Human Brain's reaction to Scary Stuff

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Despite knowing it hurts less than most of the pricks I tend to though through almost everyday, the thought of a small metallic needle breaching my skin is a big no-no to me.

I feel ya man I was in hospital once for a week or so and they put one of those catheter thingies into my arm. Those things aren't even needles, they're made of soft plastic, I know, but I still couldn't shake the fear that as soon as I moved my arm, it would stab right through my flesh >.< So I spent the whole week holding my arm perfectly stiff, making sure to not even move a single finger. Horrible cramps in my arm were the result and I couldn't sleep either. -.-

You brought up the dark - such a fear (or paranoia as you described) is a learned behavior. In scary movies/games, nothing legitimately scary ever happens during the day, but only during the night. We humans with our ever wandering imaginations make the connection between the fictional events and reality, leading to yet another irrational fear.

I think another reason is simply that the darkness deprives us of our primary sense - sight. Humans are not very good at hearing or smelling, so without our most important sense for sensing danger, we're much more vulnerable and thus more on edge than we would be in the light.

I find it interesting how instictive behaviour can be seen in people playing scary games. For example, many people will often try to have a wall in their back and will rather move along the walls than through the middle of a room. Thats the same behaviour you can observe in a lot of animals (especially small and vulnerable ones like mice).