What was supposed to be an unsuspecting summer day after a room renovation turned into a horrifying scene for junior Megan Pannell when she saw a spider under her bed covers.

That summer in 2023 was the first time she was back in her room in months.

“I was moving back [to my room] after my bathroom was getting renovated. As I was stripping my bed, I pulled back the main cover to see this giant spider, half the size of my palm, scurry under my pillows. I started crying and screaming for my parents to kill it,” Pannell said.

Due to her phobia, Pannell says seeing the spider caused her to spiral out in fear that it would run all over her room.

“[I thought] maybe it climbed somewhere else,” she said.

Pannell’s fear of spiders started at a young age.

“When I was six, [I went to] a national park in North Carolina and there was a giant spider. My dad pointed it out to me and I refused to touch the ground because I was so scared,” Pannell said.

In addition to the physical factor, Pannell said her lack of knowledge on them increases her fear.

“I find their appearance quite off-putting, but it’s also just the fact that if you get bit by a spider, you don’t know if it’s venomous,” she said. “It’s the unknown element of [whether] it’s really harmful or not that I’m not a big fan of.”

Despite her fear, Pannell’s friends have made many attempts to persuade her to like spiders.

“My friends would often pull up pictures of cute spiders. That would be their ploy of ‘spiders aren’t that scary’,” she said.

Having a friend with a pet tarantula didn’t make the situation any better for Pannell.

“[My friend]’s favorite thing to do was bring it out. He would try to put it on my arm,” Pannell said.

Despite the many attempts made by her friends, Pannel still fears spiders.

“I see that they just wanted me to like spiders, but I just don’t like them,” Pannell said.