# What's your greatest unholy dread? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 19, 2004, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-greatest-unholy-dread/264942 "2004-09-19T03:10:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-greatest-unholy-dread/264942/21 "2004-09-20T05:50:40Z")
I am sure that this is going to sound strange, but for me it is the gas masks and boot leggings (those kaki lace up things that go over the boots) associated with World War I. Can’t say why, but when I see them I get the Screaming Meemies™. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-greatest-unholy-dread/264942/22 "2004-09-20T06:06:35Z")
I get a horrific sense of fear, dread and horror when I drive near an extremely large factory, mill or power plant that has a smokestack or worse, a series thereof. At night, that fear is magnified exponentially. The worst part is when it happens unexpectedly. I got lost in Virginia, rounded a bend and was assaulted with a view of the Old Point nuclear power plant (I think that’s what it’s called, the one near Jamestown) and actually screamed. Just thinking about it gives me the shakes. Gaaaaah. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-greatest-unholy-dread/264942/23 "2004-09-20T07:47:06Z")
The thought of driving across the desert alone. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-greatest-unholy-dread/264942/24 "2004-09-20T07:52:15Z")
Blowing balloons up. Just hate it. Always think they’re going to blow up in my face. Quite useless at birthday parties. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-greatest-unholy-dread/264942/25 "2004-09-20T08:39:01Z")
> [@](#): > > The thought of driving across the desert alone. Oh, Jesus, that’s gotta be one of my FAVORITE feelings, although I understand the desolation. Me, I too hate being in large bodies of water in which I can’t see the bottom. I REALLY can’t stand the notion of being out in the open ocean. I also can’t stand the thought of slit wrists, or a slit throat. ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-greatest-unholy-dread/264942/26 "2004-09-20T08:56:42Z")
Another confined spaces issue here. I can deal with small rooms etc, but i’m deathly afraid of being unable to move, trapped in a tube or something. I’m a big boy, 6’5" 290) so maybe there’s something about that, that makes me afraid. And, I know it’s completely irrational, but really huge spiders. Not the dinner plate sized spiders, but the ones i’m afraid exist, that weigh like several hundred pounds and are several feet across. Those garbage bag spiders you see on Halloween, give me the oogles, big time. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-greatest-unholy-dread/264942/27 "2004-09-20T08:57:39Z")
That my ex-husband was my last chance at a relationship and now that my MS has continued to progress that I’m gonna grow not so old and alone. ---
**Author:** ![lynxie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e99b99/32.png) [@lynxie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynxie)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-greatest-unholy-dread/264942/28 "2004-09-20T12:00:20Z")
Two of them. Irrational - going across wooden bridges. Causes me sweat, hyperventilate and clench every muscle I have. Not so irrational - being stuck in my wheelchair with dead batteries, nowhere near a phone. ---
**Author:** ![Kitchen\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kitchen\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitchen_Wench)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-greatest-unholy-dread/264942/29 "2004-09-20T12:04:47Z")
**lynxie** just reminded me of another one: the slight bounce you feel while being stopped on a bridge during rush hour. Oh holy hell, I hate that! So much that I’ll leave extra room between me and the car ahead of me so I can inch along and not stop. ::shudder:: ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-greatest-unholy-dread/264942/30 "2004-09-20T12:32:25Z")
The fear of driving thing has me completely stumped, but I get the feeling that it is spreading. My step-son is 17 and will not learn to drive. He told his father “I’m afraid of the car.” His best friend is the same way. In so far as we have no public transportation where we live, I hope they get a comfortable pair of walking shoes. Me, I was practically banging on the DMV doors the minute I turned 16 - “I WANT MY LICENSE NOW!” Like others, I get creeped out by being in very tight, confined places. Luckily, the crawl space under the house has a pretty good size to it, otherwise I’d never go under the house. ---
**Author:** ![Engineer\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9fc29f/32.png) [@Engineer\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engineer_Dude)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-greatest-unholy-dread/264942/31 "2004-09-20T12:41:17Z")
Whenever I go to Circuit City or any other store and don’t buy something, I have this fear of the alarm going of for no good reason when I exit through the doors, and employees tackling me and arresting me. I guess it doesn’t help that the alarms go off half the time I buy things cause someone forgot to demagnitize one of the security devices. But as far as unholy dreads go, I’d have to say that being buried alive has got to top the list for me. > [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > I have to combine the most frightening writings of both Lovecraft and King, and multiply by a factor of ten to get the same level of abominable apprehension I achieve upon even peering into a seaweed encrusted wreck. _Thunderball_ , anyone? > [@InternetLegend](#): > > I get that feeling any time I go in the ocean. It’s so big and there aren’t any edges, not really, and things live in it. > > And you’re willing to dive into that? You’re brave. I’m the same way. Just take a look at the jellyfish that get washed ashore after high tide. I’m reminded that, yeah, those things are in the water, too. > [@silenus](#): > > A serious answer: tightly enclosed places. I’ve always had a touch of claustrophobia, but the idea of having my arms tighly constrained makes me shiver. I’m sure that if I was stuck in a tight tunnel I would go quite mad quite quickly. I never had that fear, until about a year ago. Just watch the movie _Aliens_ , where the cyborg guy has to crawl through this conduit just barely wider than his body to get to another building (shudders). > [@Roger Thornhill](#): > > Blowing balloons up. Just hate it. Always think they’re going to blow up in my face. Quite useless at birthday parties. I’m not that way with balloons, but I am when blowing up the tires at the gas station. There’s a warning on the air pump that says _Warning: Overinflation could cause tire explosion and severe injury_ , or something to that effect. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-greatest-unholy-dread/264942/32 "2004-09-20T13:15:41Z")
Fire and/or being burned. I’ve always had this fear. I didn’t even get the courage to use a stove until I was thirteen. And it sounds incredibly stupid, but I still don’t know how to use matches (I’m 22). I’ve tried before but I always chicken out. I always have this fear that I’ll drop it or it’ll burn me. It’s odd but I will and often use those long lighters you use with a trigger. But small lighters and matches—nope. Now, if I were stranded in the woods with matches, yeah, I’d learn how to use them. But until then, I’ll go about it my own way and time. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-greatest-unholy-dread/264942/33 "2004-09-20T14:38:09Z")
My biggest everyday fear is coming home someday to find that my house has burned down. The thought of a fire consuming all of my worldly possessions would be terribly devastating (to say nothing of wondering whether or not my cats managed to escape from the fire). I also shudder at the thought of getting caught in a swarm of bees, wasps, hornets, yellowjackets. etc. I have a tendency to look up in trees as I pass underneath them looking for nests. I’m also afraid of inflating balloons. There’s no way to know for sure just how much they can take before they pop. Big factories also look creepy to me, especially the old abandoned and dilapidated facilities. Along the interstate (I-84) in eastern Oregon is an abandoned cement plant. That place looks so creepy, especially when I’ve seen it at dusk, when it’s dark but you can still see it. It would make a good scene for a horror movie. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-greatest-unholy-dread/264942/34 "2004-09-20T14:44:04Z")
Being buried alive. Being held hostage is a pretty awful one for me too. In fact generally being in a situation where the inevitability of death is clear, but being utterly unable to do anything about it. I’m not afraid of death in itself, I’m afraid of the fear that might precede it. ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-greatest-unholy-dread/264942/35 "2004-09-20T15:11:46Z")
For those of you who are afraid of blowing up balloons: why don’t you get one of those cheap hand air punp things that you can buy in party shops. At least if you use one of these the balloon isn’t so close to your face. (I’m not too fond of the things either–it takes me 5 minutes to tie the goddamn knot at the bottom when I’m finished pumping it up!) ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-greatest-unholy-dread/264942/36 "2004-09-20T15:14:28Z")
Actually, one of my ‘dreads’ is responding to threads like this…in case _1984_ ever does come true :eek: ! ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-greatest-unholy-dread/264942/37 "2004-09-20T15:20:50Z")
> [@bluecanary](#): > > (I’m not too fond of the things either–it takes me 5 minutes to tie the goddamn knot at the bottom when I’m finished pumping it up!) That’s why I hate blowing up balloons. I’m trying to tie the knot and everybody is watching me with looks of, “What is her problem?” I seriously don’t understand how people are able to tie those knots so fast! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-greatest-unholy-dread/264942/38 "2004-09-20T15:46:44Z")
> [@TeaElle](#): > > I get a horrific sense of fear, dread and horror when I drive near an extremely large factory, mill or power plant that has a smokestack or worse, a series thereof. At night, that fear is magnified exponentially. Ooh, really? I think that big old factories, refineries, and other (abandoned) industrial complexes/infrastructures are about the coolest things ever. I admit they’re creepy at night, but they still fascinate me. My unholy dread? Having my front teeth pried out of my mouth with a metal bottle opener. Brr. _Shudder_. ---
**Author:** ![trupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@trupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trupa)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-greatest-unholy-dread/264942/39 "2004-09-20T16:25:37Z")
> [@Engineer Dude](#): > > I’m the same way. Just take a look at the jellyfish that get washed ashore after high tide. I’m reminded that, yeah, those things are in the water, too. Now why did you have to go and mention jellyfish. :smack: I was doing just fine, thankyouverymuch, thinking my worst fear was of being exposed on high places with no guard-rail or safety ropes, and being sure I was going to fall because of the mysterious gravity-like sucking force of open paces at high altitude, when you mentioned jelllyfish. God almighty, jellyfish… _\_ This 36 yr old man, who was able to successfully make 114 skydives in spite of his fear of heights (I don’t get it at altitude with no frame of reference to the ground-just feels like flying…), who was able to get up and sing a solo for the first time in front of a packed church without fainting, who was able to watch Psycho, Alien and Saving Private Ryan (_the knife fight scene still gives me the willies, though_) with no problems, closed and covered his eyes, and whimpered like a 3yr old at the jelly fish scene in Finding Nemo, a freaking cartoon, fercryingoutloud, :o :o Soft, invisible, slimy, jelly-like tentacles that fasten on, that don’t let go, that inflict indescribable agony, a sea of the creatures that converg[emotional overload breakers activated; thought process terminated] Jellyfish… my one childhood fear that has not abated in adulthood. Dark: no problem, darkness is your friend; giant waves: facinating; lightening: beautiful; the Sasquatch in 6-Million Dollar Man: hoaky special effects on Andre the Giant; nuclear war: cold-war’s over and I don’t live in India or Pakistan. Give me sharks, give me snakes, give me a tax audit, give me a well armed bunch of crooks intent on invading my home, just don’t ask me to swim where there \*might \* be jellyfish. **_please_…** ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-greatest-unholy-dread/264942/40 "2004-09-20T18:19:19Z")
Spiders. That is all - thank you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-greatest-unholy-dread/264942.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-greatest-unholy-dread/264942.md?page=3)