Automatonophobia for Dummies
A fear of human-like figures
I remember as a child, perhaps six-years-old or so, watching a ventriloquist on TV and being terrified. The names of the dummy and his master are lost in the mists of time, but the finale of their act is not. What frightened me was the dummy’s stubborn refusal to get into its suitcase at the end of the act. It put up a fierce struggle, all the while engaging in an argument with the ventriloquist. It scared the wits out of me, but my younger brother, a mere tot, fared worse; he left the room in tears.
Easier to Understand
Automatonophobia, the fear of human-like figures, including ventriloquists’ dummies, is somewhat easier to understand than those phobias that are triggered by things that do not appear to hold any menace. For example, pogonophobia, a fear of beards, and koumpounophobia, a fear of buttons, are difficult to comprehend for those of us not suffering from the affliction. Ventriloquists’ dummies, on the other hand, can generate an air of creepiness, as the opening paragraph shows, and so a fear of them is understandable.
Ventriloquism is an ancient practice. The word means ‘speak from the belly’, and it is made up of the Latin words venter (belly) loqui (speak). A master ventriloquist can engage in fast paced banter with his or her dummy, creating…
