9781422280607

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Chapter One

Fear of the Dark

The most basic nighttime fear is fear of darkness itself. Fear of the dark is both common and ancient. Our earliest ancestors had good reason to fear the nighttime. Many predators hunt when the sun is down, hiding in the shadows to snatch up their prey. In fact, when we talk about our fear of the dark, we aren’t even really calling our fear by the right name! It’s not darkness that’s scary, really—it’s the fact that darkness can hide things that are scary. You might hear a noise, but you can’t see what caused it. You might see a shadow, but you can’t tell what’s making it. Plus, it is often much quieter at night than it is during the day. That means that sounds are amplified —they seem even louder than they would when the sun is shining. Again, this all goes back to our ancient ancestors. Evolution has taught us to be on alert when we can’t see what’s going on.

Words to Understand

amplified: made louder. phobia: extreme fear of a particular thing. predators: hunters. pressurized: to put under pressure, meaning some kind of physical force.