Spiders and much, much worse

Story by Cameron Murry, staff writer

Creepy crawlies, dark corners, spooky hallways—we all have childish fears, although some are funnier than others. Simple phobias usually start in childhood and fade away with age, but for some, these fears stick around, no matter how irrational they may seem.

“When I was a little kid, I watched ‘Veggie Tales,’ and one movie was pretty scary and it still freaks me out to this day,” sophomore Deacon Patterson said. “It’s called ‘[Larry-Boy and] the Rumor Weed,’ and if you play the music, it’s really scary to me. I get chills.”

Patterson’s fear is somewhat humorous and lighthearted. “Veggie Tales” isn’t a common fear to have; fears can come from anywhere.

“[I have a weird fear of] eating fish,” senior Paige Eaton said. “One evening, I was eating fish, and I guess someone didn’t clean it properly. I choked on a bone and it cut the inside of my throat; it was really bad.”

Fears about foods are quite common, and Eaton’s fishy fear is not without good reason. Foods can trigger fears in some people, whether they endured being cut by a bone or just common food poisoning.

“[I have] a weird fear of mayonnaise,” junior Grant Rommel said. “I can’t exactly remember why. I just had some sort of traumatic experience with mayonnaise when I was younger, so I’m always repulsed when I eat it, and I just don’t like looking at it.”

Condiments are often disliked, but rarely heard of causing fears. Rommel’s traumatic experience is unknown to even himself, but its repercussions are to be feared.

“My weird fear is that I am actually afraid of cardboard and people being around cardboard,” senior Kamryn Hamilton said. “Like when people scratch it, it actually makes me want to run away. It grosses me out and I’m scared of it. Just the sound makes me cringe. The feeling of it just grosses me out.”

Fears and phobias can be simple or complex, and some can even be funny. Most people will even laugh about their odd fears when asked about them. Don’t be afraid to admit your fears—you might scare yourself with how funny some of them can be.