Spiders are the worst. I'm not generally afraid of spiders, but there's a kind that carries a sac on its back full of little baby spiders, and when you whack the mother, thousands of little baby spiders suddenly spawn. I use a mozzie-zapper on those nowadays.
I am not even afraid to admit that I'm like a little girl when it comes to spiders. But those things sound awful.
Orb spiders were something I had not seen until I moved this side of Birmingham, they're beneficial as they eat a bunch of pests. But the ass on them always terrified me that and the huge fucking webs they build make you feel like Frodo in Return of the King. Last two summers I haven't seen them though, smarter people than me say the harsh winters have killed them off pretty bad.
Also, "mozzie-zapper" is that like one of those tennis racket looking zappers?