# Odd things that freak you out. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 7, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-things-that-freak-you-out/293353 "2005-03-07T13:36:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-things-that-freak-you-out/293353/61 "2005-03-08T20:50:09Z")
> [@Susie Derkins](#): > > I was thinking it was pretty cool, until I got to the picture of Elvis. He was upside down, and you were supposed to try and firgure out what wrong with his face, then turn it over. Well, I glanced at it for a second, and it looked OK to me, so I flipped it over… and his _eyes were upside down_. To this day I can’t tell you why I flipped out about that, but oh, how I did. I screamed (in the bookstore!!), dropped the book, and couldn’t even pick it up again. I got my brother to pick it up for me. That turned my dislike for optical illusions into a full blown phobia. Seriously, I get short of breath and have to close my eyes whenever I see one. > > I’m pitiful. That is a _really_ freaky picture. His mouth is upside-down too. > [@Anastasaeon](#): > > I drew a picture of a bee once, in MS Paint, that I was going to use to demonstrate in [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=298472&page=1) thread, concerning [these](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5764750&postcount=47) [two](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5764758&postcount=48) posts, just what a screaming bee might look like. > > It freaked me out so much I never posted it… until [now](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v307/Anastasaeon/scarybee.bmp)… > > :eek: That is the CUTEST little bee! > [@The Sonoran Lizard King](#): > > Mine is not odd, but thankfully uncommon. You know that sort of tiny ridged, polarizing plastic that they use for psuedo holograms and three-dee pictures and such? The sound of a finger or fingernail running across that stuff unhinges my nervous system. Rub two pieces together, and I will tell you where my grandmother hides her money. Styrofoam, balloons and chalkboards don’t bother me a whit, but I’ve got it in spades for that stuff. And they make drinking cups out of it, and gift cards. I wonder if that’s related to my weird compulsion to do those things with that kind of plastic. It looks and sounds so cool when you do! ---
**Author:** ![LindyHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-things-that-freak-you-out/293353/62 "2005-03-08T21:00:20Z")
> [@betenoir](#): > > Never has that smilie been more appropriate 😃 . :eek: Bwahahaha! I didn’t even notice that! That’s hilarious! Of course, it really should be the _other_ eye. You know, if we wanted the resemblance to be more exact. [sub]Right? I just saw the movie maybe three weeks ago, and I _think_ it was her left eye, but now I honestly can’t remember.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-things-that-freak-you-out/293353/63 "2005-03-08T21:14:44Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > Somewhere on my computer at home I have an ad for a gay film festival in Australia that features a singing penis. It is completely hilarious and deeply disturbing at the same time. Anyone who’s seen _Pink Flamingoes_ knows of John Waters discovery of another singing orifice. I guarantee you’ll never listen to _Surfin’ Bird_ the same way again. **Johnny L.A.** , your diving story reminded me of an incident I had in Subic Bay in the Philippines. I was on the inward side of Grande Island, a recreation area the navy leased in mouth of the bay. I went to go snorkling and found the beach completely deserted. I had a bangup time swimming and chasing a parrot fish around but I started to feel someting that was like a single hair being plucked at random places all over my body. It started to get worse to the point of being very uncomfortable when I realized I was surrounded by jellyfish eggs or larvae or kittens or whatever the hell you call them. I wasn’t thinking “ooh pretty” since I had lots of exposed skin. Left brain said “no biggie, this isn’t a man-of-war wrapped around your head,” but right brain said “time to get the bleep out of here!” I was about thirty feet down which isn’t all that deep but the combination of little squishy things stinging me all over and looking at what I had to swim through to get to the air gave me some serious heebie jeebies for a second. Fortunately I realized that a little panic is all it takes to go from “fun day at the beach” to “corpse of drowned imbecile washed up on shore.” After I got out I realized the water was an aboutsolute cloud of little pink globs that must have come in with the tide. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-things-that-freak-you-out/293353/64 "2005-03-08T21:31:49Z")
> [@Susie Derkins](#): > > …Elvis. He was upside down… and his _eyes were upside down_. There is a Grateful Dead album cover with several faces, only the area around the eyes is illuminated. Something doesn’t look right and you realize they’re all upside down but I think illuminated as if they were right side up. ---
**Author:** ![Bewildebeest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bewildebeest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bewildebeest)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-things-that-freak-you-out/293353/65 "2005-03-08T22:12:27Z")
That woman on the [cialis|levitra] commerical talking about her husbands stiffy while he grins in the background. She really creeps me out. Why doesn’t she just lead him around on a leash? :wally ---
**Author:** ![PinkMarabou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@PinkMarabou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PinkMarabou)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-things-that-freak-you-out/293353/66 "2005-03-08T22:52:51Z")
> [@Padeye](#): > > There is a Grateful Dead album cover with several faces, only the area around the eyes is illuminated. Something doesn’t look right and you realize they’re all upside down but I think illuminated as if they were right side up. You just reminded me of my ALL-TIME freak out. Do you remember the Genesis song “Land of Confusion”? The video for that song with the creepy puppet/doll things? I can’t watch that even now. It gives me nightmares! ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-things-that-freak-you-out/293353/67 "2005-03-08T23:10:14Z")
> [@lorene](#): > > Eyeballs. Anything eyeballs. My mom had cataract surgery yesterday. In the weeks leading up to her surgery, she described for me no less than 3 times exactly what they were going to do to her eyeball. I did not need that. Same here. And no, I’m NOT going to look at any of those links people posted. Can you let things get close to your eyes? I can’t, and I suspect it’s connected to the eye phobia thing. I flinch hard and fast if something comes near my eyes. Some things I can’t do because of this: [ul] [li]Have someone do my eye makeup for me[/li][li]Wear contact lenses[/li][/ul] Trips to the eye doctor, especially the part where they test for glaucoma with the puff of air, I manage only with a lot of difficulty. Eye drops are difficult, too- the last time I put eye drops in my eye was when I had pinkeye in 1995. I wasted about half the bottle- the only way I could do it was to close my eyes and try to put the drops in the corners. ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-things-that-freak-you-out/293353/68 "2005-03-08T23:16:54Z")
> [@Padeye](#): > > There is a Grateful Dead album cover with several faces, only the area around the eyes is illuminated. Something doesn’t look right and you realize they’re all upside down but I think illuminated as if they were right side up. May I never, ever, look upon that album cover as long as I live. > [@Excalibre](#): > > That is a really freaky picture. His mouth is upside-down too. You’ve seen it!! I’d forgotten about the mouth; it was the _eyes_ that were branded into my brain. I think I’ll curl up and die now. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-things-that-freak-you-out/293353/69 "2005-03-08T23:21:54Z")
> [@Fritz](#): > > Did I mention jellyfish? > > ::shudder:: I, on the other hand, like Jellyfish a lot. They’re one of my favorite critters at the New England Aquarium, and I even made a [Jellyfish shirt](http://thesims2.ea.com/exchange/sim_detail.php?asset_id=205750&asset_type=sim&user_id=934) for the Sims 2. The strange thing I find upsetting is **my hands** , sometimes. There’s nothing wrong with them, and they look much like anyone else’s hands. But if you wiggle your fingers and look at them at the right angle, you can see the metacarpal bones sliding around under the skin. :eek: And sometimes, especially after sleeping with my hands under my head, you can see the veins in my fingers clearly. Nasty little blue threads… noticing either of these things upsets my stomach. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-things-that-freak-you-out/293353/70 "2005-03-09T01:23:06Z")
> [@PinkMarabou](#): > > You just reminded me of my ALL-TIME freak out. Do you remember the Genesis song “Land of Confusion”? The video for that song with the creepy puppet/doll things? I can’t watch that even now. It gives me nightmares! The Ronald Reagan one was especially scary looking. Creepy puppets are horrible. Like ventriloquist dummies. How anyone could tote those THINGS around, I don’t know. Ventriloquist themselves are creepy enough (except for Shari Lewis. I liked her and Lamb Chop). Another weird thing that creeps me out is the title of that Thorton Wilder play “Skin Of Our Teeth”. Ewww. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-things-that-freak-you-out/293353/71 "2005-03-09T01:23:55Z")
> [@Susie Derkins](#): > > You’ve seen it!! I’d forgotten about the mouth; it was the _eyes_ that were branded into my brain. > > I think I’ll curl up and die now. Seen it? Hell, if I dug around, I could probably find that book. It’s somewhere around here. Had it when I was a little tyke. Frankly, though, the thought of seeing that picture again (and lemme tell you, I won’t be able to resist the compulsion to look) makes it a lot less tempting. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-things-that-freak-you-out/293353/72 "2005-03-09T01:25:01Z")
And along the lines of freaky faces, anyone ever seen Madonna’s “Bedtime Story” video? I’m pretty sure that’s the one. There’s a face with two singing mouths replacing the eyes. :: full body shudder :: ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-things-that-freak-you-out/293353/73 "2005-03-09T09:13:30Z")
> [@Spudo](#): > > The sound a wet paper towel makes when you squeeze it gives me chills. I get the same reaction when stirring potato salad, macaroni salad or anything else that has that combination of heavy solids in a viscous liquid which make that _skkkklaaaaaawp_ noise as the spoon moves them around in the bowl. :eek: At night, if I come over a hill or round a bend and see a huge, dark, looming structure like a factory or a power plant, especially one with smokestacks, I totally freak out. I nearly caused an accident once by slamming on my brakes in such a situation. Much like the car carrier and log carrier fears, I dislike driving behind a truck carrying rebar. I just have horrible visions of a rebar breaking loose, flying through my windshield and impaling me right through the head. I think cars, logs and rebar should have to be transported inside closed trailers. (Yes, I understand why they aren’t, but that doesn’t change my feelings!) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-things-that-freak-you-out/293353/74 "2005-03-09T16:51:19Z")
My weirdest hangup is that I can’t stand it when people stop the microwave before the time is up, and fail to press the reset button. Every time I see a microwave with time left, I have to reset it. The feel of cottonballs sends shivers up my spine. Even thinking about it makes me squirm. I can’t STAND touching cottonballs. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-things-that-freak-you-out/293353/75 "2005-03-09T17:17:09Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Those little wooden ice cream paddles. They freak me out so much that I cannot stand to see someone else using them. I will gladly stop what I’m doing and get them a real spoon. Oh, I love these. 😃 I don’t like mirrors in the dark. Also, open-casket wakes are creepy, I grew up thinking cremation was the only way, and I find that icky. Slimy bugs. Not earthworms, but anything that’s really really slimy. ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-things-that-freak-you-out/293353/76 "2005-03-09T17:47:27Z")
> [@Susie Derkins](#): > > He was upside down, and you were supposed to try and firgure out what wrong with his face, then turn it over. Well, I glanced at it for a second, and it looked OK to me, so I flipped it over… and his _eyes were upside down_. Oh God, I had that book. **shudders** I can’t use chalk without feeling physically ill. This is a problem in two of my classes where we have to write on the board a lot every day (music classes, and we do all our work on the board so the professor can see it). And having to use chalk in a room where five other people are using chalk at the same time is just hell. I threatened to kill one of my classmates once because her nail scratched the chalkboard. Augh. Squeaky markers are bad too. There’s a commercial for eraseable markers and the erasing has this sound that I can’t stand. I have to talk loudly every time it comes on so that I don’t hear it. Long fingernails creep me out. I don’t do well around food. Having to clean dishes that aren’t mine is worse than writing a novel on a chalkboard. Spiders and large bugs. There was a big flying bug in my dorm a few months ago and I lived in fear for two days until I got another girl on my floor to get it and take it outside for me. (I couldn’t get close enough to it to trap it–it might FLY IN MY FACE!) Clowns. I don’t mind the wooden spoons for ice cream, but I can’t stand them for water ice. The scrapey sound plus the coldness equals very uncomfortable me. Sea creatures, especially weird things like jellyfish. I hate the ocean. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-things-that-freak-you-out/293353/77 "2005-03-09T20:26:41Z")
Animals with deformities. Missing limbs or extra ones, especially extra heads. Especially partially-formed heads with no eyes or nose or mouth. I’m ok with human conjoined twins, as long as each twin is functional. But lately there was a baby born with an extra head **on top of her own** , with no additional body. Now that practically sent me screaming out of the house. Also, the sight of fish, flopping around after they’ve been caught, or anything that’s still moving after being decapitated (yes, I’ll have nightmares about those roaches). ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-things-that-freak-you-out/293353/78 "2005-03-10T00:28:40Z")
Wooden popsicle sticks, anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Cyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@Cyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyn)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-things-that-freak-you-out/293353/79 "2005-03-10T00:40:56Z")
Wax museums. Evil, dark, horrible, unnatural, unhealthy places, wax museums. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-things-that-freak-you-out/293353/80 "2005-03-10T12:57:53Z")
> [@Cyn](#): > > Wax museums. > > Evil, dark, horrible, unnatural, unhealthy places, wax museums. Oh, yes, they’re very creepy. Scary places. Add to that the life-like dolls, and ventriloquist dummies. And clowns. But especially dolls, like those sold on the shopping channels. They just feak me out. I can’t imagine how anyone could collect those things, and have them in their homes. I couldn’t sleep with them in my house, looking at me. :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-things-that-freak-you-out/293353.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-things-that-freak-you-out/293353.md?page=5)