"I'm In My 50s, And The Fear Has Stayed With Me": Adults Are Sharing The "Terrifying" Things From Their Childhood That Still Haunt Them

Many things from childhood can follow us into adulthood, including fears. Recently, I asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to share the childhood fears that still haunt them to this day, and they're totally valid (and quite spooky!). Here are some of the fears adults still have:

1.Mirrors. Some kid convinced me Bloody Mary was real when I was young, and to this day, I can't see a mirror at night. There are no mirrors in my bedroom, and I don't look at the mirror if I get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom."

2."Getting locked in a bathroom. My childhood home had really old doorknobs with stripped interior pin grooves, so the doorknobs would pull off or fall off sometimes. One time, I was trying to exit the bathroom, but the doorknob fell off on the other side, trapping me in. It was after school before my parents got home. I remember being in there for a while, thinking I was going to have to live in the bathroom and eat toothpaste for nourishment! Thankfully, my brother came home and heard me pounding on the door. Now, thanks to modern technology, I always bring a cellphone with me to any bathroom, just in case!"

—Anonymous

3."Puppets, like marionettes. I hate them — the way they move and sound. I don't like them, and it's not okay. Those shits will legit come to life and kill me in my sleep. No, no, no."

4."Gills, or anything that is gill-like in appearance. Clusters of holes are bad, too, but gills are worse!"

—stephaniev23

5."Deep water. I grew up in a mid-sized town, and my grandparents lived out in the country. Right near their place was a huge and very deep irrigation ditch. We were often told not to go near it because of how dangerous it would be if we fell in. It didn't help that when I was 6, my cousin drowned in a scuba accident. Combine those two events and being pushed into the deep end at summer camp, and it's no wonder my biggest fear is being in water that goes higher than my neck."

6."When I was 6 or 7, one of my mom's cousins didn't completely close her car door (she was a passenger) and fell out of the moving car onto a busy highway, breaking several bones. I'm in my 50s now, and that fear has stayed with me and the rest of my family. We all make sure our doors are damn well SHUT before leaving the driveway."

—absepa

7."My brother used to hide under my bed or in my closet wearing a Michael Myers mask. This was back in the '80s, mind you, so it was easy to scare an 8-year-old kid just minding her business. I never knew when he was going to pop out, grab my ankles, or anything else that would make me piss myself. It got so bad that I started sleeping with a nightlight, and I'd have my dad look under the bed or in my closet before going to sleep to prevent my brother from scaring me. I'm in my 40s now, and, yes, I still sleep with a dang night-light! I also still have to look under my bed and in my closet because of my asshole brother. I hate him."

8."Quicksand. It seemed like every TV show in the '70s and '80s featured quicksand at least once per season. It still terrifies me to this day."

—irisg2

9."This might be too specific, but I'm afraid of the fake sharks you see at museums. I have no clue why, but those things freak me out."

10."Gas masks. I was nine when a certain two-part Doctor Who episode aired. Now, nearly 20 years later, just a glimpse of a gas mask sends shivers up my spine."

—abicat96

11."This is going to sound silly, but wasp nests. Not the wasps themselves (although I'm not a fan of them, either), but the nests. Even empty, they creep me out. As a little kid, I nearly walked into a large one stuck to a fence buried in ivy and weeds because I thought it was an owl. Even though I didn't get stuck, I was afraid of them from then on. Then, in high school, a 'friend' thought it would be funny to chase me around with a small empty wasp nest that the science teacher had on display, which obviously didn't help. Even now, I'm still freaked out by them, empty or not."

12."I was 7 when Jaws came out. To this day, I cannot go in the ocean or even stand to look up at a boat when driving down the road. Forget about boating!"

—Susan, Ohio

13."Spiders. My mom says that before I was a year old, there must have been a nest under my room or something. One day, she came running in because I was screaming and found several spiders in my crib. I had bites, so she took me to the doctor, and we discovered that I was allergic to that type of spider. Now, I will freak the hell out if I see one. Various types of spiders have bitten me, and each one has caused a massive reaction. I don't go near them — I check my bed before I get in it, and I shake out my shoes before putting them on. I know that I'm a million times bigger than a spider, but I do not care. This has been my reaction all my life, so the crib incident may have been the catalyst to it all."

14."The possibility that a killer could be hiding behind my shower curtain or in a room I don't go in much. I'm also convinced that someone could be living in my attic, and I'd have no idea. I watched WAY too many horror movies and true crime shows as a kid."

—savorybubble4031

15."As a kid in the '80s, I saw the original The Children of the Corn. To this day, I refuse to go into a cornfield or corn maze."

16."I'm still terrified of needles, specifically for blood draws and IVs. When I was in preschool, I was hospitalized multiple times, and I was always so sick and dehydrated that they could never get my veins on the first shot. I always came home with massive bruises. As an adult, my veins are still hard for even the most experienced phlebotomists to get on the first try. I usually just sob through blood work because it's so painful and takes too long. So many people give me grief for crying during blood work, but I seriously can't help it. If I try not to cry, I end up flinching, which is even worse."

—Gemma, 24, Virginia

17."Medium to large birds — especially predatory types — freak me the hell out. I used to have nightmares about owls getting into the house as a kid because we used to have one that liked to hang out in our front yard tree. I'm still very creeped out by owls as an adult. Crows also make me anxious. I give wild birds a wide berth when I see them outside. One thing I think we can all agree on, though, is that Canadian geese are pure EVIL."

18."Thunderstorms. As kids tend to be, I was always a bit afraid of lightning and thunder. But when I was, like, seven or eight, a neighbor's house burned down after being struck by lightning. That was very scarring. I've become less panicky over the decades, but I still cannot watch lightning, and I get nervous when a thunderstorm is directly above my house."

—kaa

19."Ever since elementary school, I've been terrified of most snakes. Just this year, I watched a movie and winced and whimpered over a scene with snakes in it. I do not go into the reptile house at zoos, and I've freaked out over a picture of a snake before. I'm worse than my mom."

20."Elevators! The more people that get on them, the more I get the hell out of there! Tight spaces freak me out in general, but something about a cramped, moving death box that drops 50 floors has always made me nervous! If there are more than three people besides myself, I will take the stairs!"

—kingam5381

21."Earthworms and worms in general. The spaghetti-type ones, not the ones that look like caterpillars. Ever since I was a toddler, I cannot stand seeing them at all. I remember when it rained in my elementary school's yard, and thousands of earthworms crawled out of the dirt onto the floor and walls. After it rained, they just dried there, stuck. I've never gotten that image out of my head."

22."Dogs. When I was about 6, I got chased down a beach by five very big, angry rottweilers. Their owner was laughing from a distance and shouting about how friendly they were while I was terrified and running for my life. I eventually got to my mother, who shielded me from the dogs and shouted at the owner. Ever since, I've been terrified of dogs, no matter the breed or size, and I think the dogs know because they all snarl or lunge at me. People always say, 'Oh, you'd like MY dog!' But, no, I wouldn't. My fear doesn't make me a bad person, and it's nobody's job to 'fix' me."

—retrocrebbon

23.Lastly: "Clowns. I went to one carnival when I was 6, and that's all I needed to see. They're so creepy, and I would never want to be in close proximity with one."

If we're being honest, I've been scared of birds ever since one pooped on my head when I was, like, 7! If you had a childhood fear, irrational or not, that still haunts you today as an adult, what is it? Let me know in the comments, or you can anonymously submit your story using this form!

Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.