When I was a kid I worried (a lot) that someone would break in to our house at night and I would be kidnapped. I have no idea why I felt this way. This was in the late 70’s…before Adam Walsh and before “I Know My First Name Is Steven”…and I can’t recall anything that would have sparked this fear. While most kids avoided nighttime monsters by hiding completely under their monster repellant covers, I was worried about burglars ransacking our house and thinking that I would be a better haul than my mom’s jewelry. I would have two pillows under the covers on either side of me as some sort of camouflage effort to make it appear as though there wasn’t a little boy in the bed.
There was one person that I was particularly afraid of: a villain from a movie who had no remorse, no concept of mercy, and would take what he wanted by any means necessary. General Zod.
I remember kneeling on floor of my bedroom, staring for hours at a picture of General Zod in my Superman II Movie Book, committing the image to memory in case I ever saw him on the street and thinking, “There’s nothing I can do to stop him.” The fact that he was a movie character never broke though my fear. Why General Zod, who was bent on destroying Superman and ruling the world, would even need me…for anything…is just ridiculous. But it didn’t seem so ridiculous back then.
As much of an impact the movie Star Wars had on me, and as much as Darth Vader deservers to be #1 on TimesOnline 50 Best Movie Villains List, it was General Zod who haunted a portion of my childhood.
Textual Intercourse 
July 1, 2009 at 6:09 pm
I had the same fear,but we called him the boogie man. I worried incessantely about kidnapping because someone did try to get me as a child. Of course now, no one would want me. LOL!
Do you still fear General Zod?
July 1, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Hey, Pam. Thanks for leaving a comment.
I’m happy to say that I no longer fear General Zod. It wasn’t long after that my 10-year-old brain came to terms with the fact that Zod was fictional and that it was just a job for Terence Stamp (the actor behind Zod).
July 20, 2009 at 11:08 pm
I have similar fears as well, and they seem to be getting worse and worse as I age actually. Im 18 now and i have a long, drawn out bed time routine every night. I have to check every door in my house to see if they’re all locked and I have to be the last one in bed to make sure that none of my family members open them. I also always have to check in my closet before I go to bed and every time I use the bathroom no matter what time of day it is i check behind the shower curtain to make sure no one is there. Sometimes i will lay in bed and just think about what I would do if someone did actually break in and I have the plan mapped out in my head and i probably go over it at least once a week. My greatest fear is that I will never be able to overcome my obsession. I am about ready to go off to college and live in dorms and soon apartments and have children and I fear i will never be able to have a normal life without being scared. I have no idea how to live the life i want to live.
July 21, 2009 at 1:22 am
Yowza, Shelby.
I wish I knew what to say to that. I can’t imagine feeling that way all the time. I hope that you can get a handle on your problem.
November 18, 2010 at 9:32 am
those plastic shower curtains are very cheap and you can install it easily without sweat “`~
December 9, 2010 at 3:30 am
I have a horrible obsession of burglars. Not so much them kidnapping me, more like killing me. I live in metro st. Louis (the most dangerous city in the U.S.) and I make sure the doors are locked, and I leave lights on, and I too check behind the shower curtain, the closets, behind doors, just to make sure. At night I have my 14 month old son next to me in bed, with the bedroom door locked and a gun next to the bed and I just lay here awake, waiting. I freak out to even the smallest crick in the floor. When I was a young child a man started banging on my window and yelling. Then after my husband and I got married he used to hover over me as I was sleeping. Then to top it all off, just last year an acquaintance of mine was stabbed to death (25 times) when she was alone in her home. I live in sheer terror, afraid to go to sleep at night. We don’t live in a dangerous neighborhood. I’m just so scared.
January 4, 2013 at 1:29 am
Wow i never realized so many people had the same fear as me. Im thirteen and i read some word in a book. it was scelerophobia and i found out its basically the fear of bad guys. i have been afraid of burglars, murderers and anything simuler as long as i can remember. kind of like you were afraid of General Zod i used to be terrified of lord voldemort from harry potter. i simply had to have my curtains closed and all the drawers shut before i went to sleep ’cause i thought that would keep him out. i used to have nightmears about him all the time. i’m happy im no longer afraid of him but i’m still terrified of real living bad people. leaning out my window to shut it late at night scares me and every creek and bump in the night sends my heart racing. walking my dog late at night leaves me so scared it takes my at least twenty minutes to recover. i dont think ill ever stop worring, but i hope it gets easyer.
January 14, 2013 at 7:19 pm
i have scelerophobia and i am trying to overcome it. But it is very hard,