When I was 8 or 9, one of my friends told me that the toilet talked to her when she used it late at night. for a good 4 or 5 years, I was terrified to go at night. I'd put the lid down immediately, wash my hands, do whatever else I could to do to delay the actual flushing, and then do a flush-and-run. The toilet never did say anything, though, and somehow I was always kind of insulted that it didn't - it would talk to her and not to me.

Liz H.

After my sister and I watched Nightmare on Elm St. at the ages of 5 and 6, we were so afraid that Freddy Kruger would pull us through the toiled that one of us had to hold the other's hand while sitting down. That way, we could help pull each other off the toilet if the hand tried to reach up and grab us.

Jess

When I was little, I used to be scared to use the bathroom on the first floor; I had a phobia that Abraham Lincoln lived in my shower.

Sophia

I used to believe that there were two monsters in the toilet, a smart, mean one that was the boss and a dumb one that was his henchman. When you were sat on the toilet I they would be plotting how to get you once you flushed the toilet (that was the only time they could get you). I always used to open the toilet door before flushing so that I could jump out of the room before they got me. The dumb monster always used to trip up and the nasty monster would yell at him for missing me. The nasty monster was the deep noise that comes first when you flush and the hissing of the cistern filling up again was the dumb monster's whiney voice!

Maria

Up until I was 7, I believed I had to make it down the stairs before the toilet finished flushing, or else I'd be eaten by the 'Bog Monster'. I would stand as far from the toilet as possible before flushing it, then run like hell down the stairs. I used to hate going to the toilet at my gran's house because it had a very short flush and the staircase was very, very long. To make it downstairs without being eaten I had to throw myself off the last 5 or 6 steps, often smashing painfully into the hallway floor. My gran always did wonder why I had to be at bursting point before going, and why afterwards I'd always crash down the stairs and end up sprawled all over the carpet!

kester

When I was little I used to have lots of nightmares about toilets overflowing + flooding the world. For some reason I believed this could actually happen, + I decided that the best way to avoid it was to befriend each toilet I used.
I would introduce myself to public toilets, + try to use the same one if I went there again so it wouldn't think I'd gone off with someone else, 'cos that would make it really, really angry. + you don't want to upset someone with the power to flood the world, do you?

Nin

i used to think that if you flushed the toilet, whatever is inside would go out the shower because my dad always said not to flush when he was taking a shower

Lea

After a very confusing explanation of sex and reproduction from my older brother (he was 11 and I was 9) I was convinced that babies could come out of your bum at any time. Therefore it was essential to check the toilet pan for babies before flushing.

Martin UK

I remember the first time I used the urinals at infant school - when I went to wash my hands and turned the tap on, the urinal "showers" came on at the very same moment. I spent several break-times trying to convince other kids that they could wash in the urinal by turning the tap on. Needless to say, it never did work a second time.

TC

I used to believe that my dead gran was in my toilet, just beyond the u bend. This was because when she died I was told that she had gone where my goldfish had, and I'd seen them flushed down the loo. I would sometimes sit with my head down the pan telling my gran what was going on!

Bray McCulloch