CASE 01
The Itch
The itching under my cast became unbearable, so I cut it off myself.
Something inside my arm had already cut a hole to get out.
FEAR FILE · 10 CASES
Entomophobia
Fear of insects.
CASE 02
The Itch
The itching under my cast became unbearable, so I cut it off early.
Dozens of tiny fingerprints covered my skin from the inside out.
CASE 03
The Ants
A line of ants crawled across my bathroom floor and arranged themselves into a word.
They spelled RUN before disappearing beneath my bedroom door.
CASE 04
The Moths
Hundreds of moths covered the outside of my bedroom window every night for a week.
Tonight they are on the inside, all facing the closet.
CASE 05
The Bite
The mosquito bite on my arm kept swelling long after the itching stopped.
This morning something underneath it blinked.
CASE 06
Inside the Wall
The exterminator said the buzzing in my bedroom wall was too loud to be a normal wasp nest.
When he drilled the first hole, the buzzing formed my name.
CASE 07
Night Camera
I set a camera beside the kitchen to find out where the cockroaches were coming from.
The recording shows them crawling out of my mouth while I sleep.
CASE 08
Eight Legs
I watched a spider disappear into the sleeve of my coat and shook it out for ten minutes.
When I put the coat on, something tapped eight times from inside my wrist.
CASE 09
The Clicking
The doctor found nothing in my ear despite the clicking sound that kept me awake.
He stopped smiling when the clicking answered from his own ear.
CASE 10
The Flies
Flies began gathering on one empty spot in every family photograph hanging in the hall.
Yesterday a new photograph appeared there with me lying in that spot.