––Name an irrational fear worse than yours.

Evenson: As irrational fears go, it could be a lot worse in that, unless one works for Tyson’s, one doesn’t have to frequently interact with raw chicken.  There are a lot of fears that would be much worse.  I think agoraphobia is a lot worse.

Grossman: If you have a phobia—and I’m always surprised at how many people do—then you’ll have the same gut reaction I do: THERE IS NOTHING WORSE. But I know that’s not true. I pull rank on people who are afraid of flying, since most of them don’t fly every day, whereas I see people eat every day. But somewhere out there there’s probably somebody who’s afraid of breathing, or blinking, or the sound of their own heartbeat. That would be worse.

McCracken: Cats?  Toddlers?  Canned baked beans?  Boxes of douche?  Plenty, probably.

Shteyngart: Some people fear mammals like hamsters or beavers. Those are ridiculous fears because these are all nice animals who mean you no harm.


Jaime Clarke is the author of the novel WE’RE SO FAMOUS, editor of DON’T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME: CONTEMPORARY WRITERS ON THE FILMS OF JOHN HUGHES, and co-founder of POST ROAD, a national literary magazine based out of New York and Boston