing.

As for current silly fears, those composite sketches of criminals give me the creeps.Don't know why, it's probably a combination of a dismembered head, unblinking eyes, and the idea that they're wanted for a pretty nasty crime. :shrug:

Yeah, I'm bizarre.

[Mad_Dem_X]

67. I remember that orange!

It was very strange. I was scared of all kinds of things when I was little. It would take me all day to list them! LOL

[Arugula Latte]

20. When my daughter was in preschool, she was afraid of

leprechauns. On St. Paddy's Day the teachers were pretending that leprechauns had visited the classroom. My daughter thought that they might "scratch her eyes out." Later I realized that she had confused leprechauns with leopards. (Not that I would ever teach her such a thing about leopards; we are huge cat/wildlife fans.)

[texanwitch]

21. The opening of the Twilight Zone scared me when I was very small.

I don't know why.

[LadyoftheRabbits]

23. I was scared...

shitless of Ursula from "The Little Mermaid" and Malificent from "Sleeping Beauty." I'd run from the room and hide, sobbing, until they were gone from the screen. :blush:

[blondeatlast]

26. Ooh, Maleficent gave me serious creeps!

Best Disney villain ever, although Ursula comes a very close second.

Maleficent gets style points, though.

[Whoa_Nelly]

24. Am surprised my little sister hasn't posted here yet

She's a DU'er, and Reddy Kilowatt scared her so much...and I know why.

When she was about 18 months old, we had a terrific thunderstorm where we were living in Oklahoma. She was in a playpen, lightning was striking, the window by the playpen was open, and the wind was horrific...was probably a tornado alert. I was three. I remember our mom running around freaking out, and my sis bawling in the playpen.

I think to this day, Reddy Kilowatt (who used to be all over the billboards when we were growing up) and that lightning storm have a close association for her.

Personally, I like Reddy. Cool graphic!

[begin_within]

29. Electric heaters in the bathroom ceilings, with fans, and you turned them

on with a switch right next to the light switch. Whenever I saw them on, with the glowing red wires, and the fan on, I couldn't stay in the bathroom - I don't know why they scared me so much. To this day I'm not a fan of them.

[Critters2]

57. I have an attic fan in the ceiling of my upstairs hallway

It's great, pulls in cool air from outside in the evening. But I have this sneaking fear that it will fall out of the ceiling and kill my cat who likes to lie under it.

[Elidor]

32. Flying Monkeys

[hfojvt]

51. I thought the talking trees were creepier

and the witch who could appear anywhere in a flash :scared:

[jpak]

66. Ugh - Oliver North with wings...

n/t

[petronius]

34. I wasn't too keen on this guy:

http://www.popcultmag.com.nyud.net:8090/obsessions/profilesingreatness/krofftbrothers/pufnstuf.jpg

[driver8]

36. When I was a kid, at night this public service announcement

would come on television and this deep, menacing voice would say, "Do you know where your children are?"

Man, that voice scared the crap out of me.

[last_texas_dem]

38. Aww, I actually kinda miss that guy

The local utility company stopped using him after they were bought out by Entergy. As for irrational things I was scared of, I was creeped out by several of my sister's porcelain dolls. I know I'm not the only one with this fear, though. Those glassy eyes seem to strike fear in many. I also wouldn't go into a room with the lights out if there was a mirror in there. My thing with mirrors kind of comes from watching the Disney "horror" movie Watcher in the Woods where the ghost of Karen communicates through mirrors.

(Honestly, I'm actually still creeped out by porcelain dolls and mirrors in dark rooms. So, I guess they're more like fears *begun* in childhood than fear *confined* to childhood!)

[Hissyspit]

40. This thing on TV scared the shit out of me as a kid:

From "The Prisoner," of course.

[ChickMagic]

41. Topiary gardens

I don't know why - I guess they just seemed unnatural.
I nearly peed myself when I read the Shining. :scared:

[Roon]

44. I am scared of belly dancers

I try my best to ignore them when they are around, but they always single me out.

[nosillies]

47. I love to belly dance, but I guess it can be scary.

Scroll down at your own risk, scary picture below...cross-dressing belly dancer in Africa with bad Bubba teeth.

[nosillies]

45. Oompa Loompas

They scared me to death. And still do, to a degree. I was looking for toddler Halloween costumes online the other day and came across one, and I freaked. My husband is threatening to order it and have Baby BHole dressed up in it one day when I come home.

I guess I deserve this fear, as I was, and still am, a bit of a Veruca.

[schmuls]

46. The theme song from One Step Beyond terrified me when I was

little, as well as the series. Especially when I had to sleep in a dark room with the door closed and I could hear everything coming from the living room! I had a lot of nightmares!

[swimboy]

48. Empty rocking chair in the bedroom at my grandparents'

I was sure it was going to start rocking all by itself.

[Pool Hall Ace]

52. A friend had a portrait of Jesus on her bedroom wall.

It used to scare me! He seemed to be watching us constantly.

Now, I'm okay with Jesus, but find some of his followers a little unsettling.

[JitterbugPerfume]

54. the monster under the bed

the ghost in the closet

[Critters2]

55. Reddy Kilowatt! An old family friend!

My uncle was a lobbiest for the Rural Electrification Administration. He'd get all kinds of goodies from 'em--pencils, nightlights, hats, etc--all with a pic of Reddy on 'em. Never thought to be scared of him.

In the room where I slept at my Grandma's, the pattern in the drapes looked like people's heads when the lights were out. I always felt like they were watching me, and I was always afraid to sleep in that room.

Now, I'm just afraid of driving in heavy traffic. Really. I won't drive in the city. It's like a phobia with me.

[libnnc]

56. This, especially when the eyes in the bottle blinked...

[Lydia Leftcoast]

58. I used to be scared of the kerosene heater in my grandmother's

camping trailer.

It would roar while it was heating up.

[Silver Swan]

59. The Bomb--with a capital B

When I was a child, TV newscaster Douglas Edwards scared me. My father watched the evening news, and it seemed, to the child I was, that in 1954 that all the news was about testing the hydrogen bomb and the threat of the Soviet Union. I associated Mr. Edwards with these frightening topics.

I was only seven years old, and every time I heard a plane fly over, I was afraid it was the Russians and they were going to drop the bomb.

Over fifty years later, I realize that the communists were just the bogey man our government used to get citizens to do what was wanted.

But I still try to avoid TV newscasts of national/world news.

[Roon]

60. I was a kid in the 80's

and even then I freaked every time I heard a plane fly over. It took me a long time to work out my fear of a nuke war. It wasn't so much me dying that was upsetting, it was the thought of everyone else dying that made me worry.

[Left Is Write]

62. I don't think that was something silly to be scared of.

I understand that fright.

[Left Is Write]

61. You didn't like Reddy? Aw. I thought he was cute.

Back in those days, our power was provided by NSP, so I always associate him with NSP (Northern States Power - that name is now defunct).

With all this talk of bugs, though, I remember being creeped out by silverfish in the bathroom in the basement family room. We'd often find one in the sink.

[existentialist]

63. It didn't bother me at the time, but

when I became educated and mature enough to figure out that the whole idea of the thing was to encourage the consumption of more electricity--with or without good reason--that creeped me out.

and still does.

[calico1]

64. When I was in 4th grade we went on a school

trip to a museum in NY. It was 4th, 5th and 6th graders. I think the name of the museum was "The Museum of Famous People." It had exhibits of all kinds of figures from the 20th century. It was creepy enough that they were wax dummies and I felt the eyes following me around. No matter where you stood you felt the eyes staring at you. But two exhibits in particular disturbed me and stayed with me for a long time. One of them was an exhibit of Marie Antoinette being taunted with the head of her maid on a spike outside her prison window. It was so REAL looking with the blood, veins and guts all sticking out! Then, another exhibit was of some workers trapped in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory, unable to get out, knowing they were going to die. Such vivid looks of horror on their faces. And as I said, it all looked VERY REAL. For a long time after that, I couldn't sleep well at night. I'd have dreams the house was going to burn and I wouldn't be able to get out. Or I'd have a nightmare about Marie Antoinette's maid's head on a spike. Now whenever I remember that I think Good God, who thinks it's a good idea to take little children to a wax museum? :wow: I know I wasn't the only one because I can remember other kids talking about how much these exhibits scared the hell out of them. I am 48 now and to this day I have no desire to ever be inside another wax museum.

[begin_within]

65. "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost."

HOLY GHOST ?!?!?!?!?
That's enough to scare any kid away from the Catholic church forever!

[datasuspect]

70. mr. yuck

i used to have nightmares/hallucinations of this and variations of this as a child.

the different faces would appear on the walls in ceilings in various shades of pukey greens and yellows, replete with fangs, leering, and hissing.

my mom would "wash" them off the walls so i'd go back to sleep.

[jmowreader]

71. Mr. Yuk is mean! Mr. Yuk is green!

And Mr. Yuk's story is right here: http://www.chp.edu/mryuk/05a_mryuk.php

Complete with the Mr. Yuk song.