# Why do I sometimes get a strange sense of terror that a "monster" is close?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sometimes-get-a-strange-sense-of-terror-that-a-monster-is-close/788127
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [June 4, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sometimes-get-a-strange-sense-of-terror-that-a-monster-is-close/788127 "2017-06-04T20:58:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@dude\_robert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dude_robert)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sometimes-get-a-strange-sense-of-terror-that-a-monster-is-close/788127/1 "2017-06-04T20:58:37Z")
So sometimes if I stay up really late, or drink lots of coffee, I sometimes get a strange feeling that some sort of generic “monster” is stalking me somehow. It sometimes happens when I’m playing a video game as well, even if the game is 100% NOT a horror game, I get really paranoid that something will suddenly pop out at me for no reason. Why does this sometimes happen?
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2017, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sometimes-get-a-strange-sense-of-terror-that-a-monster-is-close/788127/2 "2017-06-04T21:17:03Z")
> [@dude\_robert](#):
>
> So sometimes if I stay up really late, or drink lots of coffee, I sometimes get a strange feeling that some sort of generic “monster” is stalking me somehow. It sometimes happens when I’m playing a video game as well, even if the game is 100% NOT a horror game, I get really paranoid that something will suddenly pop out at me for no reason. Why does this sometimes happen?
My WAG would be mental illness.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2017, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sometimes-get-a-strange-sense-of-terror-that-a-monster-is-close/788127/3 "2017-06-04T21:20:38Z")
Since we are not able to make a remote diagnosis of the OP’s mental state, let’s move this to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
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### Author:  [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2017, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sometimes-get-a-strange-sense-of-terror-that-a-monster-is-close/788127/4 "2017-06-04T21:23:22Z")
Perhaps there is a clue somewhere in the amount of time you spend deliberating the reading and viewing material that you describe below?
> [@How bad would seeing a animal's dungeon be for a squad of soldiers?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-would-seeing-a-animals-dungeon-be-for-a-squad-of-soldiers/787999/1):
>
> So I read about a story that a man posted on a youtube comments section. It was about the tale of some great beast that was living in a cave, when a squad of soldiers came across it. The giant charged at them and they shot it dead, but then they saw that the giant had been “cannibalizing” other people which doesn’t make sense because the giant isn’t actually a human, and had thousands of medieval/stone age/bronze age/pre-modern/modern weapons and armor and artworks and skeletons and stuff all over the place, which apparently traumatized the soldiers so much that they committed suicide a few years later. I understand that all people are different, and that some people are severely traumatized by having spiders crawl about on them, especially millennials, but the cave sounds more fascinating than anything else. If I could, I would gladly go and explore the cave and take many photos. However, I highly doubt the story is true, so most of that stuff probably didn’t happen.
>
> Another question is, what is the connection between flat earthers, people who believe in yetis and big feet, people who believe in the all-powerful evil megacorp EvilPharma or whatever, people who believe that all the planets in the sky are CGI, and people who genuinely believe that a million Cthulhus lie sleeping in the Antarctic. Surely the discovery of a bigfoot or a yeti would be an amazing discovery that would be shared through the entire world, and not hidden and covered up by the government and locked in cages while EvilPharma feed poor people to them.
>
> How are big feet and yetis so much more “magical” and “enchanted” than gorillas and the like? Like there are many people who seem to believe that a single bigfoot or yeti could wipe out every single human, or that bigfeet are a sign of oncoming rapture, or doom, or a sign of aliens or something? Surely a genuine sighting of a bigfoot would just be fantastic and incredible as a brand new species that humans have discovered, but how would that suddenly be a sign of an alien invasion?
>
> Other: How well would a tribe of bigfeet and yetis do against a modern army? Let’s say they that destroyed a small town to which the U.S. military responded to with a single MEU of substantial military power.
A squad of soldiers can’t save you now.
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### Author:  [@yellow\_sausage\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellow_sausage_bandit)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2017, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sometimes-get-a-strange-sense-of-terror-that-a-monster-is-close/788127/5 "2017-06-04T21:38:41Z")
Probably just anxiety? I was terrified of the dark as a child and it took a long time to get over it. When I was in my 20’s I remember sometimes being scared that something would grab my shoulders while I was using the computer, or that something under the bed would grab my ankles. Now that I’m in my 30’s the only thing I sometimes get scared of is the bathroom mirror, I worry that my mirror image is going to do something weird (I’ve peed in bottles to avoid seeing the mirror at night).
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### Author:  [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2017, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sometimes-get-a-strange-sense-of-terror-that-a-monster-is-close/788127/6 "2017-06-04T22:17:10Z")
You sure it’s coffee and not meth? Take a nap every few days. That’ll ease the paranoia. Or, you know, cut back.
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### Author:  [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2017, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sometimes-get-a-strange-sense-of-terror-that-a-monster-is-close/788127/7 "2017-06-04T22:21:13Z")
I’m a full-grown adult, and I still get “haunts” in the darkness. I think it may be how our brains are hard-wired to be wary of threats.
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2017, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sometimes-get-a-strange-sense-of-terror-that-a-monster-is-close/788127/8 "2017-06-04T22:52:32Z")
Stuff and nonsense, the OP has to man up.
Of course, to this day I feel uneasy at night if the closet door is open, because of what may lurk in there. But that’s just common sense.
[Obligatory theme music for the thread](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GxwDJyqHDI).
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### Author:  [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2017, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sometimes-get-a-strange-sense-of-terror-that-a-monster-is-close/788127/9 "2017-06-04T23:04:58Z")
That’s why a nightlight is essential. It keeps away all of those things which go bump in the night which are frightened by a low wattage light bulb.
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2017, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sometimes-get-a-strange-sense-of-terror-that-a-monster-is-close/788127/10 "2017-06-04T23:16:06Z")
It’s me. I have that effect on people. If I get too close, they flee in terror. I’m sorry. ☹
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### Author:  [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2017, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sometimes-get-a-strange-sense-of-terror-that-a-monster-is-close/788127/11 "2017-06-04T23:35:02Z")
It’s not paranoia is there are monsters that are out to get you.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2017, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sometimes-get-a-strange-sense-of-terror-that-a-monster-is-close/788127/12 "2017-06-04T23:42:13Z")
Based on your previous threads, I’d say mental illness.
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### Author:  [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2017, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sometimes-get-a-strange-sense-of-terror-that-a-monster-is-close/788127/13 "2017-06-05T00:03:20Z")
> [@cochrane](#):
>
> It’s me. I have that effect on people. If I get too close, they flee in terror. I’m sorry. ☹
Perhaps the OP can peruse [this compilation of evil laughs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaIJKM0sjdo)? Odds to bodkins his monster is amongst this collection of mad villians.
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### Author:  [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2017, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sometimes-get-a-strange-sense-of-terror-that-a-monster-is-close/788127/14 "2017-06-05T00:14:20Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#):
>
> My WAG would be mental illness.
Not necessarily. I get the same feeling during every political campaign. 😃
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### Author:  [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2017, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sometimes-get-a-strange-sense-of-terror-that-a-monster-is-close/788127/15 "2017-06-05T00:23:01Z")
I would certainly avoid looking under the bed or in the closet. And definitely sleep with the lights on. Monsters hate lights. Wouldn’t hurt to keep your head under the covers, just in case.
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### Author:  [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2017, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sometimes-get-a-strange-sense-of-terror-that-a-monster-is-close/788127/16 "2017-06-05T00:34:10Z")
> **[Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - 2013-08-07](https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2013-08-07)**
>
> Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - 2013-08-07
> **[Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - 2011-12-21](https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2011-12-21)**
>
> Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - 2011-12-21
> **[Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - 2013-10-12](https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2013-10-12)**
>
> Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - 2013-10-12
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### Author:  [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2017, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sometimes-get-a-strange-sense-of-terror-that-a-monster-is-close/788127/17 "2017-06-05T01:15:09Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Of course, to this day I feel uneasy at night if the closet door is open, because of what may lurk in there. But that’s just common sense.
OhMyGod, what if it turned out to be an evil blimp?? I’d run screaming from the house!
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### Author:  [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2017, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sometimes-get-a-strange-sense-of-terror-that-a-monster-is-close/788127/18 "2017-06-05T01:28:54Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#):
>
> …Monsters hate lights…
Well, all except Mothra.
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### Author:  [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sometimes-get-a-strange-sense-of-terror-that-a-monster-is-close/788127/19 "2017-06-05T14:52:52Z")
> [@Trinopus](#):
>
> I’m a full-grown adult, and I still get “haunts” in the darkness. I think it may be how our brains are hard-wired to be wary of threats.
I think we are definitely hard wired to be scared of the dark. I know I _still_ have issues looking out a window at night [something might be looking back at me?] which when I was living on the 6th floor of a condo building and my view was of the Atlantic Ocean was a bit silly. [Though I do admit I hate having my bedroom on the ground floor as windows really aren’t secure unless it is break resistant ‘glass’. One thing i learned working in the security industry is that buildings unless made impervious are really not much better than a canvas tent If someone wants in, they _will_ get in.]
I know I have a need for sound when I sleep otherwise I am still hyperalert [thanks, PTSD.] so I sleep to a long [rain and thunder](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI90CUgSiSc) sound that blacks out my screen so the light doesn’t interfere.
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### Author:  [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2017, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sometimes-get-a-strange-sense-of-terror-that-a-monster-is-close/788127/20 "2017-06-05T20:07:52Z")
My advice to the OP: read a short story by Dr. M. R. James every night by candlelight before going to sleep.
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