When I was a child, I went through a Digimon phase. One night me my brother were outside jumping on a trampoline or something and we saw some little floating lights swirling around us. There seemed to be more and more of them and I got terrified cause I thought I was getting sent to the Digimon realm or something, so he and I ran away screaming. So that was my first experience with fireflies.

  • Sleepless One@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    18
    ·
    3 months ago

    I had an intense and unreasonable fear of Satan as a child. Yes, I went to Catholic school, how could you tell?

    • woodenghost [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      3 months ago

      Ohh, I know this one! There is a part where a character is stuck and your have to get him unstuck by scaring him by selecting “scary” parts of sentences like: “Oh, no!” “Look behind you!” “A delicious cake!”.

      But to be fair, it did have some scary skulls falling down a staircase and a labyrinth at the end. What were you scared of?

      • Keld [he/him, any]@hexbear.net
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        edit-2
        3 months ago

        I was like 4 or 5 and I was basically spooked every time they gave you a timer. Which once I found out that the whole game was timed got me proper spooked. At least that’s what my mom tells me, I don’t actually remember it that well. I remember the colour-fill-tool ghosts being a little spooky, I remember there being a scene where you have to play a xylophone (?) that was also spooky. OH and the ticking clock sound that gets louder when you’re in certain parts of the house.

      • Keld [he/him, any]@hexbear.net
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        3 months ago

        I was like 4 or 5 and I was basically spooked every time they gave you a timer. Which once I found out that the whole game was timed got me proper spooked. At least that’s what my mom tells me, I don’t actually remember it that well. I remember the colour-fill-tool ghosts being a little spooky, I remember there being a scene where you have to play a xylophone (?) that was also spooky. OH and the ticking clock sound that gets louder when you’re in certain parts of the house.

    • KuroXppi [they/them]@hexbear.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      3 months ago

      Same here w Mars Attacks aliens

      ‘oh but it’s a comedy’ yeh not for a *six year old

      *I don’t know how old i was when I watched it but around that age

  • SmithrunHills [he/him]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    11
    ·
    edit-2
    3 months ago

    I don’t know what the right term for it is, but internet media-styled horror(think analog horror and creepypastas) really freaked me out until recently. I can’t really dissect the why, but stuff like that did a good job messing up my brain chemicals and inducing a kind of lingering terror and paranoia.

    Learning about what the CIA, FBI, NATO, and other similar western orgs do to minorities and people of the global south did a lot to help me overcome those weird fears. When I think about it, the idea that a malevolent entity possessing a game cartridge wouldn’t immediately be sniffed out and weaponized by imperial powers breaks the immersion of these stories for me

    • Outdoor_Catgirl [she/her, they/them]@hexbear.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      3 months ago

      Yeah if magic was somehow real you can’t tell me that the CIA wouldn’t be doing shit like in full metal alchemist where the shadow government attempts to do a blood sacrifice that consumes the souls of everyone in the entire country.

  • Amnesigenic@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    3 months ago

    When I was like 6 or 7 I became aware of the concept of friday the 13th being bad/scary somehow and that there was a scary movie about it, but I wasn’t aware of the specifics or allowed to watch the movie so it was left to my imagination to fill in what actually happened on that date, also I misheard and thought it was the 15th, so on the eve of an entirely different and incorrect day I had nightmares about my whole family turning into vampires and my dog was a werewolf and some cows were also maybe vampires? I was terrified of vampires above all else so that’s where my brain went I guess

  • Arahnya [he/him, fae/faer]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    3 months ago

    I dont think its “st*pid” but silly. A mouse, because i am not afraid of mice – but they have an ability to jumpscare any living creature by scurrying as fast as they can down their racetrack. Very cool but annoying when you involuntarily scream and your heart races while their little claws scrape as fast as they can go across the linoleum.

    • huf [he/him]@hexbear.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      3 months ago

      mice can also rear up, jump pretty high, and scream like a motherfucker.

      one mouse managed to startle me and actually scared my cat. but then, a tiny aggressive songbird also managed to intimidate my cat.

  • 3rdWorldCommieCat [none/use name]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    edit-2
    3 months ago

    I used to be afraid of butterflies (they looked scary up close) and toilets (they made a loud noise) to the point up until late primary school I refused to use any bathroom outside my home unless someone was with me. Idfk why I was like this.

    EDIT: Just remembered the time when I was little and I was immobilized by fear in my grandparent’s garden for nearly an hour (felt much longer to me as a child) cause I thought I had heard(???) a butterfly behind me. There was nothing behind me. I just heard a random noise and my brain flew with it.

  • Dort_Owl [they/them, any]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    8
    ·
    3 months ago

    When I was like 2 I remember seeing an advert with a talking fish puppet that sounded like Danny Devito that scared me lmao

    I think it was some life jacket safety thing.

    • NewOldGuard@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      3 months ago

      When I was a freshman in high school I was drinking out of a plastic water bottle and an upperclassman squeezed the bottle and all the water came out my nose

  • When I was a child ,I would play PES (a football game by Konami) and I would pick Italy which was right after Israel ,I would get scared when the flag popped up

    also would get scared of Shredder in the TMNT opening (2003) one in a video game dedicated to the 1st season of that show ,even had a nightmare if him once [watch out for Shredder]

    weirdly I was never scared of the opening (I loved it) ,even the bit where Shredder saying “Watch out for Shredder!” ,I would only get scared from it in the game ,I think the volume had to do with it