“The brain you stole: think of it. The brain of a dead man waiting to live again in a body I have made with my own hands!”
Doctor Frankenstein, from the movie,
“Frankenstein” (1931)
“Hateful day when I received life! Accursed creator, why did you form a monster
so hideous that even you turn from me in disgust?”
The monster, from Mary Shelley’s novel,
“Frankenstein”
Fear is natural. Fear keeps us alive. If you come across a wild tiger in the jungle and you don’t feel fear, then you are a fool.
But the mind works in mysterious ways, and sometimes people feel fear at odd or inappropriate times. An irrational fear of something that is not really dangerous is called a phobia. I once knew a man who was so scared of heights that he couldn’t walk across a pedestrian bridge in Tokyo, even though it was very large and sturdily built.
Phobias of spiders, flying, and small spaces are not uncommon. My mother doesn’t like to use the subway. My wife hates the sight of small dots that look like a skin rash, even if they are only on paper.
But this week in one of my English classes I heard about a very unique phobia. One of my students told me that her daughter, a university student, has a phobia of statues.
“Statues?” I said, “What kind of statues is she afraid of?”
“Things like the Sphinx in Egypt, or models of monsters. She can’t go to places like Universal Studios.”
I’m sure it is an uncomfortable feeling for the poor girl, but I couldn’t help but laugh. She must be scared of the sound of creaking stone or metal as these statues come to life and attack her.
My advice is to stop watching horror movies
before bedtime.
Vocabulary:
accursed – used to express strong dislike
of something; hateful or awful
hideous – extremely ugly
disgust – a feeling of strong dislike
caused by something unpleasant
a skin rash – a reaction on the skin,
causing many small red spots
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