Why are house centipedes so terrifying?
House centipedes are huge and scurry across bedroom walls or fall from the ceiling, triggering intense screams and panic despite being technically harmless. That horrifying look and unpredictability cause a visceral phobia that makes it impossible to stay calm around them.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1grabbing them and throwing them under the stove or washer
- 2shooing them away
- 3using a spray around the outside of the home that repels them
- 4ignoring them or leaving them alone because they are beneficial
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Logically I know this, emotionally im gone”source ↗
“I had one fall off the ceiling and into my pocket, core terrible memory lol”source ↗
“INKNOW. I SCREAMED.”source ↗
“Yea unfortunately I have them too. They’re terrifying looking but harmless thankfully. But I still hate them just by the look of them lol. They like to scurry across my bedroom walls and they’re huge.”source ↗
“Holy HELL. That’s a big ass centipede. I have a fear of those and told my psychology teacher I had senior year of high school. He thought I was crazy…”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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