Shopkeepers can polymorph into forms that don't let them do their jobs.
Madness string 111266
Hat man phenomenon. It's a very common sleep deprivation/sleep paralysis hallucination. It's actually pretty interesting, since it's only been common for a few decades, likely due to movies involving tall scary men with hats.
If spiders aren't taking over the world and planning to enslave us all then why am I afraid of spiders? Answer me that, huh? Why am I afraid?