What Really Scared You As A Child?

Lobsterlady

nthclare wrote: »

I remember that in the 80's aerophlot used to land in Shannon and their pilot's and cabin crew would stay in local apartments.

We used to think they were spies.

Although the Russian women were quite attractive.

But during the first gulf war us kids/teen-agers thought Sadam was going to nuke the town any day soon

Yes I remember that now...the Russians stayed in an apartment block just before the airport....or so I was told.

Airyfairy12

In the movie 3 men and a baby, theres a scene in it with what looks like a lifesize cardboard cutout of someone behind a curtain, there was a myth that this was the ghost of someone who had been killed on set, presumably a story made up by the movie makers to promote their sh!tty film.
I was terrified, didnt sleep the whole night after watching it the first time and anytime it came on tv I had to leave the room at the part with the 'ghost'. My mother eventually banned me from watching it because id wreck her head and get upset every time it came on.

paddythere

The Invisible Man

Realt Dearg Sec

punisher5112 wrote: »

People that identified as a woman but were a man and vice Versa

Do ye lads ever take a day off from the agenda no?

I used to be frightened by the McSpuds cartoon on Bosco. It was meant to be harmless kids stuff but like a lot of children's tv it had a creepy overtone. It was set in the nighttime in a supermarket and followed a family of potatoes, and their interactions with other food in the shop. It was creepy and dark in its animation and the music was this odd eery supermarket Muzak that I can still hear now, and every character has that all shrill voice that I associate with Bosco presenters generally.

Found this on YouTube, **** me it's still creepy and I'm 38.

https://youtu.be/O2St2rpxzbA

Gemancy

My parents use to tell us the fairies would come and take us away if we wore our socks to bed, used to genuinely petrify me! Still wouldn’t dream of doing it!!


Also, my Nan’s old fashioned flowery wallpaper, if I stared at it long enough the flowers would start to turn into creepy, evil faces!


Spent a lot of time being petrified that ‘Holy God’ or Mary would appear to me, used to beg them not to...

ricero

Pennywise the clown from the original IT film.

punisher5112

Mod edit - do not discuss moderation on thread

Dr. Colossus

The Unsolved Mysteries theme song.

nthclare

Gemancy wrote: »

My parents use to tell us the fairies would come and take us away if we wore our socks to bed, used to genuinely petrify me! Still wouldn’t dream of doing it!!


Also, my Nan’s old fashioned flowery wallpaper, if I stared at it long enough the flowers would start to turn into creepy, evil faces!


Spent a lot of time being petrified that ‘Holy God’ or Mary would appear to me, used to beg them not to...

You must have been very naughty like myself lol

Isn't it amazing how much fear we had of the Abrahamic religion.

I never feared Thor, Zeus, Beanshees Fairies etc

But that demon from the middle east scared the **** out of me

madmaggie

My parents divorce.

punisher5112

Girls...

ArnoldJRimmer

Some pretty random stuff

Nuns, and in particular photos of nuns from the the 1970s and prior. I had a nightmare about nuns when I was bout 5 or 6 that I remember to this day

When I stayed at my grannys house, I often slept in the living room due to lack of space. She had one of those pictures of Jesus where the eyes would follow you around the room, and living beside a main road, often passing cars would shine their lights into the room and you'd see the man himself staring at you

.anon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1RsgSBySXk

chrissb8

[Deleted User] wrote: »

the banshee in darby o gill

We all live the same life it seems

Alanhooly

The thoughts of someone breaking into my house. Every little sound from downstairs would startle me, especially when I knew everyone was upstairs & already in bed

gogo

The local librarian had a soft spot for me and used to let me into the adult section well before my time.... it was there I discovered Stephen King at the tender age of 10/11.
The Shining positively petrified me! I used to collect Stephen king first editions, was a massive, massive fan of his when I was younger but have still never finished that book, it has engraved itself in the ‘Do Not Open’ section in my brain.
My 11 year old self had never gotten over it, when The tv show, friends, had it with Joey putting it in the fridge.... I totally got that. Best place for it!

_Whimsical_

When I was 4 :
A woman who I now realise was a childminder brought a different baby to school in the morning every so often when dropping her child off. Her son and myself were always first to school so I always had a look at the baby of the day. I asked her how she always had a different one and she told me that she bought them but would get sick of them and sell them on, then just buy a new one.
She used to tell me to ask my mother if she wanted to sell me, that I'd go for top dollah! I would politely lie to her and said I'd asked but my mum had said no.

I used to find it genuinely heartbreaking looking into the pram at the different babies imagining how they'd be heartlessly traded in for a "younger model".

I'm sure she has no idea that she terrified me and made me genuinely sad or that I still remember her.

gogo

Oh and ‘The Dark‘, Landing light left on all through my childhood with the bedroom door cracked open, heaven forbid the electricity would go, id be screaming blue murder. Still sleep with the landing light on and the door cracked open.

Andrewf20

Those fraggle rock giants. Pure evil.



Also, lightening at night time. You didnt know when it would flash next. Id have to turn on the light.

Purple Mountain

There was a family on our road who were obsessed with ghost stories and fairies and myths etc.
The grandmother had stories of hearing the banshee as a child, seeing fairies in a fairy ring and of a ghost that haunted an old abandoned building locally.
Her grandchildren would then relay the stories to me and a few nights I lay awake in bed, sweating and my heart hammering waiting to hear the banshee's wail outside my window.
The sad fact is the grandmother actually believed her own stories.

Nesta99

Going north of the border, seemed to be guns everywhere and scary armed police officers. Adds on terrorism and about calling the confidential police line probably the reason.

TheUnderfaker

Quicksand

.anon.

Nesta99 wrote: »

Billy Mitchell from EastEnders is a rat.

_Whimsical_

Zaph wrote: »

Quicksand - I believed it was a lot more prevalent than it actually is and we all need to be on the lookout for it. I think it must have been in a couple of TV shows or films I saw fairly close together, I can't think of any other reason it would bother me, especially as I don't recall it ever being reported in south Dublin.

Quicksand occupied the minds of a lot of children of the 80s and early 90s.
I think it was a really cheap stunt in low budget 1970s tv shows that were recycled 10 years later on RTE. I definitely remember Wonder Woman and 1960s Batman having a few run-ins with it.

JupiterKid

...and here is the very poster that terrified me as a 7 year old.

Seems pretty tame now, but back in 1982/83 this literally gave me nightmares.

Ahwell

Children of the Stones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeJ39FsWpbk

Hard to believe now that it was a children's program.

r93kaey5p2izun

The Sacred Heart picture with the eyes that followed you.

Rimini Riddle.

Picnic at Hanging Rock.

The house where a fella murdered his family.

And what I now realise was the beginning of a life long affliction of sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucinations, but which at the time was people standing over me in my bed along with occasional spiders.

I also remember some issue had developed in England (Gloucestershire iirc) with what was described as a "flesh eating bacteria". A few people had died. It was discussed on Gay Byrne's radio show. I was petrified and lost sleep over it.

andekwarhola

Example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=747SKishQPg

Ipso

The flying monkeys in the wizard of oz.

ILoveYourVibes

I was scared of the sound of the ICE CREAM van.

And i was also scared of the lion on the lion bars.