Ah, the 1970s—a time of disco fever, bell-bottoms, and some truly bizarre childhood fears. Picture this: you’re a kid with feathered hair, rocking a polyester jumpsuit, but instead of worrying about Wi-Fi signals or getting enough likes on social media, you’re petrified of dangers lurking in everyday places and mysterious forces beyond your control.

Looking back, it seems bonkers, but the zeitgeist of the 1970s produced some pretty strange fears in the youth of the era. If you grew up in the 70s, you will relate to having these fears:

1. Quicksand

Movies, TV shows, and cartoons of the era frequently depicted quicksand as a pervasive and deadly hazard. It was often shown swallowing up characters who accidentally stumbled into it, leading many kids to believe it was a common and dangerous threat they might encounter in the wild. The house I grew up in had woods behind the house and whenever I went into the woods I was always on the lookout for quicksand!

2. The Bermuda Triangle

Stories of mysterious disappearances of ships and planes in the Bermuda Triangle were widely reported and discussed in the 1970s. The idea of a triangular region in the Atlantic Ocean where everything vanished without a trace captured kids’ imaginations and fears, making them wary of this enigmatic area. I remember going on vacation with my family to South Florida as a child and worrying that we were going to be close to the Bermuda Triangle.

3. Piranhas

In 1978, the low-budget B-list movie “Piranha” was released and became a cult classic. The success of the movie led to piranhas making their way into the plots of other movies and TV shows. As a result, kids of the era were terrified that swimming in any body of water could result in a deadly encounter with a school of piranhas. I remember, as a kid, being scared of swimming in lakes and rivers due to fears about a possible piranha attack. Crazy.

4. Escalators

In the 1970s, there were some highly publicized reports of gruesome escalator accidents — usually people getting their clothes or hair caught in the moving steps, resulting in mangled body parts or even death. I remember, as a kid, approaching escalators with trepidation and viewing the moving steps like they were teeth that might eat me. Due to the high-profile accidents, improved safety regulations for escalators were issued and design improvements were made so that now escalator accidents are rare.

5. Bigfoot

In 1967 the Patterson-Gilmin film was released that purported to show a hairy ape-like creature that became known as “Bigfoot.” The idea of a mysterious creature that lurked in the woods grabbed the imagination of the public and resulted in Bigfoot or Sasquatches being featured in TV shows and in films like The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972), The Legend of Big Foot (1976), and Sasquatch: The Legend of Bigfoot (1977). Thus, if you were a kid in the 1970s, you probably were scared of Bigfoot. I remember being worried about being attacked by Bigfoot whenever I went camping as a kid.

6. UFO Abductions

Stories of UFO sightings predate the 1970s, with the Roswell UFO incident occurring in 1947 and a host of highly publicized UFO sightings in the 1950s and 1960s, including ones around Area 51. However, the 1970s saw a surge in interest in extraterrestrial life and UFO sightings. Movies, TV shows, and books about alien abductions and visits from other planets sparked fears of being taken by aliens. I remember as a kid being terrified of being abducted by aliens in my sleep (and, to be fair, this fear continued into adulthood for me, LOL).

7. Stranger Danger

The term “stranger danger” became a buzzword in the 1970s due to some high-profile kidnappings and sensational stories of serial killers like John Wayne Gacy and Ted Bundy. As a result, parents and schools warned kids to be wary of strangers. Stranger danger fears rolled into the 1980s with the rise of putting missing children on milk cartons. Yes, you’d be sitting there at school eating your lunch and reading about some kid that went missing — presumably kidnapped. It was terrifying. Famed pediatrician Benjamin Spock spoke out against the missing kid milk carton campaign claiming that it was emotionally distressing for kids and thus did more harm than good. Here’s what these missing kid milk cartons looked like: