Idioms of Fear on Halloween night

It was brought to my attention today that I actually have readers who check my blog. And therefore they have seen zero tidbits for over two months. My sincerest apologies. I now have a true incentive to post. Thank you, Tandil!

It's Halloween. It seems to have grown more and more popular here in BsAs in the last few years. Or it's just a good excuse for the bars and "Cotillons" to earn an extra buck. Well, nevertheless, I am going to share some great "idioms of fear" from a BBC Learning English special:

1. Shaking like a leaf: (usually in continuous tenses)

2. Scared stiff

3. It sends shivers down my spine.

All express fear. Let's see how:

1) to shake a lot because you are nervous or frightened (usually in continuous tenses)

I saw her just before her talk and she was shaking like a leaf.

2) extremely frightened

When kids go trick-or-treating alone, it's often the parents that are scared stiff.

3) to make someone feel very frightened or excited

One of horror cinema's most terrifying villains, the image of Michael Myers still sends shivers down my spine.

My own "idiom of fear" story happened just today. Perfect for Halloween. I was at work. I came upstairs after lunch. I checked my cell phone. I had a text message from my husband that sent shivers down my spine. It said, "Estoy en una emergencia. Ayudenme." I was too scared stiff for a second to even think of what to do. Shaking like a leaf, I called his cell phone. He answered. He sounded fine. He said he was on the bus and had no idea what I was talking about. Turns out, he programmed an emergency function on his cell phone when he first bought it. If you press a certain button several times in a row it sends a text message to an emergency contact (me). Not so scary after all.

Tell me about a time that made you shake like a leaf, scared stiff, or sent shivers down your spine!

Sources: freedictionary.com, patch.com, whatculture.com