A Highly Irrational Phobia

OK, this is going to seem a strange post in the middle of a skincare blog. When I had my old blog here, I wrote an entry on the fear of windmills and pylons. Basically, I’m still getting a lot of google hits to the (now deleted) article, so I’ve decided to repost it here so that people will still find the information they are after.

So, I was just browsing through the blogs of local people over at BritBlog and came upon an entry that touched me greatly. This poor blogger has an irrational fear of windmills - and not just any windmills, but specifically ones with sails. Now most people will probably snicker at such a revelation, but not me. You see, I have an irrational fear of something that one is likely to stumble upon while driving through the countryside as well. The name of this horror? Electricity pylons.

Now these things absolutely terrify me. I figure it’s something to do with my intense fear of heights and slight agoraphobia, cause where do you see these awful metal monstrosities? Yup, in the open and stretching miles into the sky. OK, miles is an exaggeration, but it may as well be true. It could also have something to do with those make-you-crap-yourself adverts I saw as a child, warning you not to touch electricity or you’ll die. Anyway, I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve turned a corner to find one looming down at me. Twilight is the worst time, because they take on this menacing silhouette against the darkening sky. I even shiver as I pass under the lines, if it’s quiet I can hear the faint buzzing of the power going through. *shudder*

To top it all off, I even have the occasional nightmare about them. Sometimes they come marching across the countryside at me, other times they fall down into my path and crush me. I think they’re possessed. You’re all looking in entirely the wrong place for the Anti-Christ - it’s name is National Grid.

Now this will surprise you though - for all my fear and loathing of pylons, I used to enjoy visiting a very unusual website dedicated to them called Pylon of the Month which is sadly now offline. Perhaps it’s because of the sheer silliness, or because I like to punish myself in some way, who knows? But strangely, I do have a weird kind of fascination and even admiration for them. Now I’d love to know what a psychiatrist makes of that!

Personal Diary | Becky | February 5, 2008

46 Comments

By Laura, March 24, 2008 @ 8:11 pm

I TOTALLY know what you mean! I am terrified of windmills, water towers and am not too keen on pylons either. It’s so weird. I used to just think they were eerie but the other day I drove past the Shirley windmill in Croydon in the dark and it made me feel physically sick. I also know what you mean about still having to look at them too. I found out that they have windmill open days and I am even considering going to one. It’s horrible!
By Becky, March 30, 2008 @ 3:04 pm

Hi Laura,

Sounds like you’ve got quite a strong phobia there. I also don’t like tall objects in open spaces but pylons are my main fear. I can cope with seeing them as long as they don’t surprise me lol. :D
By Sarah, April 4, 2008 @ 9:08 pm

I know exactly what you mean. I have an INTENSE fear of windmills and ceiling fans. I can’t function around them. I have to walk around them if stores have them, it can get pretty frustrating if I want something located directly under one… Windmills kill me too. I can’t drive by them or even see them on TV or in pictures without getting upset by them. No idea why but its pretty hardcore. I had to be lead around with a coat on my head when I went to the rock and roll hall of fame because theres a huge one right next door… I can’t help but glance if I see/know they’re there… It drives me nuts. But I will in no way go out of my way to visit one… I have nightmares all the time, but those are usually about huge ceiling fans and not windmills….so glad to know I’m not alone! I get teased all the time ~_~
By janet, April 22, 2008 @ 3:53 pm

I also have a dreadful fear of pylons. My worst nightmare came true last weekend as i walked around grafham water with friends when we turned a corner and a huge one loomed down in front of me. my friends managed to help me get past it but then told me there was about a half a mile stretch of them in front of me that i had to go pass to get back to the car. I felt i couldn’t turn back because of the one i’d just miraculously passed but i also felt i couldn’t go forward. I had visions of a helicopter having to come down and rescue me! in the end with alot patience and persuasion they managed to get me pass them. Its even making me shudder by just writing about it now. So, if you dont like pylons i’d give that place a wide berth.
By Laura, April 22, 2008 @ 4:42 pm

I was in a business park in Dartford the other day and it was riddled with pylons and the wires streched really low above the pavement, all you could hear was this deafening buzzing and crackling from the electricity. If I was as scared of them as I am of windmills I think I would have had a heart attack! ;-0
By Lola, April 24, 2008 @ 10:17 pm

I hate hate hate pylons, and have nightmares about them too. I had the terrors while in Venice, where there was a huge building that looked like a KKK mask. I couldn’t look at it, and had to know we were well past it before getting my head out of a dark spot. Horrible. I’m not afraid of heights though, just large things *shrugs*
By Laura, May 29, 2008 @ 9:54 pm

Did anyone see The One Show the other night? It had a report on pylons and everyone was going on about the pylon appreciation society website, I went on it and there are some really horrible ones. It’s becoming all the rage to be a pylon spotter!
By Claire, June 13, 2008 @ 7:17 pm

I have total total pylon phobia and its not just the pylons its the wires between, last time I walked under some I was physically sick all over the roadside so I know where your coming from. I even get freaked out driving past them, I have lots of nightmares too usually about being trapped by them and having to climb over the wires to get out. Its ruined so many walks for me having to turn back so now I get someone to lead me under them from about half a mile away, I keep my eyes shut, plug my ears and make sure they dont tell me when we are getting close. It has to be someone I trust but it works for me.
Some one suggested to me that it may be because of the arm bits as they might remind me of the daleks but Im sure the evil humming has more to do with it.
By Lyndsey, June 20, 2008 @ 8:28 am

I thought I was the only one! I have been known to have panic attacks if I come across one while walking in the countryside. I feel so stupid but I’m honestly terrified of them! And I’m even more terrified of elecrticity sub-stations. Just thinking about seeing one makes me feel agitated. I need to get over it because I want to move to the countryside but I’m so scared I just don’t know where to start!
By Claire, June 22, 2008 @ 10:01 pm

I just found out the other day that pylons are marked on maps usually a line with little crosses on it, now Im always going to check before I go somewhere new.
By tara, June 30, 2008 @ 7:45 pm

Whats a fear of pylons even called?
By Jules, July 2, 2008 @ 11:29 pm

I’m very glad to see other people with a fear of pylons. the last place i worked i had to go to rotherham, uk. and theres a plant and im not kidding you cannot avoid them.and all my colleagues were laughing at me and taking the mickey. I dont know why i hate em so much they are just nasty. i cant help but look at them when i see em but they make me feel so sick.
By janet, July 3, 2008 @ 10:15 pm

i have mentioned before that i really hate pylons but i didn’t mention that i am just as scared of things like those huge water cooling towers and those big gas tanks (like the ones near the oval cricket ground)- i think with me its always to do with large industrial structures - does anyone else out there feel the same way as me?
By Laura, July 4, 2008 @ 11:49 am

Definately, I have never seen the gas tanks at oval but I will have to look out for them now! I think I am the same, any ugly industrial eye sore. I especially hate windmills and the ones out at sea are even scarier!!!
By Dawn, July 21, 2008 @ 12:32 am

And I thought I was the only one…..

I have an intense fear of windmills. I have had this for as long as I can remember. Somebody mentioned the fear of large buildings/objects in a wide open space….yup, can totally relate to that.

Not too keen on lighthouses and wind turbines either. The Angel of the North completely freaks me out too. But it’s your old fashioned windmills that do me in the most. If I have to travel anywhere I check to see if there are any on route. I avoid Norfolk like the plague.

I’ve done EVERYTHING to try and combat it. Visited them, sat by them and had a picnic….but I still hate them. My worst nightmare is that Kinderdijk place in Holland…..makes me shudder just thinking about it. 30 odd windmills in one area.

Tower mills freak me out more than post mills. Windmills just seem to jump out at you from nowhere in this country….big black buggers with white sails……I’m going to stop know because i’m freaking myself out by writing about it.

So glad other people have this fear. I totally get the pylons thing too. We should form a group or something.
By Kate, August 10, 2008 @ 11:33 pm

I only just found this website and i really thought i was the only one scared of pylons, i really am scared of them and had quite a few incidents where ive been too scared and walked back on my walks through the countryside. nice to know im not the only one,I’m scared of all big indutrail type structures.
By Dawn, August 11, 2008 @ 5:10 pm

I just came back from my hols in sunny West Sussex and visited 4 windmills…..yes 4!!! Still put the willies up me like nothing else but I have this morbid obsession with seeking them out. I walked right beneath the sails of one which were literally inches above my head (Selsey Mill) and it completely freaked me out.

I even took a detour on the way home and visited the windmill at Rottingdean (nr Brighton) which is, I suspect, the windmill that started my phobia off 36 years ago!!! Nasty nasty nasty bugger that it is!!!

But I think I was extremely brave! Still hate them tho :o)
By Laura, August 11, 2008 @ 5:53 pm

I don’t know how you physically managed to stand that close, I don’t think my legs would have let me! I feel the same as you though, they freak me out so much but I would still actively seek them out… I have no idea why. It’s a very unusaul reaction to a phobia…
By Laura, August 11, 2008 @ 6:00 pm

I just googled that windmill at Rottingdean and it is officially the ugliest one I have ever seen and it’s completely black. It’s horrible, cringe!!!
By Dawn, August 12, 2008 @ 9:17 am

Exactly (regarding Rottingdean)!! The worst thing is it’s on the coastal road coming out of Brighton towards Peacehaven/Newhaven and it is on a golf course - no trees, no bushes, nothing, just an expanse of space and that big black horror in the middle of it against the sky……and on the other side is the edge of the cliffs and then the sea….so it’s literally the biggest thing around…….horrible!! I wouldn’t get out of the car - my other half had to take the photo!

I’m making up an album of photo’s on my facebook page devoted to all the windmills I’ve visited in the UK. I’m determined to visit all of them even tho I hate them! One of the worst I’ve seen (apart from Rottingdean) is the one at Diss in Norfolk, it’s huge!!!! I’m gonna try to get to see Sibley Arms mill in Lincolnshire too…..it is huge, black and has 8 sails!!!*shudders*
By Dawn, August 12, 2008 @ 9:20 am

I have to see quickly tho that after seeing Rottingdean Windmill (how strange, I don’t even like looking at or typing the word ‘windmill’) whilst travelling away from it a bit further down the road I had a delayed panic attack……you would think I would learn by now!
By Emma, September 1, 2008 @ 3:37 pm

Oh my goodness thank god I am not alone. I too have the most terribe fear of windmills and thought I was going crazy! I have spent the whole weekend trying to google this and find out if anybody else had the same probelm as me. I too live in Brighton. I think this is only a recent fear for me but thankfully I do not pass too many. It was only the other week when I had to drive down Mill Road and I saw the windmill on the lefthand side in my vision. I panicked and felt sick and had to get past it as quickly as I could even though I had a distinct urge to keep looking at it whilst driving! Then the other day I had to drive past the Rottingdean Windmill, well it was the worst windmill I have ever seen, big ugly scary black, sinister and massive sails. There must be a psychological reason for this!! maybe we should all meet up and conquer this together, the thought of standing near one though makes me feel sick and feint!
I am so glad I am not alone…..Emma
By Crys, September 6, 2008 @ 1:42 pm

Oh my god.. I was cwondering what the fear of Pylons was called but i came across this site! I NEVER ever thought I would meet other people scared of pylons!

I am so scared of them it’s unreal.. especialy the ones that turn a corner.. i have to walk past 1 to work every cday and what makes it worse is that I have to look the other way and it open out into a massive field uhhit’s just horrible I cant even explain!

I know what every1 means about the winmills and things like that. I sanyone also scared of those massive metal things that plunge in2 the sea.. Omg they scare me too! :(

But I say get differnt pylons.. ones that aren’t every where lol!!

Glad im not the onlt one wit this weird fear!!!!
Dont feel so odd! :)
By Jules ...again, September 8, 2008 @ 4:12 pm

i just wanted to ask, is anyone afarid of the eiffel tower in france? cos i think it looks like a huge pylon with no wires????? intrested to hear your thoughts
By Laura Williams, September 8, 2008 @ 5:05 pm

Well if they weren’t then they are now! He he! You have a point… ;-)
By Katy Lee, September 8, 2008 @ 6:18 pm

Yes, i would be very scring seeing the eiffel tower, and blackpool! aahh never going there
By janet willcock, September 9, 2008 @ 12:57 pm

The eiffel tower is the mother of all pylons to me. I am sure i would literally die of fright if had to go any where near. Its my main reason for not going to Paris incase i somehow ended up near it.
By Alex, September 11, 2008 @ 9:35 am

Good grief. I was just looking for a fear of pylons on the web too and came across this site. I’m stunned that there are so many of us frightened by the things. Wonder what it is? I have virtually imagined them walking across fields as well. But the worst is going round a corner and seeing one. This scared the dickens out of me! Weird or what. Glad that I’m not alone.
By Jules ...again, September 11, 2008 @ 5:21 pm

haha well im not afraid of blackpool tower cos it doesnt really look like a pylon cos u cant see the base . LOL
By Claire, September 12, 2008 @ 1:47 pm

re the eifel tower thing, I thought Id feel scared of it and was dreading taking my kids to Paris but we actually walked right underneath it and I was only a little freaked out. its so huge that once you get close its not like a pylon at all.
By janet, September 12, 2008 @ 7:05 pm

re the eiffel tower. Thats interesting and very encouraging to hear. Maybe one day I will go there!!
By danielle, September 19, 2008 @ 3:17 am

I have been scared of pylons soince i was a little girl and i think I have just got a job where i have to walk past 1 on a bridge over a motorway im going to throw up or just run across it each time.the thing about the eiffel tower yeah it was scarey to look at from the bottom but i went up it and didnt feel like i was in a giant pylon though walking down to the bottom again i couldnt look around me and nearly cried glad to see people understand lol. high chimneys and industrial things, such as harland and wolff in belfast scare me too.
By Dawn, September 19, 2008 @ 7:44 am

just googled the harland and woolf thing…… *shudder*
By danielle, September 20, 2008 @ 3:07 pm

lol i walked past them from about 50 metres away yesterday was ok as there was a wall between us though you could still see them ovbiously hahahah the pylons are the worst i was watching them on youtube
By Linda, October 6, 2008 @ 6:10 pm

I was sent a picture of an oil rig during a storm and a man took a picture of lightning and at that very moment between the lighting and the oil rig was a perfect tornado. Totally took my breath away and brought out my phobia of tall objects. I don’t have problems looking at things from miles away but If I get close enough to them that I have to look up I get sick to my stomach and can’t breath. I belive my phobia started when I was young. My friends and I would hang upside down from the monkey bars which were located underneath a water tower. Sometimes the clouds would move across the sky making the tower look like it is falling. Visiting down town Chicago about pushes me over. Is there a name for this phobia?
By Laura Williams, October 6, 2008 @ 7:10 pm

That picture is horrile but apparently it’s a fake (thank goodness). Water towers are really eerie and I can see how that started things with you. I’m not scared of tall objects generally but I must admit that when in down town Chicago there is something unnerving about looking up and not being able to see the sky! No idea about the proper name for these phobias…
By Jo, October 17, 2008 @ 10:56 am

omg im not alone! yes pilons are def freaky but im also scared of huge satellites, big gas tanks, large clock faces (like big ben). With all these things I would have to fairly close to be scared but still I seem to torture myself with my imagination such as falling into the middle of a huge satellite dish etc.URGH!! Just the thought of it! Im not sure about windmills but maybe ive not seen one big enough to scare me or been close to one whilst it was moving. I also dont like the huge letters of the Hollywood sign (or all the structure required behind each letter). Watched a film once where people were sat on the letters (Urgh!) Am I alone in all this or does anybody else understand where Im coming from? There must be a name for this phobia besides me just being a freak lol.
By Debbie, October 29, 2008 @ 3:56 am

I’m so happy I’m not alone on this one. Powerlines absolutely freak me out. I can’t even look at them if I’m driving in the car. I shield my eyes from it. I also hate windmills and anything industrial. I’m glad I don’t live near any oil refineries because all those pipes and tanks would cause me to have a panic attack.
By Dawn, October 30, 2008 @ 8:23 pm

I just came back from a trip up north for half term and I visited two windmills whilst I was there. I actually got to see the Sibsey Trader Mill (I wrongly called it Sibley before) and it has 6 sails (I wrongly said 8 before too). It was big. It was OK from a distance but as I got closer it began to freak me out.

I also visited Mount Pleasant Windmill in Kirton Lindsey. Only 4 sails this time thankfully but I sat in the tea shop right underneath it. It’s a commercial windmill and the guy who looks after it was there and was really brilliant - we chatted to him for ages - took a lot of the scary edge off it.

Just thought I’d let you guys know how I got on….
By Jo, November 8, 2008 @ 8:01 pm

http://www.gorge.org/pylons/japan/street-supply.jpg

check out this ugly horrific picture, my boyf had to take it off the screen for me. Dont ask me y I had to look in the first place!
By Michelle, December 23, 2008 @ 3:00 am

Another one here with fear of windmills, I think it was originally triggered by the particularly sinister one in Rye (horrible spiky sails, just horrible) and I have since moved on to fear of all windmills in general. The one in Whitstable is also rather horrific, I can’t look at it, and I’ve never even been close up!
Also… tall buildings in open spaces… can relate to that one too although they’re not as bad as windmills. Shame really, because I’ve always been fascinated by the Burj al Arab in pictures yet I bet if I was ever lucky enough to go there for real it’d trigger the random phobia.

I really thought I was the only one! Hello all :)
By Dawn, December 23, 2008 @ 8:53 am

Turned over the telly the other day and at that precise moment ’Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ was on with a shot of the windmill…..my heart nearly jumped out of my throat!
By Z, January 2, 2009 @ 4:00 pm

I thought I was alone with my pylon phobia… and then found this place! I don’t like the wires either and the buzzing noise freaks me out.

If I visit a store with a pylon nearby I have to park away from it, I can’t park under (th ewires) or near it and I certainly can’t walk under the wires!

I too wonder whether it’s to do with the Frisbee-in-the-substation adverts that were on TV when I was a kid.

Some friends often do country walks and I have to check beforehand if there are pylons or over head wires nearby.

Oddly, the wooden 3-phase pylons don’t bother me.

I have also had bad dreams about them, normally that I live in a house and then they (national grid?) put a pylon next to the house, in one dream I had them on 3 sides!
By Ravyn, January 5, 2009 @ 2:41 pm

Its so good to know that other people have phobias of similar things!

Pylons used to scare me a lot as a child (who else remembers the adverts where the pylons uproot themselves and go tromping across the countryside…. brrr they gave me nightmares for weeks) here’s the link to it on youtube if you feel like torturing yourself http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jXPu6I9IHR4 . I’m not keen on pylons but these days its wind turbines that make me break out in a cold sweat and want to curl up into a ball.

They’re just a horrible combination of freakishly tall, looming industrial constructs which also have sharp, heavy looking spinning blades on them and they almost always come in groups all moving slightly out of synch and make that horrible swishing noise…. aargh >.< It doesn’t help that I don’t like other rotating blades either (ceiling and desk fans, chainsaws, helicopter blades).
Having to drive through Cornwall for my job is just horrible when they suddenly appear over the crest of a hill or loom out of the fog *shudders*

I don’t know if my phobia includes windmills as I have never seen one for real, and I didn’t realise my fear of wind turbines until I did (TV and pictures just don’t do them justice), hopefully I’ll not find out.
By Dawn, January 5, 2009 @ 6:26 pm

Did anyone see that TV programme last week on Weirdest Phobias??

There was a woman on there who had a phobia of man made structures in open spaces…….oh, how I related to her!! There was a HUGE television mast on the Yorkshire Moors that she had to approach and touch - it was nasty! Even got me breaking out in a sweat and I was only watching it on the telly!!!!

She finally did it altho she was in tears and I my heart really went out to her. I was thinking that I should get in contact with the TV company and let them know about our little forum here….let that poor woman know she’s not alone in her phobia.