If you're not arachnophobic, then you won't understand what I just went through!

[sedriss]

These things are called "Tvestjärt" in Sweden, which roughly translates to "Split-Butt".

Really.

There are tons of them living in my mailbox for some reason.

[Pet Terry]

In mittens we discussed scary stuff one of the nights around the campfire. We all managed to freak Adam out by talking about the men from the sea; we imagined seeing human shapes walking up from the water, slowly coming towards us. (And he's supposed to call himself DarkStalkey?)
Eventually, all of us were more or less worked up, except for AGA, who is the epithome of a rational sceptic.

And when sun was rising, the sea people went back into the depths of the sea: http://www.americangirlscouts.org/chrille/petteri/IMG_6981.html

I live in an old house and there are pipes going inside of the walls. And when darkness falls, the pipes start making creepy noises... well, not creepy per se, but when being home alone I easily get nervous when I hear something going clink or clank. It doesn't bother me at day when it's light, I guess I'm a little bit afraid of the dark.

Also, I don't like bugs and insects. Like I told at Mittens, we have lots of mosquitos in Finland. I'm not scared of them, only annoyed. Same goes for wasps. But creepy bugs make me easily go eek, especially if I found them crawling on myself.

[Paper Carnival]

I forgot to mention I have agoraphobia.

But speaking of weird phobias, I can't stand any kind of jewelry. It's not exactly a phobia, it's more like weirdness. And I wish people would stop wearing them because it only makes them ugly.

[TheYak]

Ugh.  I never used to fear spiders.  In my area, the bug problem isn't bad, but when seasonal rains come (particularly just after the warm season) ants and flies tend to collect indoors.  As a kid, I always just let them be, figuring the spiders would trap the flies and the ants would get bored after having nicely scavenged all my discarded crumbs. 

When I was 19, that all changed when I was bitten by a brown recluse while sleeping.  There's still a strange dent in my leg from the tissue being carved out by a Navy corpsman.  Now I can't stand any arachnid.  I'll still leave 'em alone if they're outside but once they cross my threshold, they're reduced to a smear - friendliness with nature be damned.

That submerged object discomfort is shared.  I love the water; lakes, oceans, and pools, but swimming near large submerged objects creeps me out, especially if I haven't got a quick escape route from the water.  Videogames and some movies will cause the same rapid-pulsed chest-tightening feeling, particularly if it's underwater objects (like a sunken ship) with multi-harmonic metal creakings.  *shiver*

[Haddas]

I have an irrational fear of someone touching my hands, at the place people slit their wrists wrong, and where you measure the pulse sometimes. If anyone touches there I'll be likely to hit them in the face, as a reaction.

[Ghormak]

Big things in water creep me out, be they manmade, living things or just big rocks.

I hate this game so: http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?gameid=5004

[TheYak]

Now I've got to try the game.  I'll likely be unable to play it for long.  I'm masochistic so dark room with 5.1 system ought to twist my intestines nicely.  The only part that creeped me out (and not too much at that) in the first Resident Evil game was that damned shark's POV coming at your avatar's legs in the water.. made my spine squirm.

[Corey]

spiders are cute....as long as they arent dangeres 

[Eggie]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/EggHeadCheesyBird/socute.gif

[Paper Carnival]

Wrong. ALL bugs are cute

[Darth Mandarb]

I hate those spinning doors like you see at hotels.  I'm not sure what you call them.  We've always called them "revolving doors". 

When I was a kid I got my left arm and my left leg crunched in one of them and ever since then, whenever I have to use one of them, I tense up a bit.  (if there's an actual NORMAL door next to it I'll always use that instead, even if it requires a slight wait)

I also cannot get comfortable in any building unless there are at least two ways to exit the building AND I know where they are.  The first thing I do, when entering a building (or any structure) is find the way out.  Not sure why I do that.

Lastly, I am incapable of relaxing if I have my back to a door.  Actually it's uncomfortable for me to have my back to any area where people can walk up behind me.

Paranoia perhaps?  I don't know ... but there it is.

[Phemar]

Yeah, I can totally relate to that paranoia thing ... I'm permantly throwing glances behind my back and up at the ceiling just in case, and If I have to stand somewhere, I'd rather stand with my back against the wall (after checking crevices inbetween bricks and stuff!).

[Timosity]

Spiders are my friends, I come across hundreds everyday, I don't pick them up, but quite often I see them hanging from my hat climbing up the web.

I walk through webs all day long, sometimes big spiders end up on my clothes, I just brush them off and continue on my way.

I also live in an area with quite venomous spiders and snakes, but it's actually quite hard to even find them unless you know where to look. (and when you know where to look they're quite numerous)

The Huntsman that Las mentioned is quite numerous and often found in the house, they look more scary than they are and are harmless, I've had them in my car while I've been driving crawl across my head and fall in my lap which can be freaky but lucky I don't have arachnophobia, the trick is just to stay calm.

[Las Naranjas]

I remember once that I was riding my bike at night and I rode through a web and I felt the spider riding up my arm, so I shook it off.

500 metres or so later I felt it again. It had snagged me with webbing and used spider strength to pull itself up after flying behind me for a while.

hardcore

[hedgefield]

Wow, that thing is h00ge!

If theyre not bigger than 1 centimeter, i dont mind bugs. I've learned to live in 'harmony' with wasps, although I'm still wary. I once had one sit on my jacket while I was waiting for the bus. When it came up to my shoulder though I punched it in mid-air.

My house used to be shared with a bunch of bugs they call 'silverfish'(dont ask me why). We just call them 'Snellen' (snel is dutch for fast).



They are incredibly fast, but when you pounche on them with a tissue you just about pulverize them. We have an electronic repellant device in the hall now, so I don't see them around very much. Although a while ago one crawled out from under my keyboard as I was typing...*shudder*.

Mosquitos though, they are #1 on my hitlist. I'm not afraid of them, but that godawful noise they make, especially when youre sleeping. ARGH. I've been up at 3 AM hunting mosquitos with my shoe often enough.

[Pet Terry]

Something happened to me last night that reminded me of this whole earwig business.

I was sleeping and suddenly woke up because something was itching my ear and I had caught something between my fingers. So I turned on lights and...


...I had one of those in my hand. I don't know the correct English name for those, straight translation from Finnish would be sugar maggot/worm. Latin name is lepisma saccharina. I don't think it ever went inside of my ear because I caught it on my ear flap. I guess it fell on me from ceiling whilst I was asleep.

(note: those things are not very big, the biggest ones are about 1cm long and the one I found wasn't even that long. I wasn't even freaked out because I encounter those things every day in the bathroom.)

[Corey]

yea , small buggies aint that scary... the only thing i dont get about spiders is that they get there web that is like 6 times bigger then their selfs out of their ass.

[Pelican]

Urgh! I can't stand any sort of creepy crawlies! I would just stand there frozen, and call for my brother to get rid of it. I'm not so bad lately, and can squish the smaller ones, but anything bigger than an inch and I run and hide.  :o Thankfully we don't get particularly nasty bugs here in Northern Ireland.

As for weird phobias, I don't like sitting with my back to a door or window either. I also have this weird phobia about having my throat obstructed or constricted. I can't swallow pills of any size, because I'm convinced I'm going to choke on them (and usually do, because I get myself so worked up), and I don't like having tight jewellery or clothing round my neck, because I feel like I can't breathe. Its weird, and my GP always gives me funny looks when I say I can't take pills.

[kec]

I`m not arachnophobic but I was really freaked out when I saw a weird spider that looked like it was a mutant or something. It was green, had uneven legs and even left a trace of slime or whatever. Otherwise I like spiders cause they are unique. They have fantastic hunting skills that are unlike any other. btw spiders are NOT bugs

[auhsor]

I can't say that I have a phobia to spiders. I don't particularly like them and they do give me the creeps, but when someone has to get rid of a spider in the house (usually huntsmans) it's me or my brother who has the honours. My older brother has a problem with spiders due to an unfortunate incident of putting his hand on a light switch when he was younger and a spider was there. That freaked him out a bit. Dad also doesn't like huntsmans because when he was little the outdoor toilet had heaps of them.

I must say that this site is really facinating. I spent many hours reading about spiders and looking at the cool pictures a while ago.