Things that scared you when you were a kid

[FairBol]

The Ayatollah and the Iranians....and thirty some years later, they still do. 

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

Oh I can't believe I forgot.

This movie:

[Adam Griffin]

When I was really young, the newspapers used to have crossword puzzles in them that had random people's faces in a black-bordered box in the center of it. Those things scared the bejesus out of me - I would become hysterical.

Also, paper towels as a much older kid/teenager. Not to the extent that I was "afraid" of them, but the sensation of touching them for me was akin to nails on a chalkboard. I still don't like them but I won't freak out if somebody starts chasing me with a roll of them in their hand (but I can still instantly induce goosebumps by just thinking about them).

[TDAS04]

I've always been uncomfortable with heights.  I kind of like balconies though, I can handle heights if I'm looking down over a high enough wall, but I definitely want to be enclosed in.

[Mr. Reactionary]

When you are 4 the child torture scenes in willy wonka can be unsettling.

[courts]

aids. i remember hearing stories. and friends my mom lost to the disease. and seeing those people slowly dying horribly.

[BuckeyeNut]

Cicadas.

I grew up in the woods, and when I first experienced the big 17 year awakening, I couldn't go anywhere outside my house without stepping on one. And the noise didn't help. I still hate the buggers.

[Prosperum]

My basement (seriously).

[fhtagn]

1. Germs (even to this day, I still have habits related to this)
2. Thunderstorms, but not because "ooo scary storm". My grandma was super religious and for one of my birthdays she gave me a pamphlet that said that if I didn't follow all of God's rules he would strike me dead with a lightning bolt.
3. Emergency weather alert noises (which is unrelated to the thunderstorm fear, and it still sometimes scares the crap out of me).
4. Bugs and snakes (funny enough, now I have them as pets).

[Reaganfan]

When I was very young, I remember Lilith from Cheers creeped me out.

[LLR]

Falling onto the subway tracks. I was deathly afraid of going anywhere near the edge of the platform.

[publicunofficial]

I had a massive fear of ghosts until I was like 12. Read too many ghost stories and watched those bad TV shows where camera crews run around abandoned buildings with EVP meters.

[Rjjr77]

My parents used to watch unsolved mysteries and the host terrified me.

[Meclazine for Israel]

I used to hallucinate at night when I was going to sleep. I had a eery perception that the room suddenly became really big, and distances and sounds became much greater.

Things would go from meters to hundreds of metres.

So I had some issues with measuring space in a semi-dark room as I was going to sleep.

When I asked the doctor about it, he just said it was because young boys have ear infections which changes balance and perception issues.

[Santander]

Socialism.

[SATW]

the dark because of all the movies showing people getting attacked/killed/kidnapped at night.