What is your phobia?

[NoraBrimstone]

I remember when The Blair Witch Project came out. All the kids at school were like, "Oh my god, that movie's so scary, you have to see it." Then I did. I was like, "What the fuck? This movie sucks!" Seriously, it's just teenagers on shaky cam in the woods being chased by something you never see freaking out and saying fuck a million times.

And I remember some kids insisting that movie was real, too. Siiiigh.

OMG this! I haven't even seen the whole movie, I was like "WTF is this crap?" and turned it off after a while. Everyone had been going on about how it was real and shit and it was so clearly just a bunch of shit actors. Gah.

[Bittersmart]

I remember when The Blair Witch Project came out. All the kids at school were like, "Oh my god, that movie's so scary, you have to see it." Then I did. I was like, "What the fuck? This movie sucks!" Seriously, it's just teenagers on shaky cam in the woods being chased by something you never see freaking out and saying fuck a million times.

And I remember some kids insisting that movie was real, too. Siiiigh.

OMG this! I haven't even seen the whole movie, I was like "WTF is this crap?" and turned it off after a while. Everyone had been going on about how it was real and shit and it was so clearly just a bunch of shit actors. Gah.

The snot bubble....ohgod, the snot bubble....

[Cyberman]

I first saw that on DVD, mainly to see what the fuss was all about, and though I didn't find it scary in the least I thought the basic concept was interesting.*

On the other hand, something about it must have stuck in my mind, because when I ejected the DVD afterwards, the movement of the DVD tray nearly gave me a heart attack, even though I was the one who'd pushed the button.

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* Interesting factoid: There was a Hallowe'en film made in 1992 called Ghostwatch, starring Michael Parkinson, Craig Charles, Sarah Greene and her husband Mike Smith all playing themselves, which used the same basic 'realistic' format. At the time, it caused a minor sensation similar to the (mostly apocryphal) reaction to the Orson Welles' War of the Worlds broadcast. It's never been repeated on UK televiosion, although it has been released on DVD - I have it at home (also check out YouTube if you're interested - just keep telling yourself "it's only a movie..."). I mention it because it seems the Blair Witch creators saw it before making their film.

[Minimalist]

Idiots with guns.

[Cyberman]

Is that a phobia, though? Seems pretty rational to me.

[Minimalist]

I'm in Arizona.

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/story/249517...r-gun-laws

PHOENIX (AP) - The Arizona House of Representatives will debate a bill that would impose fines on cities and towns that enforce gun ordinances stricter than the state's own laws.

No shortage of guns...idiots...and republicunt morons.

[Clueless Morgan]

For me, it is definitely a fear of heights, aka acrophobia. I have stood on - well, near - the top of a mountain in Scotland with no fear at all, since as far as I was concerned I was on the ground; notwithstanding that the ground was however-many-thousands of feet above sea level at the time. Once I climbed the few steps of the gift shop that was standing there on its stilts (seriously!), that's when I lost it. Even though I was only about four feet off the ground, the sudden realistaion of just how high I was turned me into a zombie.

Wow, that's kind of fascinating. Was it only because you were thousands of feet above the mountain that you had such issues with the extra steps of the gift shop? In other words, are you also irrationally afraid of climbing a set of steps at sea level?

Here's a funny one.

I'm ok with Injections.
I'm OK administering injections (including nerve blocks which are tricky). I have to be, I do it daily.
I'm OK with students, who've never done it before, sticking an inch or so of needle into my ankle whilst shaking like a leaf in a gale and accidentally spearing my tibial nerve (which fricking hurts) so they can practice.
Buuuut, I'm not OK with watching the above on any kind of screen. It makes my squeam curl up inside me like a fern. I once made an instructional video on ankle blocks where I administered some, and was the dummy for others. That was fine but I refused to help with the editing because watching it weirds me out.

Not a fan of needles AT ALL, though not scared enough of them for it to be a phobia. I can't watch myself getting an injection or vaccination or having the needle inserted to have blood drawn, but I can look after the needle has been put in.

I also have a hard time watching needles being put into people on TV.

And if you want to talk funny, you should watch me watching the movie Arachnophobia some time. (I just gave myself the super heeby-jeeby chills just thinking about that movie.) I saw it over two lunch breaks at school one time. Screwed me up for a couple days and it gave me whole new things to worry about with regards to spiders.

[Bittersmart]

I'm in Arizona.

Arizona!? I'm so sorry....

[Cyberman]

Wow, that's kind of fascinating. Was it only because you were thousands of feet above the mountain that you had such issues with the extra steps of the gift shop? In other words, are you also irrationally afraid of climbing a set of steps at sea level?

I think it must have been the sudden realisation of just how high I actually was. I can get a little shaky when I have to climb, say, a stepladder to reach the ceiling as I've had to do when helping Shell decorate, but I've never had the same reaction doing that as I did on that mountain. Actually, just to clarify, we weren't mountaineering, it's sort of a beauty spot and there's a roadway right up to it. There's also a flying school there. If you were a passenger in a car and happened to fall asleep and wake up once you got there, you wouldn't really have any clues about your being on a mountain at all, other than perhaps the insanely strong wind (hence the flying school).

There was also the time I wrote about a few months ago, when I forced myself to cross over a footbridge above a busy dual carriageway. I still get the occasional nightmare about that.

I even think I know what caused the phobia. From birth until I was about four, we lived in a block of flats on the same estate Sam and I moved into, on the fifteenth floor - one down from the penthouse, in fact. Apparently, when we were really young, my sister and I managed to open one of the windows and were practically sitting on the ledge looking out. My Dad found us and instead of panicking, he very carefully (so as not to startle us) inched his way into the room and snatched us to safety. Occasionally I look at how high that window is and just how far we could easily have fallen, and it's all I can do to keep from fainting.

Since Sam and I moved into our flat in a block opposite, I've sort of got inured to being on the fourth floor, but even now I can break into a cold sweat whenever I go out onto the balcony. Shell used to live three floors above us and I was never able to go onto her balcony. I just physically couldn't; it was like there was a forcefield over the door.