People Are Sharing The Weird Things That Scared Them As Children, And I Kind Of Relate To A Few Of These

Everyone was scared of stuff when they were kids — and some of the things that scared us the most were actually pretty weird.

U/_Veron_ recently asked the people of Reddit, "What was the 'dumbest' thing you were scared of as a kid?" So, if you've spent a lifetime feeling ashamed of the things that gave you the willies, read on and know you're not alone:

1."The 'Cheez-It Man.' He was made up by my dad so I'd stop eating all the Cheez-Its. If he saw you taking Cheez-Its...well, I don't remember what was supposed to happen, but I was terrified of him, and thats all I remember."

—u/Sea_Zookeepergame332

2."I was terrified I was turning into a chicken. I kept finding little white feathers on me. Nobody told me what down jackets were."

—u/ShowOffJonah

3."In first or second grade, we were told we would be 'holding a fire drill.' I got very concerned because I didn't know how to use a drill."

—u/ktappe

4."When I was really young, I was afraid of big leaves. I had no problem jumping into leaf piles in autumn, and small leaves didn't bother me. But I'd stay away from plants that had big leaves, and I remember going inside and asking my mom to get a big leaf out of the yard so I could play. I have no idea what it was that made me so afraid of them."

—u/Rigel04

5."When I was 12, I gave some random person in an online game my a/s/l and then couldn’t sleep for a week because I thought I was going to get abducted."

—u/Chocolate_Milky_Way

6."Someone told me that one time they had a centipede crawl up their ass while taking a shit. For years, I did a whole routine of flushing the toilet twice before sitting down, and then, when I would sit down, I would get up every 20 seconds to make sure there were no centipedes. Every time I took a shit, it felt like a life-or-death moment."

—u/frogvscrab

7."The PS2 startup sound. I used it to play games and watch DVDs, but I would turn it on, run and hide, and wait for the 'scary part' to be over."

—u/plutodite222

8."Jesus. My grandmother told me Jesus was everywhere, including hiding in the curtains. I was 5. It set me on the road to atheism."

—u/Hannah6735

9."The boat scene in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory."

—u/Azafox13

10."The Ring. Which I never even saw. Someone recapped it, and it haunted me for years…"

—u/Mr_Trumpets

11."My brother and I used to set our stuffed animals and toys up and stare at them from a long distance using binoculars. We would take turns, but each of us could only last a few seconds before freaking out, squealing, and handing off the binoculars because we were just CONVINCED that they were going to start moving or looking in our direction."

—u/AquamarineCheetah

12."The toilet flushing, LOL."

—u/kediafae

13."When I was a kid, I watched a TV show about spontaneous human combustion while I was sick with the flu, and I was 100% CONVINCED I was going to burst into flames. The fever dreams afterwards did not help."

—u/Chapstickie

14."UFOs. The first time I saw a spotlight in the sky (it was a car dealer having an event), I nearly passed out. I was probably around 10 years old."

—u/Ruseriousmars

15."I was absolutely terrified of overflowing toilets. I thought it just, like, poop-geysered everywhere. I was so afraid that the toilet would overflow that I spent a couple of YEARS hitting the flush and fleeing for my life like a cat zooming out of the litter box."

—u/Not_a_werecat

16."I was terrified of Santa Claus as a kid. He just looked big and scary to me. He used to freak me out to the point of tears!"

—u/Elizabeth_Winters

17."The Unsolved Mysteries intro song."

—u/Photographicy600

And finally...

18."A giant poop on a string passing by my window."

—u/Rick_Hated_Lori

Have your own to share? See you in the comments!

These entries were edited for length and clarity.