As a fiction writer, my best stuff, the stuff that the limited collection of faithful readers that actually seem to enjoy the most, is the fodder of fear. Tales of terror from the dark side…stories about ghostly visitors on stormy nights, haunted highways and the primal feelings that men keep hidden in their minds…and hearts…and souls. The stuff we should be afraid of meeting in the dark. The monsters we fear are lurking under our beds.

But what are we really frightened of?

Ghosts?  Alien abduction? Spiders or tight spaces?

Death?

Ghost and vampires and werewolves and zombies almost always bring death. Is death what scares us most?

The reality is that more often it’s the things of life that terrify us more than the worries of death. Surveys reveal that, for most of us, it is the everyday occurrences that frighten us most.  Thoughts of public speaking and going to the dentist make our blood run colder that the prospect of bogeymen in a dark alley.

Do we fear life more than death?