Submechanophobia is a fear of submerged human-made objects, either partially or entirely underwater.These objects could be shipwrecks, statues, animatronics as seen in theme parks, or old buildings, but also more mundane items such as buoys and miscellaneous debris.
I was going to be cliche here with a copy-and-paste of Webster’s Dictionary definition of the word “submechanophobia,” but it seems like it hasn’t been added yet, so you got the Wikipedia edition instead. Maybe not an “academic source,” but it works for a newsletter about horror all the same.
Anyway, this is one of those phobias that’s completely understandable for anybody to have. Underwater animatronics and statues, especially, seem to be a trigger for a lot of people. Things that shouldn’t be in the water, making lakes and ponds their homes.
The Statues
Statues in this category are actually insane. Some of them are specifically made to be underwater statues, while others are unfortunate artistry somehow lost to the depths.
The Shark
One example that spooks me to the core is the shark statue in Lake Neuchatel in Switzerland.
Apparently, this statue was originally a prop for a film called “Choc au lac,” created by Jeunesse de la Côte. You can see the film credited at the very bottom of their webpage.
This movie used to be available on YouTube, but has since been taken down. I believe there may be clips of the film still up, though.
I have to say, the divers in this photo are absolute chads. I can’t imagine swimming down into a lake to see whatever the hell this is and then proceed to brave it enough to get close to it.
The Legend of Camp Crystal Lake
But what if I told you there’s a scarier statue out there?
Let me introduce to the Jason Voorhees statue.
This statue was created by scuba enthusiast Doug Klein, and holy hell did he do a good job. Not only is this a brilliant reference to the sixth installment of the Friday the 13th franchise, but an overall great piece of work.
Still, I totally get why someone would be absolutely terrified of this. I mean, it’s literally a serial killer, and something like this just isn’t natural down there in the lake.
But as the legend says: people forget he’s down there.
The Underwater Museum
I have one more for you.
So, there’s an entire museum that you can only reach by scuba diving. It’s a really cool idea, but also just a little bit scary.
The Underwater Museum of Art is located near Walton County, Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. While the statues can be whimsy, beautiful, and emotional to some, others may find them to be the root of their nightmares.
And, while some may find this museum awfully scary, it does have a good message.
It was created with the intention of bringing awareness to environmental issues. By using art, people can see just how beautiful the ocean is, and might be more willing to help heal it.
The Animatronics
Robots and water just don’t mix. It’s like… unnatural. Cool. But unnatural.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
If I’m going to talk about underwater animatronics, I have to talk about Walt Disney World’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride. It was a ride in which guests entered submarines as their ride vehicle and voyaged down into the “ocean,” seeing animatronics of mermaids, serpents, and giant octopuses. If you’d like to learn more about it in depth, check out Defunctland.
I’m more so here to provide you with nightmare inducing images.
So, while the ride itself was underwater, and probably did scare some people while it was running, it’s the images of what happened to these animatronics after the ride closed that went viral.
Yeah, isn’t he just cute? Cuddly? Adorable?
No? Oh, yeah… I guess he is a little creepy.
So, basically, Disney let these animatronics kinda just… sit and rot for a little while. I couldn’t tell you why, but Disney actually has a tendency to do this. LoeyLane actually made an entire video on the subject, so there’s a lot of material.
The giant octopuses are just as creepy, although possibly even moreso considering they’re much more realistic. If you’re interested, check out 20kride’s photo archive to see some more spooky shots.
The Bunyip
Another famous face of the animatronic genre is Bert/Bertha the Bunyip, located under Murray Bridge in South Australia.
A lot of people don’t like this one. I can see why.
While it’s a neat piece of art from creator Dennis Newell, it’s also the thing of nightmares. Many children were terrified of this thing, as you could feed it 20 cents for Bertha to come out of the water and do her famous roar!
The animatronic has also changed over the years. Apparently, there were three of these, with the most current one being a little more friendly looking.
Sure, this one isn’t nearly as heart-stopping, but it still has some creep factor!
The Fake Jurassic Park Ride
As a kid, my parents would take me to Tennessee regularly for the Christmas holiday. It was our family vacation where we would chill in a cabin for a week, enjoying the mountains and tourist destinations.
One thing we would always pass while driving through Pigeon Forge was a ride called the “Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride.” A tourist trap, but also an obvious rip-off of the Jurassic Park River Adventure ride in the Universal Parks. As a kid though, I always wondered what it was like. Luckily, I never had the chance to get on it.
It wasn’t until I started watching Carpetbagger on YouTube that I finally saw what the ride really was. And, my god, it is horrifying.
Let me just say that this is the only thing on this list that genuinely sparks fear within me. I don’t have submechanophobia, but this ride? You couldn’t catch me on it even for a few hundred bucks.
There is something just… so unnerving about this ride. I don’t know if it’s the fact that it’s in complete darkness or what, but it just gives me bad vibes. There’s not even music. It’s just dinosaur noises and ran down animatronics trying not to drown in the water below them.
This dinosaur that you can see peeking from under the water now stays down there forever. So, I guess he’s rotting away until the ride one day gets drained.
The one image I must show you is possibly the worst one.
This one makes my skin crawl. I can’t tell you why. Again, it’s just… this ride. Something about it is not okay.
Final Thoughts
Well… that was that. Not much to say, huh?
Do you have submechanophobia? Did this help you figure out that you do?