Last updated at 13:05 GMT, Tuesday, 17 January 2012

Fear

For this special Halloween edition of Express English, we asked people...

What are you scared of and why?

Hear what people in London say, then join the conversation!

Join the conversation. What are you scared of and why? Use the form below to let us know.

The Express English team

This is what some people in London told us.

Not surprisingly, some people were scared of spiders. One woman who saw one in her house said it scared her to death.

Another man discovered he had a fear of heights only when he got to the top of the Petronas Towers in Malaysia. He said it was scary.

And one man was actually scared of clowns; although they're funny, he thinks they're evil!

Did you know?

Fact

A survey in the UK found that 1 in 7 people are scared of going to the dentist.

Language tip

Phobia is a word that means a persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid it, despite the awareness and reassurance that it is not dangerous.

Cultural tip

A traditional Chinese lion dance is performed to scare away evil spirits but also to summon good luck.

End of Section

Now tell us what you think

What are you scared of and why?

Please note that we are not able to publish all comments and comments may be edited.

Comments

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    • 1. At 1:03pm on 31 Oct 2011, drsofiko wrote:

      I am scared of humans,I realize that compared with them the animals, insects,heights and etc. are just play.

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    • 2. At 1:03pm on 31 Oct 2011, kyntire wrote:

      Basically, I am scared by anything that cannot be controlled or foreseen. Natural events scare me, for example the huge power of a hurricane, or an earthquake that could take you by surprise in the middle of the night. Also, I'm afraid of anything bad that could occur to my family, such as a disease or an accident.
      Through the years though, I have learned to come to terms with my fears and now I know much better how to deal with them: not running away but facing them as much as possible is the key.
      Because a little scary thing becomes huge if you turn your back to it.

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    • 3. At 1:59pm on 31 Oct 2011, cocari wrote:

      I'm scared of height too. If I'm on a roof I'm shaking like a leaf.

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    • 4. At 2:26pm on 31 Oct 2011, pesira wrote:

      Well, i'm scared of many things. I don't like heights and insects but i'm more frightened of loud noises, like when airplanes fly above my house or there is a storm and i hear thunders. I'm also scared of the dark, i prefer to turn on the lights when i'm home. Thank you for your work BBC, I love you!

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    • 5. At 3:39pm on 31 Oct 2011, ushma wrote:

      I am scared of cows! Yes, seriously. When I was very young one cow bit me accidently and another time one calf hit and pushed me back. They are very unpredictable, you will never know what they are upto because they are expressionless? I walk miles away when I see any cow or her calves.
      And I am scared of tigers and lions. I often get nightmares where they are chasing me and trying to prey on me.

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    • 6. At 4:27pm on 31 Oct 2011, LStrahilova wrote:

      Insects!
      One day as I was walking in a very cold day and my hands was hidden in the pockets of my jacket I touched something. At first I decided it was a chewing gum because of its shape and I started playing with it in my hand. That continued some minutes till I decided it's time to throw it out and then take it out of my pocket. It was the most disgusting moment in my life - I saw it was a big green odorous insect!!! It sent shivers up and down my spine and I will never forget it.

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    • 7. At 8:20pm on 31 Oct 2011, Juan wrote:

      I scare of mad people because you don´t know how are going to act.

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    • 8. At 9:38pm on 31 Oct 2011, Tereza wrote:

      I am scared of dogs. I don't know why, I like them when I see them at the picture or behind the fence. But when the real dog comes near to me (even the smallest one), I feel the panic fear, although I know that it is not dangerous.

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    • 9. At 9:40pm on 31 Oct 2011, Cruzerland wrote:

      I'm scared of the cockroach because in my youth, I lived in a place where there were many of it. Currently, it's a real nightmare when I see one of them

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    • 10. At 11:04pm on 31 Oct 2011, Darlan wrote:

      I'm afraid of pumpkin. At Halloween time the pumpkins become very very scary.

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    • 11. At 02:58am on 01 Nov 2011, Face wrote:

      I am scared of eatting durian. I can't imagine the smell spread out in my mouth.

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    • 12. At 11:12am on 01 Nov 2011, Helen wrote:

      I'm scared of stray dogs. They are really dangerous when they gather in a pack. Moreover, I'm scared of snakes because their movements are unpredictable. As for the cockroaches they are actually disgusting but not scaring.

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    • 13. At 11:27am on 01 Nov 2011, canue wrote:

      I am also afraid of height, like the second man. It is so horrible, that I cannot see how my boyfriend looks down when we are at the top of a building. He must take photos from 1 Meter distance!

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    • 14. At 1:58pm on 01 Nov 2011, Oanh Hoang wrote:

      I'm scared of all snakes. They are really ugly. If they appear in fron of me, sure I'll scream and go away. And, so I have never eaten or drunk all of things that relate to snake. I always nervours or same feeling when I think of them :((

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    • 15. At 2:16pm on 01 Nov 2011, aganipe wrote:

      I'm really scared of being sick. There is no doubt that everyone is worried about his or her sickness. Furthermore, people who have suffered from a serious illness are, without exception, really able to empathize with this. By the way, every now and then being scared of something can be a spur to prevent anything bad from happening.

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    • 16. At 3:38pm on 01 Nov 2011, danita wrote:

      I am afraid of mechanical escalators. This is a big problem for me because in many places (mall, airports, etc) they are. I dont know what am going to do in the future. I think I will have to face my fears when I dont have other alternative to transit in a place...

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    • 17. At 4:13pm on 01 Nov 2011, candy wrote:

      I'm scared of dark, especially when I am alone in my room. since many horror movies in which a ghost or a zombie often shows up in the dark. So when it is dark, i just can't sop imaging a ghost will appear and freak me out.

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    • 18. At 4:20pm on 01 Nov 2011, Doris wrote:

      Snipes give me the creeps! Because the way they move!!! I´m so scared about snipes that I feel also fear if I see it on TV or magazines

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    • 19. At 6:34pm on 01 Nov 2011, andy wrote:

      I'm afraid of hospital and sickness.

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    • 20. At 6:53pm on 01 Nov 2011, Jamilu Hashim wrote:

      I am really scared of my tongue and what is going to utter, because whatever I said I cannot take it back. I have been a victim of my tongue so many times.

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    • 21. At 7:21pm on 01 Nov 2011, marionm wrote:

      I'm really afraid of having kids, of the resposiblitity to raise them in such a cynical and harsh world. What if they don't have a job, what if we keep on polluting and destroying the planet as we do now, what if they are unhappy? Being a teacher, I 'm too aware of the damage done to kids born in such hostile environments.... life is unfair sometimes and there is nothing you can do. I'm really afraid of being such a lousy parent !

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    • 22. At 8:48pm on 01 Nov 2011, tahira wrote:

      I am scared of dogs.. I hate dogs when they pass over me ...Its just because of my experiences I had ...one day I was attecked by a big black dog so therefor I am scared of any types of dogs....

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    • 23. At 00:19am on 02 Nov 2011, tenocht wrote:

      I´m scared of my mother-in law because she is really ugly !

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    • 24. At 08:08am on 02 Nov 2011, Purwanto wrote:

      I am scared of snakes because some of this reptile are venomous.

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    • 25. At 10:33am on 02 Nov 2011, regina hess wrote:

      Our creatoir only loves the innocents!!! I am innocent!
      Am I innocent? That is you shoud think about all your life.
      My fear is not being innocent.

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    • 26. At 10:51am on 02 Nov 2011, regina hess wrote:

      This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.

    • 27. At 11:45am on 02 Nov 2011, wangyiping1987 wrote:

      I am scared of the human beings who never cherish their lives and violate our life！hey，Please get away from the kind people！

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    • 28. At 6:49pm on 02 Nov 2011, marcos wrote:

      I have got fear of height but when I was Wales,in 2009, I visited one of the highest aqueduct I have ever seen.I couldn`t look down for a long time.It was fantastic.

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    • 29. At 7:21pm on 02 Nov 2011, luscinia wrote:

      Uh...I´m afraid of insects. I don´t like any kind, principaly cockroach and black butterfly and now...believe it or not, there is one black butterfly on the copyboard in front of me....

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    • 30. At 8:05pm on 02 Nov 2011, Istvan wrote:

      I am scared of butterflies. The dislike of butterflies is Mottephobia.

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    • 31. At 8:14pm on 02 Nov 2011, mingming zheng wrote:

      i am scared of my unforgettable first lover.

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    • 32. At 9:27pm on 02 Nov 2011, csepelside wrote:

      Hi, mates, what about mice? Nobody mentioned these little animals that can really scare anybody. Fortunately, I only rarely meet them in my house, but when I do, I try to kill them. However they run so fast it's almost impossible to reach them. I hate them in my house. But don't you think they are scared of us, too?

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    • 33. At 10:57pm on 02 Nov 2011, Ali wrote:

      Snakes (ophiophobia) and Ghosts (phasmophobia). I am actually scared to death of all reptiles and especilly of snakes. I am also frightened of darkness and of ghosts lurking in every nook and cranny. I is all imaginary fears, you would say, but I cannot help it.

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    • 34. At 05:19am on 03 Nov 2011, Hadie_fathul wrote:

      an insect, it really scared me .

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    • 35. At 09:09am on 03 Nov 2011, lvq52 wrote:

      When I was a child, I extremely fear of snake. I lived in the countryside then, so I could see snake everywhere and I only know to run away. People often like to eat snake meat because they think that it's a nutrient food with delicious taste, however I have never tried it.
      Now, I don't scare of snake so much as before. I turn to afraid of death. It's so silly! But I can't stand whenever I think about one day when I couldn't see anybody & couldn't know anything. The feeling of non-existence makes me chilly. Although I understand that it is a natural law, I can't resign myself to that.

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    • 36. At 10:28pm on 03 Nov 2011, Alberzan wrote:

      I am a frade of snakes.I dont like them especialy if its poisonly.Scorpions either.sometimes I am a frade of the dark.

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    • 37. At 03:55am on 04 Nov 2011, locchoc wrote:

      I am really scared of the death, especially from when i haved a child. I'm always worry about the future of my son without me.

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    • 38. At 06:20am on 04 Nov 2011, Nguyen Thi Hoang Yen wrote:

      I'm really scared of darkness. One time when I was woken up at midnight in my hometown, I can't see anything except black covering surrounding. At that time, I felt so scared and lonely. I didn't know what happened to me but I tried to grope around to escape from the darkness and find something light.

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    • 39. At 06:31am on 04 Nov 2011, salih wrote:

      For in my situation, I'm scared of not being appointed as an engineer for the public sector. I graduated in 2008 and since that time, I had been waiting for appointment. My biggest fear is that I wouldn't appoint soon.

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    • 40. At 06:54am on 04 Nov 2011, Nimmi wrote:

      I scared of when flight takes off or on the greater heights when airplane starts shaking due to bad weather it creeps me.
      I scared of unexpected happenings , being in an elevator or in the high speed trains or whenever I see heavy machinaries.

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    • 41. At 08:22am on 04 Nov 2011, arnice wrote:

      I am scared of being alone. Someday in my childhood someone hurt me when i was alone. Thanks God now i have husband and children. I love them and don't wanna leave them. I hope they won't leave me too.

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    • 42. At 09:20am on 05 Nov 2011, Leon wrote:

      I fear God, reverential fear.

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    • 43. At 1:21pm on 05 Nov 2011, AGHEDO SHARP wrote:

      I'm usually afraid of natural disaters which could happen at any point in time. It's unpredictable and could take someone unaware. God help us all.

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    • 44. At 3:18pm on 05 Nov 2011, freeddy wrote:

      I'm sacred of making my parents feel disappointed and I sometimes feel puzzled whether could I give my girlfriend the future she expected.

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    • 45. At 06:19am on 06 Nov 2011, castleontheriver wrote:

      I lived a great scare recently, unfortunately by something very real. An attempt of assault in one capital Latin American, this case, Buenos Aires.

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    • 46. At 2:39pm on 06 Nov 2011, Duy Quang wrote:

      I'm scared of ghost! You know, it something that makes me scared when i'm alone, especially in the dark. Science has not proved the existence of ghost but i think in some aspects, the ghost is real! That's it! :-) Hi to everyone!

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    • 47. At 5:30pm on 06 Nov 2011, eastbourne wrote:

      I'm scared of small places, rooms or elevators, just the thought of it makes me a bit nervous ...

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    • 48. At 5:51pm on 06 Nov 2011, deonfox wrote:

      I am scared of snakes and scorpions. I consider them animals to respect.

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    • 49. At 1:56pm on 07 Nov 2011, andrea wrote:

      Like many ohers i really scared of heights, in fact every time I'm in a place in an elevated position, i feel insicure, legs starts to shake...i fell a strong sense of fear

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    • 50. At 3:49pm on 07 Nov 2011, cristobal wrote:

      This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.

    • 51. At 3:54pm on 07 Nov 2011, JP wrote:

      I'm scared of mice, they are disgusting and ugly, i haven´t seen them in real life since i was a child and i know that if i see one now i´m probably going to scream and cry, because i hate them, i can't seen them even on Tv.
      Other thing that i'm afraid of is loosing my family, or one of them getting sick, i can not see how they suffer or in pain.

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    • 52. At 4:06pm on 07 Nov 2011, valemulatti wrote:

      the spiders, is what really scares me, once I was in my room and a spider started walking towards me and I was so scared :'c Other things that produce me fear is my mother when she is angry :C

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    • 53. At 4:13pm on 07 Nov 2011, cristobal wrote:

      ì am scared og highs, because i got a sensation in my body who says, ´´oh, i gonna fall, i go to suffred an accident`` but slowly my fear has gone, but not for complete

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    • 54. At 4:23pm on 07 Nov 2011, tomydelflow wrote:

      Basically, I am scared by anything that cannot be controlled or foreseen. Natural events scare me, for example the huge power of a hurricane, or an earthquake that could take you by surprise in the middle of the night. Also, I'm afraid of anything bad that could occur to my family, such as a disease or an accident.

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    • 55. At 4:33pm on 07 Nov 2011, danielam wrote:

      Iam afraid of loneliness and the dark. I do not like the one day I was alone with no one and the dark because since childhooh I have that fear, but not every time I'm afraid.


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    • 56. At 4:35pm on 07 Nov 2011, Dimebag Darrell wrote:

      I am afraid that some of my family have some kind of accident and dies or becomes incapacitated.

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    • 57. At 9:35pm on 07 Nov 2011, roberto2810 wrote:

      I'm scared of dark streets, where evil people can take your bag or your money.

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    • 58. At 05:30am on 08 Nov 2011, lilapop wrote:

      I'm scared of birds. Whenever birds fly over my head, I almost shrieked. I cannot help but imagining they would attack me with their sharp beaks. Besides, I'm extremely sacred of birds' legs. I don't know why, but it amounts to a kind of phobia.

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    • 59. At 06:56am on 08 Nov 2011, DY Kim wrote:

      I am really scared of height. Even i really can't stand beside window in tall building. Maybe i have phobia about height. But thankfully i can take airplane without fear.

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    • 60. At 5:31pm on 08 Nov 2011, Luisa wrote:

      I am scared of the darkness. I usually think that Samara Morgan ( the ring) is coming to kill me, or maybe some kind of phantom or something sobrenatural.

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    • 61. At 10:22pm on 08 Nov 2011, hidroquinona wrote:

      I feel fear and nausea when I see a cockroach! It is awful

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    • 62. At 1:42pm on 09 Nov 2011, Scandisk69 wrote:

      I am scared of my english level, I'm trying to improve it. Thaks of all. Today I'm a bit better. Kiss from Cordoba, Spain.

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    • 63. At 5:47pm on 09 Nov 2011, miquel wrote:

      hi, I'm afraid of all kinds of doctors because I had suffred an accident last year. unfortunately I broke seven bones and the urgency doctor sent me to my house with a simple bandage.

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    • 64. At 8:52pm on 09 Nov 2011, justin wrote:

      I am also scared of spiders and heights. You konw, most spider have a disgusting appearance. Their look like very fearful. on the another hand, I had a fear of heights just bacause my family all were fear heidht. This family's problem.

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    • 65. At 07:55am on 10 Nov 2011, Yulia wrote:

      I'm scared of some things:
      1. Diving. I feel nervous under water. I've experienced it twice abroad. Never again in my life.
      2. Going by plane because I can't control situation by myself. And I'm always "Thanks God we've landed"
      3. Most of all I'm scared of ghosts. I believe they exist.
      4. Witches which can put an evil curse on you.
      That's it that I can remember at the moment.

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    • 66. At 6:19pm on 11 Nov 2011, esni wrote:

      I'm scared of dangerous fish.Because I can't see them in the sea or in the ocean.The danger from fish comes very insidiously.Two years before in the sea that I was swimming every day , there are lots of jellyfishes and some people were bitten by them.A little jelly fish bit me too.So I'm scared of dangerous fish.

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    • 67. At 02:03am on 12 Nov 2011, aidoka wrote:

      Well, actually, I wish I could say if you knew me, you would not ask me that question. Although it is a tough question, basically, I scared of things or events that I cannot control. For example, I scared of earthquakes. Because, I cannot control them and in addition to that, I cannot know anything about it, so I reckon I would say unknown is keyword in this issue.

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    • 68. At 07:04am on 12 Nov 2011, Sinan wrote:

      I'm scared of dogs that have no owners. They bark all the time and walk down the streets. I feel terrified when I see them.
      I'm also scared of bees but I don't why

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    • 69. At 11:43am on 12 Nov 2011, basak wrote:

      Actually I don't think fear is inborn.For example if you are scared of the darkness,it means you learned scaring of the darkness from someone and you let yourself to be scared of the darkness.I'm aware of the truth but I'm still scared of cats(because of their paws),dogs(they have big scary teeth) and protesters on the streets.

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    • 70. At 1:52pm on 12 Nov 2011, selcuk wrote:

      I am scared of scorpions,
      Cause one day I found a scorpion in my shoe. And it was big. I killed it immediately. After that day,I started to hate scorpions and be afraid of them!
      And also I am afraid of sharks,cause they are too dangerous!

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    • 71. At 09:00am on 13 Nov 2011, cloudiness wrote:

      The thing I scare the most is caterpillar which is butterfly's larva. It's so scary especially when it's moving on the ground or trees. I will be very uncomfortable when I see one.

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    • 72. At 03:58am on 14 Nov 2011, Trung88vn wrote:

      I am very scared of snake. When I think about it,I alway nervous or same feeling. However, I also like watching films which relate it. I really don't know why!

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    • 73. At 3:42pm on 14 Nov 2011, Armando wrote:

      I am scared of cockroaches. They are very disgusting and dirty, especially the bigger ones.

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