I'm not afraid of much and I love horror, but I have a bad problem with Thalassophobia. That's the fear of the ocean, but it's a little more specific than that. It's the fear of the vast open darkness of the sea.
I'm ok looking at a pool, or a clear water lake, or shallow waters in a beach. Even in a larger lake, as long as it's bright and I can see the bottom, I'm cool. It's the vast area and the darkness that gets to me. If I'm in a boat, I absolutely will NOT, EVER put a single foot down in the water. The thought of my feet dangling with the vast nothingness beneath, just the thought is giving me a knot in the stomach. I can deal with it quite wonderfully for a phobia, like, I can still swim in a deep pool at night if I'm distracted by other things, like other people. I can get into a trampolin pool no problem, but if I think about it, I start feeling sick. I need to look down at the pool and stare at the bottom tilesl and see everything beneath my feet for long enough to calm down. Don't ask me to get in a trampoline pool at night, when I can't see the bottom. I won't do it.
Also, even when I can see the bottom of the ocean, shipwrecks are HORRENDOUS, because I still can't see what's around or inside the ship, and everything around it is still vast and empty and dark. I probably first noticed this fear it in the
shipwreck level of Mario 64. I could never finish that level, my whole childhood.
If you need some sort of example, googling thalassophobia gives some horrendous images of the sea that make me sick. Some beautiful videos of the ocean that are supposed to be soothing are also things I can't watch without curling into a ball. Little Nightmare's
The Depths DLC is my worst nightmare come true. The rest of the game was a breeze (as I said, I love horror themes and I'm not fearful), but it took me a stuffed animal and a blanket and watching someone's gameplay first to gather courage and talking to myself the whole time to go through it.
edit:
HYDRUS FROM SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS.
GOD IT TOOK ME HOURS STARING AT THAT STUPID EEL SWIMMING AROUND AND AROUND UNTIL I GOT THE COURAGE TO EVEN GET IN THE WATER. AND I WAS 19. AND IT'S JUST A VIDEOGAME. I SWEAR I TRIED TO FIND A WAY TO DEFEAT IT JUST BY THROWING ARROWS IN THE WATER FOR A GOOD 30 MINUTES JUST SO I WOULDNT HAVE TO GO INSIDE. A GROWN 19 YEAR OLD WOMAN AFRAID OF A VIDEOGAME. I LOOKED AWAY WHEN THE INTRO VIDEO PLAYED. I CANT DEAL WITH THAT STUPID FIGHT.