Last Friday was Friday the 13th, an occasion that made us wonder how superstitious our fellow Yahoos! are. We learned that some of them have natural phobias, but today, we explore the ways in which the media have done their part to nurture our fears.
JoAnne: When I was a kid, my mom and sister
saw When a Stranger Calls. They told me all about it when they got home. Ever
since then, I have had phone phobia.
That silence you get when a telemarketer's autodial catches you before they realize they have a
connection? Storms that knock phone service out? Anytime there's no dial tone. Freaks.
Me. Out. I couldn't even watch The Ring because it starts with scary
phone things.
Jasmin: I can't watch horror movies at night. I
just can't. A movie that's delightfully creepy during the day will scare the
living daylights out of me if I watch it at night. It's not during the
movie that's the issue; it's afterwards, when the normal sounds of our house
(like the dishwasher running) go from being soothing to a
"Did-you-hear-that?!"
Helene: When I was a kid, each time I
watched Jaws,
I would put my hamster cage on the floor next to my bed, because I thought that if a
shark was swimming under the carpet, he would eat the hamster first, and spare
my life after that snack.
And while some fears aren't directly related to movies, we can only imagine
that they somehow inspired some folks to be afraid:
Heather: Whenever I wake up from a
particularly bad nightmare, I always have to check in the closet, under the
bed, and lock the door to my bedroom. I'm terrified that there might be a
murderer in my room, even though I've probably got a better chance of the
ceiling caving in from an earthquake than being attacked by a serial killer.
Emily: Zombies freak me out. Even though I know they're not real (right? Right?!).
I like being able to hear cars on the road from my bedroom, because that's how
I know the zombie apocalypse hasn’t started yet.
And then there are some fears that are just common-sense:
Chris: Dick Cheney, swing dance classes, and Cher.
Coming up tomorrow: Ways we ward off bad luck.
Suggested Sites...
- Phobialist - "Tell us your phobias, and we will tell you what you're afraid of."
- iHorror - horror movie news and clips -- but don't watch them in the dark.
- Zombies on the Web - one-stop shopping for zombie info and facts.
- How to Prepare to Swing Dance - the horror! The horror!
- Dick Cheney Is a War Criminal- maybe not all fears are irrational...
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