Interesting... I've never looked at it that way before. Thank you!

Death is scary, for everyone. Its not a pleasant experience and there is so much that we don't know for sure. Even for Christians its a scary event. Death is our curse, so it isn't going to be pleasant. However, with God, there are comforts about it and we can even look to it with optimism. For those that walk with God, we get to be in his presence after we die in Paradise. At some point we will be reunited with our bodies and the heavens and earth will be remade and we will live forever in with God in perfected bodies.
I'm sure you know that we believe that the future after death is much more grim for those who do not walk with God, so I won't go into all of that here.

My advice would be to follow through and visit your local church. Ask to talk to the Pastor or one of the Elders because this kind of thing is much more appropriate in person.

My own suggestion is not to suppress this feeling. Follow it through. Death is scary and it is scary for a reason. We should see our end and look to God for our continuance, he has written eternity on our hearts. I also want to emphasize that, while faith itself is required, a "strong" faith isn't (depending on what you mean by that). Faith as small as a mustard seed is accepted (though we certainly ought to strive for more).

I'd also like to share a few verses with you:

"Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." -Romans 5:7-8

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." -Romans 8:18

"If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved." -Romans 10:9-10

"The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let the one who hears say, 'Come!' Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life." -Revelation 12:17

"Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them."
-Hebrews 7:25

"So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him." -Hebrews 9:28

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." -Ephesians 2:8-9

"If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;" -Philippians 1:22-23

"The Lord will rescue his servants; no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned." -Psalm 34:22

I hope this was a helpful start.

It's understandable to be fearful of the unknown. You mentioned being disengaged with religion until older, why was that? I realize each person's environment can vary greatly in terms of their overall walk and experience, so I'll speak from my understanding of the Christian faith. I'll walk through my rationale of why I'm not afraid and hope that will bring some measure of comfort. Bear with me as I unpack some background context...

I didn't come from a Christian upbringing and came to faith later in life. I understand that as an adopted child of God, I've been given a new standing in terms of a relationship with Him. While I am ever grateful for this new standing, I realize I have to cultivate this relationship for my faith to strengthen (sanctification). Left to my own devices, my own fears come back to take root. It's definitely not easy, but little by little, through honest introspection, challenging oneself to grow and over longer periods of time, the result has been a profound amount of peace. Why?

At some point in my walk, I genuinely realized how grace filled our Father is to us all. He is our righteousness, Him alone. Once I truly believed that, I sought out God to give Him my troubles and trusted He will walk me through all facets of my life, even unto the end. If I've trusted His leading all the way through, physical death becomes that natural next step on this side to move into everlasting spiritual joy with Him. Nothing on this side should compare, I'll be honest, I can't even comprehend what that means, but even so, I trust in God to not lead me astray and that is enough.

If that rationale doesn't satisfy, search out whether it's a trusting God's character or if it's not that, what you might be clinging on to physically (people left behind, unfinished dreams, accomplishments made, etc.) and see if it might be something to root out and work on.

The Bible does say that death is the ultimate enemy. You're in good company when you fear death, because it seems that most people do until they rest secure in Jesus. One of the primary reasons (if not THE primary reason) Jesus came to earth was to destroy death and overcome it with his life and love. Read Romans 7.7-8.39 and then also 1 Corinthians 15.12-58. There is never a reason for fear for those who are in Christ Jesus. Death has been stalled up and destroyed. It has no hold and holds no fear. 1 Thes. 4.13-18 assures us that death is an encouragement because we know the truth about the afterlife.

In the Bible death is not a cessation, but a transition. The afterlife is shown to Christians as the way it was always intended to be: glorious life in a love relationship with Jesus. The only people who have anything to fear are those who reject Christ, his life and his love. Their destiny is truly fearful.

Feel free to talk more.

I was going to visit my local church about this, but I figure I'd let you guys answer this while I sleep.

I've been having problems recently. I thought about death and the afterlife awhile ago, and ever since, I can't shake this thought that when we die, it's "lights out". It's been scaring me and depressing me and haunting me for a month.

I don't have very strong faith. I made the choice to disengage from religion until I was a bit older. I do believe in God, but.. death just scares me.

It's weird, I have no actual present danger or reason to be afraid of death, yet I am still. I can't be like this anymore, constantly afraid of death. It's miserable.

Any tips or information or responses are welcome here. Thank you.