Famed Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen is recognised around the world for his books such as The Ugly Duckling, Thumbelina and The Little Match Girl.
However, only a few know that he had a lot of phobias. According to his biographer Jackie Wullschlager, Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen was deathly afraid of being buried alive. He spent his final days at the home of his friends Dorothea and Moritz Melchior in Copenhagen, and as the end neared, begged Dorothea to cut his veins after he’d breathed what appeared to be his last breath. Dorothea “joked that he could do as he had often done, and leave a note saying ‘I only appear to be dead’ beside him.”
The note was a fixture of Andersen’s bedside table—some say he even wore it around his neck. Andersen was more than a little neurotic, and being buried alive was far from his only fear. No matter how remote the possibility, the thought of being buried alive is ghastly. It’s not so much the fear of death as it is the fear of waking up trapped in a grave. Once that fear takes hold of one’s consciousness, it can become an obsession. According to Wullschlager, he also traveled with a rope in his luggage because he was afraid of fire, was terrified of dogs, and refused to eat pork out of fear of trichinosis.
Credit : Nea Orama
Picture Credit : Google
