Through stories, we learn how to deal with our fears, especially if we are the ones writing the story. If you novelize your fear of being eaten alive by monsters from outer space, then the terrestrial ones eating you alive don’t seem so monstrous. If you watch a movie about aliens taking over your body, then the terrestrial one that’s taking over your mind might not seem quite so alien. You don’t think you are being eaten alive or that your mind is being taken over? Well, you are and it is — it’s called aging. Little by little, the you that you know is being supplanted by a creature you could never fathom being. Some people turn into querulous beings totally unrecognizable from the daring-dos of their youthful selves. Some turn into their mothers. Some . . . Well, I’ve scared myself enough.
According to author Lee Child, we don’t write what we know — we write what we fear. Perhaps this is true. My books are filled with fears — fear of being at the mercy of mindless governments and corrupt corporations, fear of deadly and unstoppable diseases, fear of the loss of self, fear that our memories lie. Since all of these fears can be lumped into one group — fear of powerlessness — I wonder if all fears came down to that same thing. Mine do, anyway.
I checked out a list of phobias to see what sort of things people are afraid of, and now I’m in danger of becoming a phobiaphobe. Or a phobiaphile. Although I am sympathetic to anyone caught in the horror of a phobia, I do enjoy the names. Names such as levophobia, kainophobia, lachanophobia, mageirocophobia, melophobia, nomatophobia, nyctohylophobia, paraskavedekatriaphobia. Great names for dreadful conditions.
Okay, I’ll let you off the hook so you don’t turn into a Sesquipedalophobe (someone who fears long words). Here’s what the above-mentioned words mean:
- Levophobia — Fear of things to the left side of the body
- Kainophobia — Fear of anything new
- Lachanophobia — Fear of vegetables
- Mageirocophobia — Fear of cooking
- Melophobia — Fear of music
- Nomatophobia — Fear of names
- Nyctohylophobia — Fear of dark wooded areas
- Paraskavedekatriaphobia — Fear of Friday the 13th
The one fear I hope no one ever gets is patbertramophobia. So not good for me as a writer!
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Pat Bertram is the author of the suspense novels Light Bringer, More Deaths Than One, A Spark of Heavenly Fire, and Daughter Am I. Bertram is also the author of Grief: The Great Yearning, “an exquisite book, wrenching to read, and at the same time full of profound truths.” Connect with Pat on Google+. Like Pat on Facebook.
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October 20, 2014 at 7:30 pm
Patbertramophobia??? Ha! But I wonder if there are people who actually do have phobias of other people. Fear of dentists is probably a real one, although I think it may be more a fear of what the dentist will be doing.
October 20, 2014 at 7:38 pm
That would make a good story, a person who has a phobia of another.
October 20, 2014 at 8:39 pm
I almost typed it into Google before I “got” it. You are a hoot my friend. I’ll never get patbertramphobia!!
October 21, 2014 at 5:44 am
I’m a bit of a phobiaphile myself. Otherwise, I might not be able to write what I write. And I so enjoy writing it.