Ghosts and witches are wandering the street tonight, so beware! It’s Halloween, the spookiest night of the year. That means while the candy is going around, pranksters are out on the street to try and get a scare from their unknowing victims.
While I plan on staying safe in my home, I’m not totally immune to the tricks that might be played tonight. To be included in the fun, I thought I would share a list of my own fears. Just thinking about it makes me shiver.
To make things interesting, I’ll try and give you the official names where I can. It’ll kind of be like the chapter titles of Need by Carrie Jones. Although, I will say, the use of a phobia is a bit extreme because it implies a debilitating fear. None of these fears stop me from doing anything, but it’s cool that there’s a name for some of these fears. I thought it would be fun to share.
Arachnophobia/Entomophobia
These are probably the most common fears in society. Arachnophobia is the fear of spiders, while entomophobia is the fear of insects. These are the true creepy crawlies in the night.
My fear of spiders probably led to me eventually lumping insects in with them. As a three year old, the movie Arachnophobia scarred me for life. While the movie is probably unrealistic, I don’t think I ever got over my fear of spiders.
Ophidophobia
This is the fear of snakes. I think this one developed as I grew older with time. As a kid, I wasn’t afraid of snakes until I started seeing different references to them.
References like the snake in The Jungle Book. Or the snake’s part of the story of Adam and Eve. The real nail in the coffin was probably when I read about the reptile room in A Series of Unfortunate Events. By the time I read Harry Potter, I was not surprised when the basilisk was described to be like a snake.
Trypanophobia
Trypanophobia is probably half the reason why I still don’t have a tattoo yet. It is the fear of needles. The idea that something small and sharp is going to go under my skin…it’s not an idea I like at all. That probably has a lot to do with my next fear.
Did you know that hippoptomonstrosesquipedaliophobia is the fear of long words? Quite ironic, since it’s such a long word itself.
Algophobia
This is the fear of pain, which is probably what I’m more afraid of than needles. It probably makes sense, since needles cause pain. Algophobia is probably the root of why I won’t be willing to do certain things.
As mentioned, part of the reason that I don’t have a tattoo is because I’m afraid of the pain of having a needle go in my skin a bunch of times. I don’t enjoy roller coasters because I imagine the pain I would feel if that roller coaster crashed into something. I don’t go too far into the ocean because I am afraid of the pain of a shark bite (which shouldn’t be a real fear, and you would know that if you read my Her Campus article “Sharp Shark Fun Facts”). Trust me, I would do a lot of things if I wasn’t afraid of getting hurt.
Being Unlovable
But sometimes, the pain is worth it. This fear is a prime example of that. There are a lot of things in my life that have led me to feel like I’m not lovable. Some standard things like being rejected and feeling unwanted, and other things that I don’t want to go too deep on. Eventually, I began to be afraid of letting people into my life because they might not truly love me once they got to know me.
The result is that I haven’t had many deep relationships. With a lot of people, I’ll keep them at arm’s length, or I won’t get too attached. Eventually, that got tiring though. It’s something that I’m working on overcoming in all of my relationships, and I’ve decided that the people who don’t accept me for who I am don’t have to be in my life. And you know, I’m very happy with the people that I have kept in my life.
Being a Disappointment
This fear might be an unusual fear, but it might kind of tie into the previous fear a little bit. When I was growing up and would do things that my parents didn’t really approve of, they would say something along the lines of, “How do you think this makes me look?”
That phrase didn’t stir the best of feelings, and I think it is the seed that has lead me to being afraid of disappointing them. It’s hard because I don’t always want the thing that will make them proud of me, but I am working on finding the balance. I want to be happy, and I want them to be happy to. Hopefully, it all works out in the end.
Bad Things Happening to People I Love
At the end of the day, I would endure all of the other things to make sure that nothing bad happened to the people that I love. I can’t imagine having a life without them, or just being in a world where no one loved me (because I’m afraid of being unlovable). They’re the ones who make my life better, and who make me want to be the best person I can be.
I would face all of my fears so that I don’t have to deal with autophobia, or the fear of being alone.
What are you afraid of? Do you have any good scare stories? What will you be doing tonight to celebrate Halloween? I’m looking forward to hearing your answers.
I hope that you all enjoy your Halloween as much as I do. Don’t eat too much candy, or at least remember to brush your teeth. If you can’t tell, I don’t like to go to the dentist so much either.
Love Always,
Kristi My
Kristi My Dao 