As you may have noticed, I’ve been posting something scary/Halloween inspired each day leading up to Halloween. Sunday is no exception! Today it’s all about what I find most frightening.
Spiders. Eek!
I have a phobia of spiders. You know it’s a phobia when you find a spider (of the large variety) on your shoulder and subsequently throw yourself to the ground screaming and rolling. Yes. That most embarrassing (and hilarious) scene took place twelve years ago. A more recent event of sheer terror took place only last year. While I was unpacking boxes in my bedroom a HUGE wolf spider crawled out from the vent on the my floor. I was hysterical and since then my vents are not only closed but covered. I can laugh about it now, but I’m still not uncovering those vents!
When I was a child I suffered from night terrors (a parasomnia disorder mostly affecting children) and vivid nightmares. One of my more common night disturbances was waking to see spiders crawling all over my bed sheets. I was five years old and I still recall the feeling of fear and being paralyzed as I watched them writhe across my sheet. It’s no wonder I have a phobia.
I’ve made some strides to tackle my fear. Most spiders smaller than an eraser head don’t bother me and with enough will power I can kill a spider the size of a quarter. Anything larger and I go nuts. Ironically, the spiders that build the huge webs in autumn don’t bother me too much (as long as they stay on their webs). The photo above was taken outside my bedroom window. It’s body (not including the legs outstretched) was nearly the size of a quarter!
What scares you?
Amanda Makepeace's Imagination Run Amok 
Whoa! That’s quite the spider. I’ve wondered why spiders scare us so much. They shouldn’t, they are good creatures. But maybe it’s some kind of subconscious memory from when spiders were bigger. ?
As for scaring myself, I recently read a collection of old Ambrose Bierce ghost stories. I have to admit the hair stood up on my neck during a few of them.
I think in my case it was a type of trauma from the night terrors, but you are right about it being such a common fear. May it stems from some prehistoric memory of creatures that could be dangerous?
Will have to look up this author. I could use a good ghost story!
Hello Amanda, I’m scared of spiders too!! I had to move down your Blog page rather swiftly!
**deep breath**
**another deep breath**
Whew . . . !
I’m scared by horror films, particularly the paranormal type. I haven’t watched one for many years now, I just can’t bring myself to make myself scared. It’s a bit like that with sad films too, such as Bambi (yes, I really am a wimp!). I think I get a bit too emotional.
Well, I’d like to thank you for my wonderful pumpkin ATC that arrived last week – I love the bright orange colour – very nice indeed.
I miss you on Facebook, how have you felt not being on there?
Happy Halloween!!!!
Jane xx
You’re very welcome! I had a lot of fun with this month’s ACEOs.
I miss some of my friends, but it is a relief to have left Facebook behind.
Spiders don’t bother me, but I have an absolute horror of other bugs — anything with more than 8 legs, for example. Or earwigs. Especially earwigs, with their butt-pinchers and overall ickiness Just typing this is giving me the willies!!!!!!!!
Those are icky but don’t scare me!
I used to be r-e-a-l-l-y afraid of my dream spiders, but I haven’t had any visitations in quite a while. I’d dream about them coming under my covers or walking on top of me while I slept, and then I’d almost wake-wake and search for them frantically without success. Who knows, maybe I had night terrors too?! … my parents didn’t share much with me about what I was like when I was a kid.
I am with you on size, etc.: I can handle the small ones or the ones embedded in webs outside, but when their body mass reaches beyond that I freak. I remember that once as a kid my sisters teased me about something [like a spider … they didn’t say what it was] being on my shoulder and I would’ve dropped to the ground if they hadn’t started cracking up. Mean girrrrls. 😦
And then once, years back, when I was talking to somebody on the phone I told them that I thought that I was over my fear of them. Just then a HUGE juicy spider appeared heading toward me and I screamed and smashed that sucker into mush. I don’t usually kill spiders, but I was shaking.
I didn’t use to watch scary movies because I was too impressionable. Don’t let me tell you about watching the exorcist … way back when I was in 9th grade. Sheesh!
Great post Amanda! 😀