As a child, there are always those handfuls of images or experiences that stick with you for the rest of your life. They can consist of something you've heard wrong from a parent, a weird commercial that was on television, a recurring nightmare, or really anything at all! For me, there are a plethora of these horrifying moments from my childhood that have stuck with me forever and shaped my fears as an adult. Read about five of them below (they're in no particular order) and try not to adopt them as your own.

1. The Crayon

When I was probably around eight years old or so, my family and I went out to Chili's for dinner. I always liked it there. The food was decent and the coloring books were fun. However, once we were seated at our table and given our crayons, my life changed forever. Now keep in mind, Chili's is not like Olive Garden where you get a new set of crayons from a basket every time you go. Chili's re-uses their crayons, which makes perfect sense sustainability-wise. Chili's should really be more like Olive Garden about their crayons, though (and maybe with the whole bread stick thing, too).

The orange crayon my sister and I were given to color with had the phrase, "I have hepatitis," written on it. How did someone fit that whole phrase on a crayon? Why did they even write that on a crayon? Did some kid really have hepatitis? Regardless, I didn't know what hepatitis was. So of course I asked my mother, the intensive care nurse who loves to tell graphic stories from work, about it. Needless to say, I was scarred for life and literally did not eat at Chili's again until I was an upperclassman in high school. Even then, I was reluctant to eat at Chili's, but at least I was old enough to not need crayons to entertain myself while waiting for food.

2. Kay Panabaker

When I was younger, I liked to walk in my mom's room while she was watching TV and would sometimes sit and watch with her. This wasn't always a good idea and I sometimes saw things that weren't always age appropriate. How else do you learn, though? Anyway, my mom was watching "Medium" one time when I was probably around 9 or 10 years old. It was the beginning of the episode and this girl who was played by Kay Panabaker was going to the doctor's office to get her knee looked at. She told her mom she was old enough to go in by herself, blah blah blah, and eventually the mom gets worried because the appointment seems to take too long.

She talks to someone at the desk and they go to the room her daughter is in and the door is locked! And boom! She is dead with her blood and guts everywhere! What kind of pediatrician's office is this?

I felt so uneasy, I had to leave the room immediately. I've always been anxious to go to the doctor's, but after this episode, I definitely didn't want to go into appointments alone for a very long time in fear that I would be sliced open for fun. How mature of me. In case you were wondering how Kay is doing now, she is alive and well and trains goats at Disney's Animal Kingdom. I got a picture of her doing a goat show, so that might have resolved my fear in some form.

3. Leeches

I have to be honest with you about this one, I'm not quite sure what exact incident spawned my extreme fear for leeches. It could have been an excerpt from the "Little House on the Prairie" novel, my sister's history poster about old forms of medicine, or even a story someone told me once. It doesn't matter, though—I literally cannot handle the sight or discussion of leeches. I couldn't even look up a picture to put here for you as a visual aid.

Freshman year of high school in biology class, we had to watch a video about leeches, maggots and bees. I don't know why they show it still, but it is known as the video that typically makes people queasy. Less than 10 minutes into the video, the screen projects an image of leeches squirming around in a jar and all of a sudden I felt like I was going to pass out. I asked to leave the room and to complete the alternative assignment in the library. It was super embarrassing. Another time, someone drew a leech on my desk once at summer school driver's ed, and I was haunted by the image for a week. Not only that, but I am deathly afraid of swimming in a river or a natural lake that may have leeches in them. I think I would die if I ever saw a real one in front of me.

4. Roller Coaster

Now this story is pretty mild compared to the rest, but it definitely freaked me out as a kid. When I was seven years old on a family vacation to Walt Disney World, we were discussing which ride we should go on next. I distinctly remember having just ridden Space Mountain (and loving it) and my parents suggested going on Goofy's Barnstormer next. However, I did not hear the words "barnstormer," I heard "brainstormer." So naturally, I pictured a stormy night with brains falling from the sky, or my brain being struck by lightening, etc. I couldn't imagine what kind of horrifying ride Goofy would build in a magical place like Disney World, so I was a little reluctant to go on the ride. I went on the coaster and had fun and everything was fine, but I couldn't stop picturing brainstorms for the rest of the day.

5. Nancy Drew

I used to spend a lot of time in the basement as a kid playing computer games. One of these games was Nancy Drew Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake. Because I was young and lacked many logic skills, I didn't know how to play this PC game the way you were supposed to. Add that to the fact that my basement is creepy, dark, and makes weird noises and you've got the perfect ingredients for a scarring moment! Right off the bat, this game has some creepy AF music and the house you (aka Nancy Drew) are staying in starts making scary noises. All of a sudden, this dog comes out and attacks the house!

And if you don't know how to play the game like I did, the dog keeps attacking the house every time it's nighttime in the game! I could not play this game, or any other Nancy Drew games, for years after experiencing this. And any time I had to go into the basement at night, I would be worried a ghost dog would show up and bite me. Don't get me wrong, I love dogs, but definitely not ghost dogs.

So what kind of irrational fears have stuck with you from childhood?