I can only speak for myself here, I hate spiders and have been known to run out of a room and shut the door behind me ( cus er... they cant get under them ?? ) when i see one. and for me what really does it is the legs, the way they move so quick all the legs. If they are still then maybe i can just about cope, but if they run, its finished. Hope this helps

If you have ever been bitten by a brown recluse spider, you would not be asking this question. one fell down my shirt and bit me between my shoulder blades. a volcano-type of sore developed, with a black core. The emergency room doctor gave me a towel. i asked. "whats this for?" he stated, "muffler"! they could not deaden the skin, since the bite was so close to my spinal cord. so.....i screamed as the cold blade of the knife began cutting away the poision. I now have a very deep respect for spiders, any spider. the more dead, the better. never again.

Arachnophobia is a specific phobia, an abnormal fear of spiders. With an estimated half of all women, and a quarter of all men in the United States[citation needed], it is among the most common of phobias. The reactions of arachnophobics often seem irrational to others (and sometimes to the sufferers themselves). People with arachnophobia tend to feel uneasy in any area they believe could harbor spiders or that has visible signs of their presence, such as webs. If they see a spider they may not enter the general vicinity until they have overcome the panic attack that is often associated with their phobia. They may feel humiliated if such episodes happen in the presence of peers or family members. The fear of spiders can be treated by any of the general techniques suggested for specific phobias. Arachnophobia is, in many cases, the result of a traumatizing encounter with spiders in one's early childhood, though the experience may not be remembered [citation needed]. An evolutionary reason for the phobias, such as arachnophobia, claustrophobia, fear of snakes or mice, etc. remains unresolved. One view, especially held in evolutionary psychology, is that sufferers might gain some survival edge, by avoiding the dangers. Spiders, for instance, being relatively small, don?t fit the usual criteria for a threat in the animal kingdom where size is a key factor, but most species are venomous, and some are lethal. Arachnophobes will spare no effort to make sure that their whereabouts are spider-free, hence reducing sharply the risk of being bitten. The alternative view is that the dangers, such as from spiders, are overrated and not sufficient to influence evolution. Instead, inheriting phobias would have restrictive and debilitating effects upon survival, rather than being an aid. For example, there are no deadly spiders native to central and northern Europe that could exert an evolutionary pressure, yet that is where the strongest fear for spiders began, suggesting cultural learning. In contrast, many non-European cultures generally do not fear spiders, and for some communities such as in Papua New Guinea and South America, spiders are included in traditional foods.

Because they are such unique and precisely methodical predators. Most of them build a web - a trap of sorts that is invisible to their bumbling prey. When the prey stumbles into the web the fear begins - the spider quickly approaches and grapples with the struggling victim - entangling the victim with more and more web. At its first safe opportunity the spider moves in for a quick bite - injecting a numbing poison. In some cases it kills quickly, but more often it paralyzes without killing completely. The poison may have a preservative effect and the victim may still be alive while begins to snack on it. The victim may be eaten more quickly if the spider is hungry, but if the spider has a few insect victims it may eat one while letting the other dangle miserably until the spider is ready for its next meal. I think we empathize sometimes with the 'victims' of the spider, and it's methods seem more terrifying than most predators. We are just lucky they are mostly very small and harmless (to humans). If they were the size of a large dog, we would live in fear of them.

We fear what we don't understand.

We fear what we don't understand. It is as simple as that.

I think part of it could be that spiders have been demonized. in all the story books, that spider is allways evil &/or sly & devious. the spider is allways going to eat the little mouse or other cute critter. Children are brought up to think that spiders, snakes & certain other animals are scary.

beacuse they can kill u! and they do look pretty scary lol! Have great day

I am scared of spi-- wait,no -- I am ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED of spiders. I'm the kind who would rather stay in the bathroom for hours, unable to get out, because there's a spider just a couple of feet away from the doorknob. Although I would normally agree with a proverb like "We fear what we do not understand", I think I'll have to disagree with it on this one. I read all about arachnids from National Geographic, and know that most of them are absolutely harmless. Still, there's no way you'll get me to touch that damn doorknob.

Simply put: They are just so damn creepy looking! 8 legs? What the hell is that? Plus the erratic and quick way they move. And the ones that jump? Terrifying.