This law student is so scared of spiders that she has to sleep with an anti-spider tent attached to her bed.
After a terrifying experience with a spider on her bed, Estella Kyriacou, decided that she would never allow that to happen again and after staying with her flatmate for a few months, she came up with a plan to keep those pesky arachnids away.
She found a tent online which she added to her bed frame and now, won’t sleep in her flat bedroom without it.
Estella, from London, UK, said: “I literally sleep in this tent that’s sealed on the bottom. I think it’s a malaria net.
“So you put your bedding on top of it. It’s completely sealed and I haven’t seen any spiders since, so it makes me feel very comfortable.
“I just don’t like spiders at all. It’s a phobia.
“I was sleeping with my flatmate for a while when the tent wasn’t there. So, I would say it’s probably a bad habit now and I know I have this tent, so I do sleep better.”
When Estella first moved to another flat in London, she was rudely met with a large spider who crawled onto her bed, causing a huge panic which she says woke everyone up.
Originally from Toronto, Canada, Estella was looking forward to life in her new London room, but her huge fear of spiders was making things difficult.
Estella was that fearful of the spiders and ‘Daddy Long Legs’ that she had to share her flat mate’s room – that was until she came across a tent online.
Originally a malaria tent, costing just £34, she attached her new purchase to her bed, completely sealed around her bedding.
Now, the tent has become a staple part of her bedroom over the past five months and Estella won’t sleep in her room without it.
She claimed that it is surprisingly comfortable and makes her feel cosy and safe in the thoughts that no spiders would be joining her throughout the night.
She said: “One night, when I first moved in, a spider crawled on my bed, I attract them too, because they know I’m scared of them, and I freaked out at 4am. I woke my flat up.
“We couldn’t find it, so I slept with my flatmate for three months and I was like, I’m not going in that room. Screw that.
“We also had one on my bed, and then I went into my room one day and there was one on the wall, right where my head would be, but I just went and saw it.
“Then, I thought we can’t sleep together every night. So, I bought this tent because I’m really impulsive.”
Estella added: “I really like it. It’s cozy and it’s not that uncomfortable.
“I think because I’m kind of strange, and for people who know me, that know I’m strange, it’s not weird for myself and others.
“When I go on vacation, I obviously don’t need to sleep in a tent but in my flat, I think it makes me feel better.
“It doesn’t come off. It’s attached to the bed at the bottom of the bed, and my bedding is on top of it, so it’s made for the bed.”
Estella believes that you can conquer certain fears as she also dislikes flying but that does not stop her from getting on a plane and calming her nerves.
However, she struggles to overcome her spider fear, she added: “I love nature, which is really weird. Like, I love being outdoors. I like hiking. I like being in places where these bugs come.
“I was sleeping with my flatmate for a while when the tent wasn’t there.
“So I would say it’s probably a bad habit now and I know I have this tent, I do sleep better.”