Welcome to Sh*t That Scares People! A section of the paper where we ask you the community of UMass Boston about what scares the crap out of you all the most! Based off that, fears that garner the most answers will get a short poem dedicated to them.

Foreword: Something that I found while asking people about their fear is that you can find out how much something that scares someone by how quickly they respond when you ask them. When it comes to something they fear immensely, the response is almost instant. Almost as if they have been holding the thought in their heads all day actively avoiding the source. This posed an interesting problem. Some people responded differently whenever they were asked about what they fear as opposed to what they were scared of, and so I made a choice to separate the two; even though their definitions may mean the same.

Scare of the week: Spiders – Arachnophobia

Spiders, or Arachnids, have been a large part of creeping people out for a Long time. According to The British Journal, the earliest living spider relative could have lived 305 million years ago! Did they have eight legs? Eight eyes? For most people, that sounds like a recipe for disaster! Visually, spiders have a rather jagged and sharp appearance from both the points of their legs, and in certain species the hair on them, which doesn’t really help their case. When asked about spiders people tend to cringe up a little bit and mention how they break the “leg limit” for them. For some reason, people usually believe that anything more than four legs is an affront to humanity. One would think with the recent popularity of Spider Man that people might lighten up!

The spiders in my house are fast as hell

I Bet

No other insect could beat them in a race

I Bet

No other insect would look them in the face

I Bet

Spiders would be the meanest bastards alive if they could fly

I Bet

If they had a choice they would take into the sky

I Bet

If they had feelings they might be crying out of all eight eyes  

I Bet  

They would wonder why people simply don’t want them alive    

I could never tell you of a time where spiders flew

But if people wanted me dead just because of the way I looked I would learn to be fast as hell too   

Fear of the week: Death – Thanatophobia

In Greek mythos, Thanatos is a god of death, or more specifically the god of non-violent death. He would be the one to come for you if you were say, elderly or suffering from a chronic illness. Although, there were people who expressed that they were more afraid of how they would die, the majority of the people were afraid of death even as a concept. This piece is dedicated to a non-violent death.
Around the coffee table
I’m washing dishes on a Sunday
While my grandfather chats with a friend over card games and alcohol
They chatter about old friends they’ve survived
They talk about them as if they are so close  
As if they could call them over
Pluck them from the grave
And party through the night
Like they could hop in their car and visit their homes
Cruising street by street.
Reminiscing about memories on top of weathered seats
As they drink spilled drops of beer trickle on the carpet
Which sucks it up as if it was soil
Almost as if it was a tribute
An informal libation of joy
A celebration of Liberty