Phobias may develop for a variety of reasons: childhood experiences, past traumatic experiences, brain chemistry, genetics or learned behaviour.

Here is a selection of some of the more unusual phobias:

Alektorophobia: fear of chickens
Apeirophobia: fear of infinity, eternity, and the uncountable
Arachibutyrophobia: fear of having peanut butter stick to the roof of your mouth [Ed: Hmm … quite specific]
Arithmophobia: fear of numbers
Atelophobia: fear of imperfection
Atychiphobia: fear of failure
Aurophobia: fear of gold [Ed: Really?]
Autophobia: fear of being alone
Belonephobia: fear of pins and needles
Carcinophobia: fear of cancer
Cherophobia: fear of happiness [Ed: Get over it]
Chorophobia: fear of dancing
Coimetrophobia: fear of cemeteries
Consecotaleophobia: fear of chopsticks
Coprophobia: fear of faeces or defecation
Coulrophobia: fear of clowns
Dentophobia: fear of dentists
Emetophobia: fear of vomiting
Frigophobia: fear of becoming too cold
Genuphobia: fear of knees or the act of kneeling
Gephyrophobia: fear of crossing bridges [Ed: One of Remo’s if driving car]
Globophobia: fear of balloons
Halitophobia: fear of bad breath
Keraunothnetophobia: fear of falling satellites
Koumpounophobia: fear of buttons on clothing
Leukophobia: fear of the colour white
Nomophobia: fear of being out of mobile phone contact
Octophobia: fear of the number 8
Omphalophobia: fear of belly buttons
Ophthalmophobia: fear of being stared at
Optophobia: fear of opening one’s eyes [Ed. This wins the prize for most inconvenient]
Panphobia: fear of everything or constant fear of an unknown cause [Ed: A really bad one to have]
Papaphobia: fear of the pope
Papyrophobia: fear of paper
Paruresis: fear of urinating in public places or in the presence of others
Pentheraphobia: fear of mother-in-laws
Phagophobia: fear of swallowing
Phobophobia: fear of phobias [Ed: Our favourite]
Pogonophobia: fear of beards
Pterpnophobia: fear of being tickled with feathers
Samhainophobia: fear of Halloween
Teratophobia: fear of giving birth to a monster or a disfigured foetus
Trypophobia: fear of clustered patterns of holes
Turophobia: fear of cheese
Venustraphobia: fear of beautiful women
Zoophobia: fear of animals

… and Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia: fear of the number 666!

Story Idea: Remo Giuffré

Personal Postscript

When I was living in New York in the 1980s I had a girlfriend who had a phobia about encountering dead birds … not such a common occurrence you would have thought, and therefore not super inconvenient. However, from a distance there are many things that, although likely not, MIGHT turn out to be a dead bird. Therefore, we did much crossing of roads together.
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References

wikipedia.org/wiki/Phobia
wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_phobias
Schott's Original Miscellany

Images

1. Woman diagnosed with panphobia, from Alexander Morison's 1843 book The Physiognomy of Mental Diseases
2. Nomophobia on the Rise graphic. Credit: wilsonelectronics.com.
3. Paruresis = Shy bladder syndrome
4. Pogonophobia beer? Credit: magicrockbrewing.com/products/pogonophobia
5 & 6. Credit: kickstarter.com/projects/amandus/phobophobia-fear-of-all-fears
7. Video: How to Pronounce Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia (Fear of Number 666)