Your Weirdest Fears

Molly is mortified by buttons. She tells us that when she was a little girl she nearly choked on one. Ever since the incident, she's gone out of her way to avoid the small items. Surprisingly, she's not alone. On this week's episode of "Your Weirdest Fears," host Larry Mullins chats with author and journalist Kate Summerscale. Having just written a book about phobias - and the fear of buttons spec...

Heather says her biggest fear is a snake slithering up the sewage system and biting her while she’s sitting on a toilet. While she’s yet to experience that specific situation, she did encounter a rat in her toilet a few years ago. This only amplified her terror. How common is it for any creature to make its way into your toilet bowl? On this episode of Your Weirdest Fears, host Larry Mullins sits...

Anna is afraid of seahorses. She says it all started during a normal visit to the aquarium. The mere site of the mini creatures made her freeze. Ever since then, she can't even think about them without going numb. Does she see something in seahorses that no one else can? On this week's episode of "Your Weirdest Fears," host Larry Mullins sits down with marine biologist and seahorse expert Dr. Lucy...

Gregg Giannotti, AKA Gio, is the co-host of one of the most popular sport radio shows in the nation, Boomer and Gio. And while Gio isn't afraid to go head to head with anyone in the studio - he's deathly afraid of volcanoes. He worries that the dormant super-volcano at Yellowstone National Park will erupt at any moment and send civilization into an apocalyptic "volcanic winter."  This week we sit...

Jessenia has always been afraid of latex balloons. As a mom, she says it's difficult to take her kids to birthday parties because she knows that they'll be waiting for her. And it's more than their texture, or that sound they make when they rub against another surface. Instead, it's the small possibility of one popping and that anxiety-inducing blast that happens as a result. While Jessenia's fear...

Christine is scared she'll spontaneously combust. While most might think it's a fictional concept, there are some real-life documented cases of it happening... But what are the odds of it happening to you? On this week's episode, host Larry Mullins sits down with writer, investigator, and self-proclaimed skeptic Benjamin Radford to illuminate the truth about spontaneous human combustion. You can r...

HB is afraid of giant statues. He says that lately has fear has become so bad that is has manifested it in his dreams. Once of the more vivid dreams he's had involved him being left alone in a dark cavern with nothing but a flashlight, where he's forced to find those dark-faced figures all alone. He knows it's silly, but surprisingly he's not alone. On this episode of Your Weirdest Fears, host Lar...

Yadariselt hates pigeons. She hates their feathers, their beaks, and most importantly she hates their unpredictability. As a New York native, however, they’re hard to avoid. But how dangerous are they really? On this episode of Your Weirdest Fears, host Larry Mullins sits down with phobia expert Christopher Paul Jones. Throughout the years he’s cured people of arachnophobia, claustrophobia, and ev...

Peter is mortified by The Grinch. Yes, the green and gross menace from Dr. Seuss' book "How The Grinch Stole Christmas." He says that, as a child, he would have vivid dreams of the character eating him. Despite having a change of heart and a happy ending at the end of his story, he still fears that the character will somehow come to life, find him and kidnap him now as an adult. But what about thi...

Mike is absolutely terrified of cat-human hybrids. It all began with a trip to see the Broadway musical "Cats" in the 6th grade. What should have been a joyous memory became a lifelong nightmare. Now, he acknowledges that these creatures are purely fictional; however, he is also aware that some people modify themselves to look like animals and he still worries he may bump into one on the street. O...

Lee is terrified of coming home after a long day of work and finding their pet cat dead. It has nothing to do with the fact that they wouldn’t know how to dispose of the animal, but rather the idea that their cat may have been suffering all alone in its final moments and they couldn’t do anything to help. It’s probably something every pet owner fears, or at least thinks about from time to time. Bu...

Sharon is afraid of being called a “Karen.” She’s so afraid of this that she doesn’t even ask for the manager when she experiences bad service. And she’s not alone!  In this episode, we connect with author and sociologist Dr. Jessie Daniels. Dr. Daniels is an expert on the internet’s manifestation of racism. She wrote a book about being called a “Karen” titled “Nice White Ladies.” She breaks down...

Joe says that they love whales. They even have a tattoo of one of their arm. However, there’s one member of the species that absolutely terrifies them: orcas (also known as killer whales). In fact, they tell us that if they had to choose between being in the water with an orca or a great white shark, they’d pick the shark. But are killer whales as deadly as their name implies?  On this episode of...

Some people avoid walking under scaffolding because they are afraid it could come crashing down without any warning. On this episode, we meet with safety expert John Newquist to find out just how realistic this fear is. With over 30 years of experience at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), he has an abundance of stories to share about scaffolding - and even more tips to offe...

Jane says her biggest fear is demonic possession. It’s not because she was exposed to The Exorcist too early in life, but rather because she grew up in a Russian Orthodox household. She was taught to believe that possession was possible. She even received two exorcisms as a kid. But is the concept of demonic possession as scary as the movies make it seem? What does a real exorcism entail? On this...

Dan Travis says his biggest fear is getting a paper cut on his eyeball. Working in the film industry, he says there are paper signs everywhere and that he’s just bracing for the moment it happens and ocular fluid leaks everywhere.   Ironically, eyeballs have always played an important role in cinema. Not just because we need our eyes to see movies, but because they  have even been subjected to num...

Alex Manning says that they are absolutely scared of vomit. The noise. The look. The “splash”. In fact, they avoid the subways late at night to avoid any drunk people who might inevitably hurl and refuse to sit near pits at concerts for the same reason. Now, although most people don’t like vomit, the degree to which Alex fears vomit actually has a name. It’s called emetophobia. On this episode of...

Aubrey says her biggest fear is accidentally chopping her finger off with a knife while cooking in the kitchen. Unlike some other fears we’ve covered, hers is statistically possible - and common. But how do we prevent knife-related accidents from happening when knives are the most essential tool in our lives?  On this episode of Your Weirdest Fears, host Larry Mullins sits down with knife expert J...

Alyssa Boss loves animals, but when it comes to rodents she says she feels overcome with nausea and anxiety. Nothing scares her more than coming across a rodent with a hairless tail.  On this episode of Your Weirdest Fears, host Larry Mullins sits down with self-proclaimed “ratologist” Dr. Robert Corrigan to understand the rationality behind the fear of rodents and why their tails are actually the...

What’s your weirdest fear? If it happened, how would you survive? This lighthearted, weekly series explores fears both rational and irrational: from being afraid of cutting your own finger off to a phobia of hairless tails. Listeners submit their fears to the host Larry Mullins who then turns to experts and survivors to find out what you should do. Send us your fears at YourWeirdestFears@Audacy.co...