Fears
As a little girl my biggest fear was fire. I was only six years old when my neighbours house burnt down. It was a terrible inferno and we had to be evacuated too. We stood outside watching the flames lick the windows as the net curtains shrank and shrivelled. The next day I went inside the stinky wet house with my Mum and neighbour and all I remember where the polystyrene tiles dripping down from the ceiling like melting stalactites with burnt tips. I hated fire from then on, and cringed whenever I saw a lit match or cigarette lighter.
I would have nightmares about fire rather than monsters or ghosts. It was never a ghost imagined under my bed, it was always a ticking bomb. The neighbour’s fire had a huge impact on my childhood fears.
The Waking of the Witch
When I was a little older, probably about 14, I’d decided to tag along with some family and friends to go and ‘wake the witch.’ It was an old wives tale that had been passed down for years.
First it involved a late night trek over the fields to the old church by the reservoir. In the cemetary there was a large gravestone with an angel which had a broken wing. It stood out amongst the other stones as it was so white it almost glowed. I’m not sure why but it installed fear into all the kids. The story was that a witch had killed the child that was buried there.
Once you’d managed the horrid trek by torchlight you had to walk around the stone three times at midnight crying ‘wake up.’ And then you were visited by a ghostly apparition of a witch. Pretty scary stuff don’t you think, even if there was a group of us? We didn’t get to see a ghostly apparition but I did walk through a cow pat and catch my leg on an electrified fence used to keep the cows in. And in all honestly, it was probably only about 8pm because we all had to be home by 9.
Fear of Ghosts
Do you believe in ghosts? I do, but I don’t feel scared of them. When my Dad passed away I would often hear him telling me fairy tales as I fell asleep like he used to when he was still home. Then when my Step Dad passed away I would hear him coughing in the house. Once I felt him pass behind the settee and actually spoke to him before realising he was no longer there. My mum felt too haunted though, by memories more than ghosts, so we moved house.
About a week after moving in I was having a bath when I suddenly thought I could hear a girl crying for her Mummy. I was the only girl in the house and I knew the cry was not my brother’s. It felt very strange and very real. I got out of the bath and searched but as suspected, there was no other girl in the house and my brother was perfectly fine.
A few weeks later I’d made friends with some of the neighbouring children and they told me that the family that had lived in my house had a girl, a little younger than me. She had died of Leukemia about a year before. I was certain it was her that I heard crying.
My Kids and their Fears
My kids seem to have no fears. Boo’s favourite film as a toddler was Monster’s Inc. (Now, you may realise where her nickname came from.) She has never had any fears about monsters in the closet or under the bed. But she does have nightmares occasionally. She’ll come into my room in the middle of the night to tell me. I’ll take her back and talk to her gently until she falls asleep again.
The other two are fine and although Star likes to have a nightlite, the Little Man has always slept in the dark. No need for a Monster Proof Bed in our house, there is nothing he seems to fear, even spiders.
I’m glad my kids only have to worry about spiders and empty crisp packets under their beds…and no, they are not allowed to eat crisps in the bedroom! Let’s guess who the monsters really are on this one shall we?
Maybe your little monsters would like to read a couple of books I wrote abut earlier? The Atlas of Monsters and Ghosts will let you know where all the ghoulies are hiding in the world. And The Horrible Craft Book will allow your children to release their inner monster.
BLOGTOBER 2019 POSTS
- Blotgober Day 1 – All You Need is Love
- Blogtober Day 2 – Coppafeel – Breast Cancer Awareness.
- Blogtober Day 3 – Out of Spoons (a poem)
- Blogtober Day 4 – Smile
- Blogtober Day 5 – Autumn Fashion
- Blogtober Day 6 -Baking
- Blogtober Day 7 – missed
- Blogtober Day 8 – The School Run
- Blogtober Day 9 – Avon Give Away
- Blogtober Day 10 – What I’m watching (or have watched) Lately
- Blogtober Day 11 – Blogtober
- Blogtober Day 12 – 6 Reflections on Autumn
- Blogtober Day 13 – Impractical Jokers
- Blogotber Day 14 – Weekly Meal Planning
- Blogtober Day 15 – Everybody Hurts Sometimes
- Blogtober Day 16 –The Horrible Craft Book
- Blogtober Day 17 – missed
- Blogtober Day 18 – Word of the Week – Worry
- Blogtober Day 19 – Christmas Crochet Along
- Blogtober Day 20 – My Sunday Photo – About Me
- Blogtober Day 21 – Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus – review
- Blogtober Day 22 – missed
- Blogtober Day 23 – Explaining the Different Types of Eating Disorders
- Blogtober Day 24 – Stiff Person Awareness Day 2019
- Blogtober Day 25 – Word of the Week – Sleep
- Blogtober Day 26 – missed
- Blogtober Day 27 – My Sunday Photo – C is for CAL
- Blogtober Day 28 – This is Halloween
- Blogtober Day 29 – missed
- Blogotber Day 30 – Fear and Horror Stories
About 8 years ago our neighbours wheelie bin was set on fire during the night and put against their back door. They were trapped upstairs and fire engines were called and at about 3am we were awoken and evacuated from our house. Ellie has been terrified of fire ever since. We have started lighting the living room fire, we’ve didn’t have one in the old house that we used and she is so wary. She makes me switch it off when I leave the room. It is horrible fears stick with us from childhood.
I don’t think I’m scared of ghosts either, I haven’t seen any or had any spooky moments so I would say that. lol
I was never afraid of monsters or ghosts when I was a kid, Anne, but I wouldn’t go to any scary place late at night either!! I wonder was it that as a iid, there were so many people around all the time, there was no chance to be alone and have scary thoughts!
You have a point there, I know we had no fears of going out in the dark, my Mum would drag me and my Little Brother around a lot, especially doing errends for her Mum. There were always people around and we were never scared. Now, we don’t dare go to our local shops in the dark. There are still people around, but not the kind that make you feel safe. 🙁
One of my friends named me Jobia because I had so many phobias!
Oh Jo, that is both funny and sad.
I am so sorry about the fire trauma – how awful for those involved and that includes.
I find the presence of ghosts more comforting than anything and absolutely believe in them including living ones having seem someone somewhere who was proved not to have been where I saw him only minutes later and I loved him so I know it was him. When my late mum passed away I was crying etc and all of a sudden my small son giggled in his sleep in a delightful way and a way he had not done before. I got the feeling my mum was telling me that life does indeed go on and to get on with things and stop the tears. It was comforting to me then and still is now. There is definitely more to this life than we know. #Blogtober19
I think we all have our different beliefs and superstitions. I know that I have felt and heard ‘presences’ how could I have imagined the girls crying not even knowing she’d lived there? But, I don’t think there is anything to be afraid of.
Oh no.. no wonder your fears were of fire rather than monsters. That must have been petrifying, especially as you were little. I think I could have done with that monster catching bed when I was little. #blogtober19 xx
No-one was hurt in the fire because it happened during the daytime and they all got out safely. But the house was in such an awful state and it was horrible watching it burn. I think my Mum could have been a bit more sensitive and taken me away somewhere else, especially at such a young age.
I worry about house fires a lot. Our family home burned down in my late teens and since then I am always worried about what is plugged in and turned on when I leave the home. My biggest fear though is sharks. I won’t go into any natural body of water because of it. #DreamTeam
How awful for you Heather. When my OCD was at it’s worst, I would only allow something to be plugged into a socket if it was being used. So, even if we were not watching television, the plug would not be in. The only thing I won’t allow these days is phone chargers being plugged in when no-one is in the room.