# Things that petrify you **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 12, 2003, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-petrify-you/174599 "2003-05-12T02:30:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nichol\_storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Nichol\_storm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nichol_storm)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-petrify-you/174599/1 "2003-05-12T02:30:39Z")
Okay folks, I’m hear to ask about your fears, and I’m talking nightmare material here. The stuff that gives you goosebumps. The things, people, or places that keep you awake in the night. Just to be fair, I’ll start. Nazi “Angel of Death” [Josef Mengele](http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/history/mengele/index_1.html?sect=6) in general is scary as all get out. Female Genital Mutilation is vomit-inducing. But the thing that utterly petrifies me? Lobotomies. Just the thought of them is overwhelming. I’d probably die of sheer terror if ever threatened with one. So… what are _you_ petrified of? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-petrify-you/174599/2 "2003-05-12T02:54:17Z")
Medusa ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-petrify-you/174599/3 "2003-05-12T03:22:51Z")
Spiders! I fear _nothing_ except spiders. A rabid pit bull could be lunging at me and I wouldn’t even flinch, and yet the sight of a daddy long leg sends me into a wild fit of hysterical fear and paranoia. ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-petrify-you/174599/4 "2003-05-12T04:02:41Z")
Bugs. Especially one’s that fly… _shudders_ ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-petrify-you/174599/5 "2003-05-12T04:03:43Z")
err … \*\* ones \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-petrify-you/174599/6 "2003-05-12T04:04:39Z")
Heights. (so-called) Friends tried to teach me how to repel off a water tower. I went up the ladder fine but there was no way in hell I could go over the edge. I just could not do it. ---
**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-petrify-you/174599/7 "2003-05-12T04:06:05Z")
Rats are number one on my list. Dogs used to be number one, but I’m over that now. You can include rabid dogs. I saw _Cujo_ when I was eight. \ I’m also on board with the female genital mutilation. I can’t read an article or see a program on television about female castration in some cultures. Abandonment. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-petrify-you/174599/8 "2003-05-12T04:06:36Z")
Clowns. I kid you not. I will cross the street to avoid one. I never go to the circus, and when my mother-in-law organized a magic show for the grandkids at our family get-together, I had to be assured that no clowns would be present. Something about their pasty faces and bizarre clothing terrified me even as a child. I knew they were intristically evil even before I saw that documentary Stephen King put together, called \* It. \* ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-petrify-you/174599/9 "2003-05-12T04:13:51Z")
Basilisks. ---
**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-petrify-you/174599/10 "2003-05-12T04:48:41Z")
Mengele was bad… But my Dad is the only person that strikes fear into my heart(nope he was never abusive, or anything like that,[he’s nicer than me]) But piss him off (hard to do,but run) ---
**Author:** ![lite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@lite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lite)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-petrify-you/174599/11 "2003-05-12T05:24:27Z")
Lissa, never heard “IT” be referred to as a documentary, good one. If anyone has seen Chuck Noriss’ “The Evil That Men Do” you’d know right away a guy’s worst fear in one of the torture scenes. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-petrify-you/174599/12 "2003-05-12T05:24:37Z")
I got a weird one: ladders. I’ve never fallen off of one, ever, ever, but simply being on a ladder scares me senseless. The wobbling, the height, even a 6 foot stepladder. Now, heights I’m fine with. Ladders, though… ---
**Author:** ![Second\_Star\_to\_the\_Right](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@Second\_Star\_to\_the\_Right](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Second_Star_to_the_Right)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-petrify-you/174599/13 "2003-05-12T05:29:23Z")
I’m with you on the clown phobia, \*\* Lissa \*\*. Keep those damn things away from me. Spiders. Snakes. Roaches. The dark. Yes, I’m 5. Being stuck in an enclosed space. I can’t even think of female genital mutilation for too long without feeling sick. So fucking brutal. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-petrify-you/174599/14 "2003-05-12T05:40:23Z")
Sort of mentioned already, but any sort of brain damage is terrifying to me. The idea of my intellect being crippled, and knowing it - that’s my idea of hell. I’m even scared of thermometers and lead fishing weights - heavy metal poisoning. ---
**Author:** ![TheFunkySpaceCowboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9a28c/32.png) [@TheFunkySpaceCowboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFunkySpaceCowboy)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-petrify-you/174599/15 "2003-05-12T05:48:27Z")
Just thought I’d chime in with… nothing. I have no phobias of any sort. I welcome spiders into my home, I played with snakes as a kid, I calmly squish roaches or other pests, rats or mice just become playthings for the cat. There is nothing in this world that I know of that is intrinsically frightening to me. ---
**Author:** ![JavaMaven1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@JavaMaven1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JavaMaven1)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-petrify-you/174599/16 "2003-05-12T05:49:40Z")
I absolutely fear the loss of my senses. I really live my life by my senses, and the loss of one or more scares me to death. Snails. I can’t explain it. They scare the pants right off me. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-petrify-you/174599/17 "2003-05-12T06:22:34Z")
A fine looking woman. WELL PART OF ME, AT LEAST. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-petrify-you/174599/18 "2003-05-12T06:53:23Z")
Losing my mind. Going demented, insane or just stupid, it doesn’t really matter. Not being smart anymore, that’s horrifying. As for a more mundane phobia, I’m freaking scared to death of octopuses and squids. You know they’re not really animals, right? They’re alien genetically-engineered monsters, placed in the oceans to guard the gates to the palaces of the Old Ones. **DreadCthulhu** , back me up here. ---
**Author:** ![LtningBug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/73ab20/32.png) [@LtningBug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LtningBug)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-petrify-you/174599/19 "2003-05-12T07:04:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nichol\_storm \* > \*\*But the thing that utterly petrifies me? Lobotomies. Just the thought of them is overwhelming. I’d probably die of sheer terror if ever threatened with one. > \*\* Ack, ick, gack! Like in _From Hell_ (the Jack the Ripper movie). I definitely do not like the idea of lobotomies. Other than that, nothing really scares me that bad (not even clowns! ;)). ---
**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-petrify-you/174599/20 "2003-05-12T07:33:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zenster \* > \*\*A fine looking woman. > > WELL PART OF ME, AT LEAST. \*\* :eek: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-petrify-you/174599.md?page=2)