Fear

Believe it or not, this dummy scares the crap out of me.


Yeah, sure, he looks friendly enough.


Not to me.


Actually, the blame is on R.L. Stine. Somebody tell the guy it ain't funny messing with people's fears.


It all started when I was very young. I went to a circus (I didn't realise how lucky I was then). The first circus performer I met was a guy on stilts. Brilliant. Then, I met a clown. That's when I started crying. But that was a long time ago, and I was still okay.

Then comes R.L. Stine with his Goosebumps series.

Honestly, books don't scare me. But shows do. I watched a Goosebumps episode, and it just happened to be the one based on Night of The Living Dummy. And so I watched on as the evil dummy attempted to kill its owner in every possible way.

I can't remember if I even slept that night.

And as a result, I have a morbid fear of both dummies and clowns. Just in case you're wondering, the fear of dummies is called Autonomatonophobia, and the fear of clowns is called Coulrophobia.

If you want an example of the dummies I have in mind, here are some:

The cover illustration of the very story that caused my fear.

This is why I don't watch Saw.

By the writers, producers and directors of Saw. Another show I wouldn't watch.