I do not like bugs, but I am not phobic about them. At least I’m not now. Entomophobia, or the fear of insects, can be used in your writing to give others chills.
ticks on finger, flickr
Acarophobia is the fear of those little bugs that have the potential to make you itch. A person with this phobia would fear mites, scabies, ticks, lice, fleas, and possibly other small bugs. I have experienced acarophobia two times in my life, and it is no fun at all.
The first time was when one of my children’s friends brought lice into my house. I never in a million years thought that these annoying little creatures would attack me. Surely my super-thick hair was a barrier to them. I was so wrong. Once I discovered that I had them too, panic followed. Just the thought that those little creatures were crawling around on my head gave me nightmares. A lot of my hair was cut off. I even considered shaving my head. That was vetoed by my husband though. I did finally banish the lice from me by using mayonnaise. I do not want to live through that again. After those vile creatures had been gone for a few weeks, the nightmares quit, the fear left, and I was able to sleep peacefully again.
adult male flea, flickr
The second time acarophobia came around, it was due to fleas. The jumping little bloodsuckers come to us straight from hell. The little monsters had developed immunity to the things I had been using to keep them away. Until I figured out how to rid my pets and my house of these little bloodsuckers, I kept about sixty or more bites at a time.
If you want your character to absolutely lose his mind, a flea or lice infestation should do the trick. The mind is a powerful thing. It can trick a person into believing that the bugs are crawling all over him even after they have left.
purple beetles, darkminion2.deviantart.com
Entomophobia or insectophobia is a really bad fear of insects. A person with entomophobia wouldn’t just move away from the insect he spotted, he would run as far away from it as he could. He could become faint, and it could be hard for him to breathe. I really wanted to find a name for the fear of beetles, but this was the closest I could find.
I have never really had entomophobia, but I have had an experience with a certain bug. It was a beetle. If it had happened time and time again, I very well could have developed this phobia.
On a beautiful summer day when I was around ten years old, one of these insects, a beetle, decided that it really liked my hair and wanted a closer look. So what did it do? I was out on the back porch of our house with my parents and brothers. This beetle landed on my head and buried itself in my hair. When it started crawling around on my head, I felt it then. My stepmom couldn’t find it at first. She told me I was imagining things. At my insistence, she kept looking, and after several different attempts to find the bug I insisted was in my hair, she finally found it and pulled it off my head.
I don’t remember that incident giving me nightmares or anything, but it did creep me out really bad. I could say that is the reason I decided to use beetles in Softly and Tenderly, but it isn’t. Beetles are attracted to dead bodies. And the beetles I used in my story are rather special. I do not like beetles, and I would prefer to never see one again, but I have learned some fascinating things about them.
There are 12,000 different types of beetles in just the United States. Ladybugs and fireflies are types of beetles. I find that amazing. Fireflies, or lightning bugs, are fun to catch in the summer. Ladybugs I could do without, but I never associated them with the beetles that thrive on carrion.
Could a person with entomophobia pick and choose what types of bugs they were afraid of? Could they possibly like to catch fireflies on a warm summer night, yet still have a deadly fear of beetles? Would a person with entopmophobia become a forensic entomologist?
dermestid beetles cleaning a human skull, wikipedia
A person with entomophobia would most likely freak if he was to find a dead body that had beetles crawling out of it. I don’t think there are too many people who would remain calm in such a situation. Entomophobia can be used in your writing to really give people the creeps and to make them not want to sit in the dark while they read your story.
Have you ever had any experiences with bugs that give others the chills when you talk about them? Has the relating of your experience ever caused someone to have nightmares? If so, then you have the perfect story to tell.
If you would like to see how I used beetles in my story, below is a link that will take you to where you can read part one of Softly and Tenderly for free. I have also provided a link to Amazon where you can buy the complete book and read the rest of Lori’s story.
Softly and Tenderly: the Beginning
Amazon Link: Softly and Tenderly
Recommended Articles:
Dystychiphobia and Other Phobias
Omphalophobia, the Fear of Belly Buttons
Myrmecophobia, the Fear of Ants
Nebulaphobia, the Fear of Fog
Weather Phobias
