It doesn’t take an expert to say that humans are strange. They are different, unique, and sometimes just straight up weird. One of the many ways I have begun to notice the oddness of people is through what they fear. I’m talk talking about fears of public speaking, darkness, or heights. But these are some weird fears. I’ve decided to think back on my family, friends, peers, and compile a list of some of the odd fears that I have encountered.
1. The Fear of Butterflies {Lepidopterophobia ~ don’t you dare ask me to say that out loud}
If you know me personally you know who has this fear; but if you have this fear know this; you are not the only one I’ve met with this fear. I don’t know if it’s the size of the wings, the unpredictable-ness, or some other reason that I can’t even fathom, but this isn’t a (completely) unheard of fear.
2. The Fear of Escalators {Escalaphobia}
While researching for this article I was looking around trying to find more odd phobias that I might not have heard of, on one of the lists I was pursuing I found this fear, and realized that I know quite a few people with this phobia.
3. The Fear of the Ocean {Thalassophobia}
Now the person I’m thinking of may not be afraid of the ocean but something they once said might ring clear to people who do suffer from this phobia; “If I can’t see the lines at the bottom [as you can in a swimming pool], then I’m not going in.”
4. The Fear of Northern Lights {Auroraphobia}
This one I have never heard of… and quite frankly I don’t understand it, but rarely do I understand people.
5. The Fear of Ventriloquist's Dummies, Animatronic Creatures, Wax Statues - Anything that Falsely Represents a Sentient Being {Automatonophobia}
This might be a large umbrella of things, but I had to shout out to my people, cause ventriloquist's dummies are creepy, you can’t deny that.
6. The Fear of Things to the Left Side of the Body {Levophobia}
I don’t know much about this fear, or anyone with it, but it intrigues me to know that people have such a fear.
7. The Fear of Objects at the Right Side of the Body {Dextrophobia}
It’s not the same as Levophobia for those with a fear of the right side… but rather objects that are to the right. I wonder who discovered that this was a fear, and how they realized.
8. The Fear of Long Words {Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia}
Can we just take a moment to realize that this word is 35 letters… for someone who would be afraid of long words I feel like this word would be 35 letters too long, but I’m just guessing.
9. The Fear of Shadows {Sciophobia}
Shadows are creepy, however I don’t know any humans with this phobia (this doesn't mean that there aren't any). That being said, I have meet a dog that ran like heck when his shadow moved, maybe man and their best friend are more similar than we have realized.
10. The Fear that Somewhere, Somehow, a Duck is Watching You {Anatidaephobia}
I heard about this fear back in junior high, and it’s stuck with me since then, another one of those fears that I wonder how someone ever discovered its existence.
11. The Fear of Blueberries
I’m just going to leave this one here… but, yes, I have heard of this phobia, however I cannot find a name for the fear.
I hope I didn’t mock anyone’s fear in this list, but I certainly had a lot of fun realizing that there are some odd fears in the world, while this may not have been much of a surprise; I was surprised to know that these phobias have names at all. I would also like to note that while writing this article my Word Document was covered with red squiggly lines, and, for once, that isn’t me misspelling words. Another note, if there is someone looking to hire a young individual to name unique fears, I would be unopposed to the position.
