Growing up in Central Pennsylvania and as an adolescent within the 1980s, there were a few anxiety inducing episodes I recall which, at minimum, raised my arm hairs. We will delve into that shortly as I turn the proverbial display towards you. What common fears and phobias can you recall that may be familiar topics amongst us and even children today?
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The Unknown Character (aka Bogeyman - I always spelled it Boogieman)
The tale of a mythical creature used to theoretically spook a wayward child into changing their behavior in favor of the parent's preferred outcome. Did you parents used this or a "character" to tell you to "behave or the boogieman will get you"?
Very few times do I recall this character being used by my parents, however this illusive character was found to play a major role of the Halloween anthem contained in television, movies, and in music.
The Dark
Each of my children have dealt with this phobia of the dark. I do not explicitly remember dealing with this fear but I do recall using a box fan blown directly on my face providing me with air flow and "white noise" which I imagine was to drown out any possible suspect noises within my room and home. As a parent, do you still deal with this? Have you performed the "what is there in the dark, is there in the light" tutorial? Do your children have nightlights?
Frights
What jumps you out of your skin or potentially places you with a need for therapy? Is it jump scares or the "boo!" from co-workers, children, spouse? How about insects, reptiles, rodents? Does a small mouse peaking out of from behind your microwave send you into a blood curdling scream?
As adults, have your phobias changed? Do you now have a fear of drowning, heights, insects, rodents, reptiles, sharks, weather, etc? For many years, I had little fear of heights. I enjoyed the view from higher altitudes whether from a few story high building, a ferris wheel, etc, now as an older adult realizing my half century body, I'm not so thrilled about those structures.
Make Believe
Was it all really make believe? Our imaginations, the implanted tropes from our creative minds coupled with the holiday appointment movies, cartoons, and television shows painting the features with which gave way to fear induced suggestions.
Spirited...
Was it really a spirit realm door? This may be challenging for some yet did you dabble with the Ouija Boards, crystal balls, or the like?
Personally, my childhood home was filled with eerie noises as well as comical ones. The chilling noises when I was younger stemmed from the hot water radiator heating system. The occasional gurgling, expansion and contraction noises during the winter months were some of those spooky noises I do recall. Hence a possible reason of why the box fan was introduced.
Another sound I recall was a creaky floor on the upstairs, in the short hallway towards my bedroom. My bedroom was next to the main bathroom and when someone woke in the night to use the bathroom, I would hear that creek, spooking me from my slumber.
In that same hallway, we had a large humidifier which turned a wheel with a sponge-like fabric. That water wheel produced an infrequent squeak sound.
Finally, the spookiest, eeriest sound that still sends chills racing through every hair follicle remaining was Ol' Muley. What started on Thursdays and in the 1990s moved to Sundays was an event known as the "6 o'clock fire whistles." At 6 PM, all of the fire station sirens sounded off for a weekly test. That was not the scariest, however it did enable nearly every dog to resort to howling and barking at the higher pitched whirls.
Ol' Muley was a natural disaster, emergency siren which originally was located in our Clearfield County Courthouse and later moved to the Lawrence Township emergency response house. When it went off, it sounded like a large, cow or moose mooing. Here's a clip from the last time it was sounded before being fully retired...
(Video Courtesy: Allover Marbles via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRYshyhqq90)
This time of year, and perhaps at other key, opportune moments, we may experience these events. What has your experience been? Was your family very open-minded, frequently having discussions with long deceased individuals? Or, was your family not so much into the spirit-realm and has yet to be visited by ghostly entities?
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