Drama student has terror of costumed attackers

As the giant furry dolphin lumbered across the street towards her, Sharnie Christie felt certain she was about to be attacked. Shaking, heart racing and finding it difficult to breathe, she ran down a side street to escape the huge aquatic mammal. The 19-year-old said it was then she realised her phobia of people in fancy dress was out of control.

Miss Christie, of Watercress Close, Seal, Kent, first became frightened of humans in costumes, a condition known as Metamfiezomaiophobia, when she was nine years old and on a ghost train in France. She said: "Someone in a Scream costume was behind me as part of the ride. They were touching my hair and undoing my hair clip. I just started sobbing. Since then, I've been scared but it wasn't until the dolphin that it dawned on me how much it affects my life."



The teenager was in Maidstone when she saw someone dressed up as the sea creature promoting a product. She added: "It could have been anybody in that costume and that's what gets me. When someone is in fancy dress, you don't know who it is and I'm convinced they're going to attack me." Miss Christie is a drama student at K College in Tonbridge and admitted her fear has caused problems in her studies.

She said: "People think it's quite funny that I'm studying something that means I'm around people in costume all the time. I have to watch people get dressed in costume to reassure myself that I know who they are. My friends and family think it's funny and always point people in fancy dress out to me or try to make me go up to them. But I'm terrified and I can't help it."