What are you afraid of?

     Fear is a natural human response designed to protect individuals from danger. They react quickly to threats or survive in uncertain situations. There are many fears that people can have, whether that’s spiders, falling, snakes, or public speaking situations. There are too many to take into account, so they have to be classified into different categories—moderate to severe or from real life to paranormal. Growing up, I’ve had many fears, having different fears that progressed with me through time. 

    My childhood was very eventful regarding portions of fear. Like many kids, I had fears of monsters and the dark, but it wasn’t the ordinary kind. There was a reason behind these fears. I used to watch Cartoon Network a bunch as a kid, coming back home just to play games from my favorite cartoons. I remember going into this one Ben 10 game, which was a normal game from the outside looking in. Although it had werewolves. I have no idea why Werewolves scared me as a kid, but they did. They were tall, lanky, with ferocious teeth and claws ready to gnaw at you, terrifying the hell out of me as a kid. In the game, you are trying to run away from a werewolf, but after I played that game, I had a nightmare, which scared me even more.

    There were many more nights like those to come. Maybe I was a weird kid, but I liked looking at spooky things yet be afraid of them at the same time. My extreme curiosity was a curse–going down rabbit holes on YouTube, regarding Bloody Mary, Ouiji board, creepypasta, Roblox scary elevator. These circumstances gave me the fear of being in the dark all alone, because at any moment someone may be with me. It wasn’t the normal fear of complete darkness; it was the fear of having a dark and demonic passenger being right next to you.



For this essay, I'm kinda stuck on it. How can I make it better and flow nicely?

Comments

  1. AndrewApril 22, 2026 at 9:25 AM

    I think this essay has a great opportunity to expand into how your childhood fears shifted to fears you have now (like a fear of failure or embarrassment). This could provide some deep reflection into how and why they might have changed. Additionally, does anything from this younger time still scare you? In terms of what you have now, there are a few things you could add. Maybe try to explore why you decided to engage in things that could scare you. Was it a morbid curiosity, wanting to prove to yourself you could handle it, etc? In the 2nd paragraph, there are a lot of redundant phrases: "I have no idea why Werewolves scared me as a kid, (...) They were tall, lanky, with ferocious teeth and claws ready to gnaw at you, terrifying the hell out of me as a kid." In this section, it seems like you DO know why they scared you. Instead of asking why, I would talk more about the game. Did it seem like it wouldn't be scary, but it was (what does "normal" mean here). Finally, you mention your fears were out of the ordinary, but what about them made them different. I was also scared of monsters and the dark as a kid, and I think that's a pretty normal experience.

    Good start and good topic, but there is a lot of room to expand and improve.

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  2. JordanApril 22, 2026 at 3:46 PM

    Hi Jessy, I really enjoyed reading your personal essay. Your narrative is extremely well done to the point I feel myself retreating back to a time where I too would consume as much scary media as I could, knowing it would make me shutter as I was falling asleep. Because of this I feel like you have a very good foundation that you can use to reflect on later in your essay. Maybe you could try and walk us deeper through the reasons why you were so gravitated to scary media. Was it the triumph of not being afraid that was quickly squashed when the sun went down? Something else? If not, you could also connect it to the media you consume now. If you're still drawn to horror, you could talk about the shift from "children's horror" to what you like seeing today. If you're not into horror anymore, even better, tell us why. Honestly, I feel like you have an amazing jumping off point, you just gotta keep going. Well done! :)

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