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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More pop-up book recommendations

In Mommy? A Pop-Up Book we follow a young boy dressed in blue pajamas in search for his mother. Along his journey he meets a variety of monsters whom he must defeat in order to continue his quest. Of course these monsters are all very surprised by this strange encounter but they don’t seem to make any impression on this little kid at all… Is the boy not afraid? Not a bit! He only wants his mommy.

Mommy? A Pop-Up Book is available at Amazon

Mommy? is a stylized and unique pop-up book that features 6 wonderful pop-up spreads, each with a gatefold pop-up at the right-hand side of the page. Because of it’s relatively minor size, the large pop-up spreads will completely amaze you when you open the book’s pages. The illustrations are very detailed and vibrant, and together with the paper engineering skills from Matthew Reinhart monsters are popping out of the book in any possible direction!

The book has practically no words or story except for the question “mommy?”. Thanks to Maurice Sendak’s beautiful artwork the illustrations tell the story like no words can do. We all know Maurice Sendak from his beloved “Where the Wild Things Are” and this collabaration with Arthur Yorinks and paper engineer Matthew Reinhart, Mommy? is the first and only pop-up book title featuring his brilliant artwork.

The Raven: A Pop-Up Book is a dark and sinister, but beautiful pop-up title created by designer and paper engineer David Pelham. David Pelham, know from Trail: Paper Poetry Pop-Up, has done a great job creating pop-ups from the stunning illustrations of Christopher Wormell. It seems to be a more basic pop-up book but that’s not the case. The complex animation of pop-up’s and the clean style of engineering contributes in a modest way to the story and illustrations.

Amazon link: The Raven: A Pop-Up Book

The Raven is a poem about love, loss and madness written by Edgar Allan Poe. It’s beloved and known for its stylized use of language and mysterious atmosphere. It tells the story a mournful man who’s slowly falling into madness because of the dead of his love Lenore. Hurt by the loss of Lenore he has locked himself up in a mansion. It seems like he’s losing his mind when he starts to see the raven. The raven only speaks in one word as an answer for every question: “Nevermore”. The Raven poem goes deep, is dark and has all the ingredients of a classic folk story with a Gothic flavor.

Engineering

It seems to us that David Pelham engineered this pop-up book with great respect for both the story and artwork. In this book, all three segments are balanced and in proportion. The variation of used techniques and the effect of paper animation make this book a pop-up premium. Nowadays, when most pop-up books are stuffed with mini pop-up’s in pop-up spreads, you’ll almost forget how beautiful clean engineering can be. And that’s exactly what The Raven proves. The way pop-up’s merge with the backgrounds is almost seamless. Every spread is solid and pop’s in-and-out perfectly. The final page, that displays the mansion surrounded by waves, is spectacular and already one of our favorite pop-up spreads we’ve ever seen. Hidden behind the artwork, the story literally unfolds when you lift and read the flaps.

Artwork

Christopher Wormell’s illustrations are breathtaking! His classic technique of etching and engraving fits this 1845 poem perfectly. The deep black shadows and almost symmetric compositions create a surreal atmosphere. It’s not just the graphic style of crosshatchings that makes this book unique and gothic, but also the use of light, which creates extra depth to the pop-up’s is magnificent. Apart from the fact that this pop-up version of The Raven is unique, this must be the most beautiful illustrated version of this story ever made.

It will be no surprise that The Raven is no pop-up book for younger children. We think it’s a bit to dark for that. As an adult, you’ll enjoy The Raven even more. It brings the story to life in a way you’ve never seen before. Or should we say “nevermore”?

Special thanks to Abrams Books!

Order The Raven: A Pop-Up Book at Amazon: The Raven: A Pop-Up Book

Author: Edgar Allan Poe

Book design by David Pelham
Illustrated by Christopher Wormell
Published by Abrams Books