I just remembered how frightened of our basement I was whan I was small.
It was forbidden for me to go down there, which was good because it held a great many dangers for a little child; concrete steps with no railing, a workbench with dangerous tools, etc. I built it up in my mind to be a very scary place indeed.
When I got a little bit older, say 5 or 6, I remember jumpily going down there with my mother and jumping a foot in the air as the gas funace I was standing next to loudly WHOOSHED on.