monsters

When I was small I had a very vivid imagination fostered by a love of reading anything I could get my hands on. Alot of it was science fiction and fantasy. So I was afraid of the dark in general, as my mind was often racing around the fiction it harbored. I believed the dark house was the hiding place of many a monster or alien. Under the beds, in my closets, just outside the bedroom window. You name it they were there. Well in order to thwart the monsters getting me when I woke at night thirsty or in need of the bathroom, I was convinced that if I called out to my parents and asked them if I could get up to do what I needed to. To me the voice/voices of my parents would clear my path to the bathroom because the monsters would know my parents were awake and that my father or mother would fight them for me and win. My parents and I laugh about that now. But they always answered.

Molly G.

When I was younger my parents had big, fluffy recliner easy chairs and when I would climb on it at night I would be afraid to climb down because I thought the creature from the black lagoon would reach out and grab me. makes sense, don't it?

frank

I had a friend who told me that her family had seen a dinosaur in our local lake when they were out fishing one day. She claimed they had taken pictures but "hadn't gotten them developed yet." When I asked about the pictures sometimes later she said that they hadn't turned out. I still believed her for a long time though, even without the proof.

Anon

When I was 8 or so I read the original story of the nutcracker, E.T.A. Hoffman's "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King", which is a very grim and creepy story. There was a character called the Rat Catcher, and any children up past their bed times when he made his rounds got nabbed, stuffed into a sack and turned into a rat to serve the mouse king. I was always up late into the night, and I knew that one night he would find me out... eek!

wendy

When I was 6, I fell into a water well, and as I was sinking I "saw" king kong pulling me down. Of course now I know it wasn´t king kong, but "somenthing" was definetely pulling.

Maru

I used to believe that there was a monster under my bed and when i went to bed, i would jump onto it so i didn't have to put my feet near it.

Anon

I used to believe that Dracula would come and bite me in the night unless I had my duvet wrapped tightly round my neck all night - it made for some warm summers!

Adrian Barker

After a playground discussion when we were about 7 years old, my friends and I used to believe that you would see Dracula if you looked into a mirror in the dark. We had a big mirror in the hall, and if ever I walked past without the light on, I'd be too scared to look!

Mike

When my brother was 8 years old, he saw a horror movie, with a man with red eyes that stole the mind of others and leaved their brains smooth.
From that moment, for the next 3-4 years, he couldn't sleep or stay at night with the light off.

Gabriela

As a kid I was always hiding in the cupboard under the stairs, much to my mum's annoyance, as I always pulled the coats down. So she told me that if i didn't stay out of there, a monster would come out at night when i was sleeping and steal my teeth. I tired desperately to fall asleep with my mouth closed!

ruth

I was always scared of hanging my feet out of the side of my bed at nightime as a kid, thought the monster thet lived under the bed would grab them.....!

Mark

As a small kid I was told once by my grand father that 'Troll's' lived under small foot bridges and from then on I was scared to death every time I had to walk over a foot bridge.

Anon

I believed if I went out alone after dark, the bogieman would come out of the bushes in front of our house and stuff me in a sack and beat the sack with a big stick. My older brother told me this.

Kristen

When i was 5 or 6 i used to belive that there was a monster hiding in my sisters cupboard waiting for me to fall asleep so it could take me away to it's dungeon!!!!!!

Jjaaaaaaaaaaccckkk

when i was about 6, my mum used to tuck me into bed at night, and sometimes, she would put on the scary Count Dracula voice and say "i've come to suck your blood! ha ha ha" which i would think was SO funny at the time, but when she left and turned the light off, i was certain that the REAL Dracula was in my room or somewhere in the house, so i wouldn't sleep with my neck exposed, just in case he sucked my blood in my sleep. because a doona would protect me from Dracula.....

megan

When I couldn't sleep at night I would lie awake and listen to the house settling. outside my bedroom I could hear creaking and I believed it was The Knight who would patrol the landing keeping a watch throughout the night. and if I was to go out there I knew he would get me and snatch me away, never to be seen again.

Ken

i used to believe that the world was a big dollhouse. and each giant in another world, had a doll to take care of in the dollhouse. i was always afraid of what 'my' giant would do with me.

- belle