Muncie Star Press

From clowns to bridges, readers share what scares them

By Michelle Kinsey

October 17, 2006

Today is Friday the 13th. Does that freak you out?
If so, you are one of the estimated 20 million paraskevidekatriaphobes -- people afraid of Friday the 13th -- in the United States.

That number comes courtesy of Donald Dossey, author of Holiday Folklore, Phobias and Fun: Mythical Origins, Scientific Treatments and Superstitious Cures.

Dossey says millions of business dollars will be lost today because people will not shop, travel or "take risks of any kind" on this day.

Really?

We asked several folks -- an on-the-street survey if you will -- and found that most think the fear of Friday the 13th is a lot of hooey.

"The movies used to scare me, but the day, never," said Amy Landry of Muncie.

You remember the movies -- all 13 of them -- that featured Jason, the hockey-masked murderer from Camp Crystal Lake?

Masked wackos don't phase Doug Lacy. Just don't put him on a bridge.

"As a kid, I had a recurring dream that I was walking across a bridge," he recalled. "Around the middle of the bridge somewhere, I always fell through a hole and into the river below. Because of that I to this day have a tremendous fear of walking across bridges. (I) recently faced that walking from the Kentucky side of the river across to Great America Ballpark. That was the longest, most nauseating walk of my life!"

Speaking of walking, LaDonna Patterson's biggest fear is "walking alone outside at night."

"Oooooh, that gives me the chills just thinking about it!" she exclaimed with a shudder.

Other folks who responded to our call for fear factors mentioned guns, violence and ethanol plants.

Sometimes movies spark fears. For a few months as a child I thought the killer shark from Jaws was under my bed at night. And it's probably safe to assume there are still folks out there creeped out by showers thanks to Psycho.

For Joy Plater of Muncie, it's clowns. Any kind of clown -- not just Killer Clowns from Outer Space -- makes her squirm.

"There's something about adults getting dressed up in makeup and harassing children that doesn't sit well with me," she said. "Sure, most of them mean well, but God, they're creepy."

Friends, she said, often tease her about the fear, buying her low-budget clown movies, even giving her clown figurines for Christmas.

"They think it's so funny ... It's not," she said with a laugh. "It sends me over the edge."

Scare expert (yes, they exist) Glenn Sparks of Purdue University warned that during this time of year scares are harder to avoid what with monsters, haunted houses, Halloween movie marathons and such. But that doesn't mean everyone enjoys a good fright.

"The assumption at this time of year is that everyone seeks a scary experience because they enjoy it," Sparks, a professor of communication, said. "Research shows that not everyone wants to be scared and that a substantial proportion of the population is wary about exposing themselves to this kind of entertainment."

Sparks has surveyed hundreds of people on this topic over many years and said that "about one-third of the population actively seeks a good scare, another third avoids it and the remainder says it depends."

You don't have to suck it up. If you don't like haunted houses, don't go. Decline that invitation to the Hitchcock film fest.

"Take your apprehension seriously," he said. "Some people may have not been able to cope well with previous scares. Being spooked can result in unwanted and obtrusive images that can leave someone shaken and can even disrupt important activities such as getting a good night's sleep."

Now back to the folks walking around in fear today. Dossey recommends some interesting ways to keep Friday the 13th evils at bay:

Stand on your head and swallow a chunk of beef gristle.

Take a holey sock to the top of a skyscraper or a mountain.

Walk around the block with a mouthful of water -- and be careful not to swallow it.

Tie a sack of peony seeds around your neck.

You never know, they might work, unless you have a fear of gristle, holey socks, water or peony seeds.