I was afraid of pipes. Any kind of pipes. Water pipes, wood stove pipes, exhaust pipes, even those white flimsy drying machine things that aren’t actually pipes, but look like pipes. At night, I thought that pipes in the walls and ceilings were plotting against me. I imagined pipes talking about me, mocking me and tormenting me.
I sure remember the pipe fear and a few things I imagined, but a lot of it is vague. My dad said it went on for a bit of a while, and that I’d scream in the middle of the night about pipes wanting to get me. I remember some of it.
We had a wood stove with a huge pipe that ran from it to the ceiling, and then all along the hallway ceiling. Apparently, it caught on fire, but I don’t remember this. But I remember shying against the wall whenever I was in the hallway, looking up at the pipe in fear, haha. There was a big black spot on it, and it freaked me out. I’m guessing that was the origin of the fear, and it haunted my nights forever. The fear came in the day too though, as I mentioned. I never wanted to go in the laundry section because the big white drying machine hose flailing around scared the hell out of me.
I also thought a mummified werewolf or some shit lived in my toy box and I kept staring at it at night, having the shadows play tricks on my eyes. Didn’t really scare me though, although I still wasn’t brave enough to wander outta bed and close the lid, which always seemed to be open.