Fears and superstitions

Littlefoot1616 · **on:** November 30, 2004, 08:10:11 AM

Hey gang!

I decided to put this topic up because me and my housemates had a very open debate on various things the other night and I thought I'd bring the topic here. What really does creep you out?! A scary movie perhaps? A particular superstition? Never walking under ladders? That sorta thing. Or maybe a childhood fear that's stuck with you since you were younger. Dont feel pressurized to post if you dont want to. If you'd rather not speak then dont...nothing is EVER pressured to be done here...

Also, there is another reason why I decided to put this up. I got asked if there was anything I was afraid of; any phobias or anything like that. I instinctly said no because nothing in particular frightens me. I do get scared by things as they happen, fear's a natural response to danger, but nothing especially. But then, I suddenly remembered something from my past that, up until recently, was the only thing I could stand. Does anyone remember the song from the 80s by Peter Gabriel called "Sledgehammer"? Well, as embarrassing as it sounds, my dad made me watch the music video to this song when I was about 5 years old and it frightened me to death!!! It showed Peter Gabriel undergoing abnormal facial transitions using clay-mation (surprisingly by the same guy who does the Wallace and Grommit cartoons, Nick Park).

Because of the sheer bizarre-ness of the face changes, it frightened me and I had never been able to listen to the song without feeling petrified!!! Sad I know but last night, my friend actaully downloaded the music video and told me to take a look at what he'd just got. I didnt know what it was at the time and I didnt recognise the start but once those horns kicked off, I jumped! I actually watched the full video last night (with my plush LF tucked under my arm

) for the first time in 14 years!!! It wasnt so bad looking at it now (being into some stuff that is much more frightening now than a man's face changing like plastic surgery gone wrong! LOL!

) but it just made me remember how petrified I used to be. I'd have to say that that has been my only real fear I've ever had...

Malte279 · **Reply #1 on:** November 30, 2004, 08:29:20 AM

Hi!
Even though I do knock on wood for luck sometimes it is more like a symbolic guesture. I'm not very superstitious. If I don't walk below ladders it is mainly because it is more comfortable to go past them rather than bowing to get through below them, as for the 13, my dad was born on September 13th (which I never found a stroke of badluck

), and as for black cats, I think whether or not they bring you badluck largely depends on the question if you are a mouse.

However, there sure are things I'm scared of. There are several ways of dying which I imagine to be extremely nasty (being burried alive, drowned, or dieing of thirst). As for insects I don't have a problem to look at them, and it is usually me who puts a spider out of our house between a glass and a sheet of paper. Still I admit that I feel very uncomfortable at the idea of a big spider crawling over my hand.
One thing I realized is that I get a creepy feeling if I am in a forest at night. I'm not generally scared of the dark, but the utter darkness in a nightly forest makes me remember the many newspaper stories about murders committed in forests. I even included a similar fear of being alone in a nightly forest in one of the later chapters of "The Cold Time" (an uncorrected part):

Quote

Finally Ducky shoved the leaf aside and looked around. She was all alone. She looked around into every direction. Nowhere the figure of anybody could be seen, but as Ducky could see here in the dark forest only a few meters anyway this didn’t have to mean much. Ducky’s big relief not to know one of the eggeaters nearby gave already after a few moments room for an increasing fear. Ducky didn’t know what she was actually afraid of but suddenly the gloomy forest around seemed to be hostile and threatening and the longer she stood there the more creepy sounds reached her ear. Cracking and rustling as if whole hordes of eggeaters and other enemies would lurk in the darkness around. Moreover it seemed to her as if something would move in the darkness and as if this something would come nearer. With a yell she ran off, roughly in the direction in which they all had run before. While she ran she had the feeling of being pursued and she strained to run even faster. Already soon it itched again in her throat and breathing became harder for her. Ducky struggled for a while through a dense brushwood whereby she ran so fast that again and again thin branches whipped into her face and when she held her arms protecting in front of her face she got a painful scratch at one forearm. Finally she came out of the brushwood and ran on through the dark forest. Running she looked back to see if her pursuer had come nearer. But she saw nobody. Suddenly she tripped over something and fell down lengthwise. Ducky could barely soften her fall with her hands. Exhausted and breathing heavily she remained lying on the ground, rolled on her back and looked back. She had fallen over the long root of a tree that stood nearby, but she couldn’t see a pursuer. Suddenly the big disenchantment came for Ducky. Actually she hadn’t seen or heard anything she really needed to be afraid of. The being alone in this dark forest had along with the usual sounds of the night and the wind already been enough to put her in panic. Ducky was a little bit ashamed, but when she looked around in every direction she couldn’t deny yet that everything here appeared to be very uncanny. Not to make herself crazy again she didn’t attend to it anymore.

Petrie · **Reply #2 on:** November 30, 2004, 09:40:29 AM

Nope I'm not the superstitious type.

I've had relatives that have owned black cats before. I'd try to walk away from the ladder so as to not hurt whoever is standing on it.

Knock on wood is mostly a joke since a lot of things are faux wood nowadays.

I guess if I do have any fear it's of heights and more specifically falling off those high places. :blink:

Nick22 · **Reply #3 on:** December 01, 2004, 02:03:48 PM

I'm not afraid of anything. well, except being stuck in a house with Micheal Jackson

.
Nick

Malte279 · **Reply #4 on:** December 04, 2004, 08:10:26 AM

Yesterday I was reminded in a most unpleasant manner of a daily situation which can make me panic.
Driving.
I really hate driving. I think it is a good concept that if somebody makes a failure it is most often this very somebody who has to bear the consequences. Unfortunately this concept does not apply to traffic. And the thought that I might cause an accident really makes me nervous enough to actually do this.
It's not like I'm nervous because I'm a bad driver, but more like I'm a bad driver because I'm nervous.
With an extraordinary high number of driving lessons and my licence maybe ranking among the most expensive official documents in Germany's post war history <_< I did not have a good start with driving, and I really don't think that I'm ever going to like driving.

Petrie · **Reply #5 on:** December 04, 2004, 09:00:37 AM

The thing about Europe as well is that driving your own vehicle isn't necessary because of the alternative of mass transportation. So, essentially, there isn't a need to drive over there....if there was more emphasis placed on the fact you had to drive yourself to get to places, then you probably wouldn't be so nervous.

Malte279 · **Reply #6 on:** December 06, 2004, 08:55:26 AM

That's certainly true for me, as there is hardly a place which I could not reach very comfortably by means of public transportation. In general however, there is hardly anyone here who does not drive regularly, so the differences between America and Europe (except for much longer distances and far lower gasprices in America) are not as strong as they could be.

Petrie · **Reply #7 on:** December 06, 2004, 01:25:48 PM

No, but just the fact that if you want to get anywhere over here, you have to drive yourself will quickly let you overcome that fear of driving.

No joke, from my parents house, if you want to use mass transit (by bus) you have to walk about a mile down a huge hill...not recommended in winter because there's no guarantee anyone will shovel the walkway...plus getting back up that hill is quite a challenge in itself.

Littlefoot1616 · **Reply #8 on:** December 06, 2004, 06:34:22 PM

I think it all depends to be honest. In college, I was probably one of the students who lived furthest away yet I CYCLED to lessons. People who lived pretty much 3 streets away were the ones who were driving! Talk about L-A-Z-Y!!!! I still dont own a car and it is a real pain in the preverbial to have to rely on trains to get you around! :angry: Im talking about BRITISH trains...they are as predictable as the weather!!! Never on time and when they are...they are completely maxed out and overflowing! Man, I want a car!

Mirumoto_Kenjiro · **Reply #9 on:** December 08, 2004, 03:42:10 PM

I live 3 to 4 miles from my school so I have to drive. It takes me nearly an hour and a half to walk there (I know, cause I walked home more than once in the desert) and it takes me only 10 to 15 minutes to drive. But personally, I want a car of my own.

As for fears, I always hate arachnids (spiders and scorpians). Not just because by the way they move, I had a few unpleasant encounters with them (stung twice by scorpians, and close call with a black widow). The desert is not the best place to live if you have that type of fear. The movie "Eight Legged Freaks" took place in a desert, so that made it worse.

Littlefoot1616 · **Reply #10 on:** December 08, 2004, 06:21:01 PM

Hmm...yeah! Really wouldn't recommend Eight Legged Freaks for any arachnaphobics! Primarily because it contains...well...spiders! <_<

Weather_lord_7 · **Reply #11 on:** July 18, 2007, 10:46:11 PM

I do not believe in superstitions.

But the one thing that gives me the creeps are storms (kinda ironic, that my username is Weatherlord

) . Especially in the summertime, and which is why I prefer winter over summer. My ears are very sensitive to loud loises like that. If they get real loud, I'm borderline of a panic attack.

DarkHououmon · **Reply #12 on:** July 18, 2007, 11:02:43 PM

I'm not very superstitious myself either.

Manny Cav · **Reply #13 on:** July 18, 2007, 11:16:29 PM

Quote from: Littlefoot1616,Nov 30 2004 on 07:10 AM

Hey gang!

I decided to put this topic up because me and my housemates had a very open debate on various things the other night and I thought I'd bring the topic here. What really does creep you out?! A scary movie perhaps? A particular superstition? Never walking under ladders? That sorta thing. Or maybe a childhood fear that's stuck with you since you were younger. Dont feel pressurized to post if you dont want to. If you'd rather not speak then dont...nothing is EVER pressured to be done here...

Also, there is another reason why I decided to put this up. I got asked if there was anything I was afraid of; any phobias or anything like that. I instinctly said no because nothing in particular frightens me. I do get scared by things as they happen, fear's a natural response to danger, but nothing especially. But then, I suddenly remembered something from my past that, up until recently, was the only thing I could stand. Does anyone remember the song from the 80s by Peter Gabriel called "Sledgehammer"? Well, as embarrassing as it sounds, my dad made me watch the music video to this song when I was about 5 years old and it frightened me to death!!! It showed Peter Gabriel undergoing abnormal facial transitions using clay-mation (surprisingly by the same guy who does the Wallace and Grommit cartoons, Nick Park).

Because of the sheer bizarre-ness of the face changes, it frightened me and I had never been able to listen to the song without feeling petrified!!! Sad I know but last night, my friend actaully downloaded the music video and told me to take a look at what he'd just got. I didnt know what it was at the time and I didnt recognise the start but once those horns kicked off, I jumped! I actually watched the full video last night (with my plush LF tucked under my arm ) for the first time in 14 years!!! It wasnt so bad looking at it now (being into some stuff that is much more frightening now than a man's face changing like plastic surgery gone wrong! LOL! ) but it just made me remember how petrified I used to be. I'd have to say that that has been my only real fear I've ever had...

Littlefoot plush, eh? Does it look anything like this?

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #14 on:** July 19, 2007, 12:07:50 AM

I'm afraid of the dark, mainly because I'm terrified that a spider's gonna get on me.

DarkHououmon · **Reply #15 on:** July 19, 2007, 12:57:09 AM

I'm a bit nervous in the dark because I can't see. But I'm not really worried about spiders.

Flathead770 · **Reply #16 on:** July 19, 2007, 01:51:52 AM

For some reason im afraid of wasps, i dunno why, i've never been stung by one, i don't think ones even landed on me. I'm not scared of spiders, but i've never encounted a large spider like a tarantuala other then in a zoo. As for being burned alive or being drowned, im terrified of. I would hate to have a slow and painful death or be tortured.

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #17 on:** July 19, 2007, 02:21:25 AM

Quote

I would hate to have a slow and painful death or be tortured.

Who would like it?

Malte279 · **Reply #18 on:** July 19, 2007, 03:42:41 AM

I guess to have a certain dislike of the idea of being burned alive, drowned, tortured, or dying in a slow and painful manner doesn't have much to do with superstition. I would be concerned about you if you were NOT uncomfortable at the thought at all

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #19 on:** July 19, 2007, 04:30:05 AM

Oh. I'm also afraid of going near water. I don't know how to swim.