Are you scared of clowns, spiders or heights? Does a visit to the dentist make you sweat or maybe you have nightmares about being buried alive? You better watch out because it’s all in this book! We kick off this Halloween with a scary all-time pop-up classic by Paper Engineer Matthew Reinhart. The notorious and frightening Pop-up Book of Phobias takes you on a real trip trough all kinds of phobias like claustrophobia, arachnophobia, acrophobia and seven more nerve-wracking phobias you probably never heard of before.
“All your worst nightmares made frighteningly real…”
You’ll experience this book from a “first-person view” what makes it even more uncomfortable to open up the pages. The phobias pop-ups create great depth effects and animation. Combined with the artwork, it’s pretty realistic and a three-dimensional treat for anyone who loves horror movies or thrillers.
Dentophobia
However, it has been suggested that use of the term dentophobia should not be used for people who do not feel that their fears are excessive or unreasonable, and instead resemble individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder, caused by previous traumatic dental experiences.
Aerophobia
Fear of flying is a fear of being on an airplane (aeroplane), or other flying vehicle, such as a helicopter, while in flight. It is also referred to as flying phobia, flight phobia, aviophobia or aerophobia (although the last also means a fear of drafts or of fresh air).
Ophidiophobia
About a third of adult humans are ophidiophobic, making this the most common reported phobia. Scientists have theorised that mammals may have an innate reaction to snakes, which was vital for their survival as it allowed such dangerous threats to be identified immediately.
Claustrophobia
Claustrophobia is the fear of being enclosed in a small space or room and unable to escape. It can be triggered by many situations or stimuli, including elevators crowded to capacity, windowless rooms, small cars, and even tight-necked clothing, but you can also get picked up in one of the best limousines and feel stuck.
Mysophobia
Mysophobia, also known as verminophobia, germophobia, germaphobia, bacillophobia and bacteriophobia, is a pathological fear of contamination and germs. The term was coined by William A. Hammond in 1879 when describing a case of obsessive repeatedly washing one’s hands.
Glossophobia
Glossophobia or speech anxiety is the fear of public speaking. The word glossophobia derives from the Greek glossa, meaning tongue, and phobos, fear or dread. Some people have this specific phobia, while others may also have broader social phobia or social anxiety disorder.
Arachnophobia
People with arachnophobia tend to feel uneasy in any area they believe could harbor spiders or that has visible signs of their presence, such as webs. If arachnophobics see a spider, they may not enter the general vicinity until they have overcome the panic attack that is often associated with their phobia.
Acrophobia
Acrophobia (from the Greek: ákron, meaning “peak, summit, edge” and phóbos, “fear”) is an extreme or irrational fear or phobia of heights, especially when one is not particularly high up. It belongs to a category of specific phobias called space and motion discomfort.
Coulrophobia
Clown costumes tend to exaggerate the facial features and some body parts, such as hands and feet and noses. This can be read as monstrous or deformed as easily as it can be read as comical. The significant aberrations in a clown’s face may alter a person’s appearance so much that it enters the so-called uncanny valley
Necrophobia
Necrophobia is a specific phobia which is the irrational fear of dead things as well as things associated with death (e.g., coffins, tombstones, funerals, cemeteries). With all types of emotions, obsession with death becomes evident in both fascination and objectification.
Source: Wikipedia
This adult pop-up title, published in 1999, showed a whole new and original way of interaction with pop-ups and gained a lot attention when people started to share it over the internet. The pop-up book of Phobias is written by stand-up comedian Gary Greenberg and illustrated by Balvis Rubess. It’s also one of the very first pop-up books engineered by Matthew Reinhart. In 2001 a sequel (and just as scary) pop-up book followed with the title: The Pop-up Book of Nightmares. Created by the same team and also a collectable classic.
Out of print
The downside of the story is that there hasn’t been a reprint of this book for a while… There are some used and new books on Amazon for sale but like any collectable, you’ll have to pay a price for it. So let’s hope that 2019 brings us a 20 year anniversary reprint of this timeless pop-up classic!
Order at Amazon: The Pop-Up Book of Phobias
Paper engineering by Matthew Reinhart
Written by Gary Greenberg
Illustrated by Balvis Rubess
Produced by Melcher Media
Published by Rob Weisbach Books
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Scary!
Our review
Realistic and a three-dimensional treat for anyone who loves horror movies or thrillers.