i would think crossing the street is more dangerous..  on the other hand, there are a lot of true stories about incredibly scary ghosts that haunt houses.  however there seems to be no connection between OOBE's and them, so have fun!

Greetings,

You have guidance and can ask for more protection. 
I've been here 1 1/2 years and don't recall any negative spirits showing up for any newbies.
Later when you get more experience , your range of possibilities broaden. You won't get shown any unpleasant areas  from what I've read, but only when you ask for them or need to expand your knowledge more. I came with alot of fear, so my guidance has  v e r y  slowly increased my range of capability, making sure I digest what I previously encounter in a helpful way.
  Some goofy-looking like forms have shown up to people who were so experienced that they had moved out of human realms and were meeting life forms of other types. They found that a goofy appearance did not make  monsters, just differences.
The over-all principle working in this is the energy we call love or better PUL (Pure Unconditional Love.) 

Bets

that makes me laff Nomad, about the old lady. if you do pop out and there is a mean old lady spirit she wouldn't be anymore dangerous then a physical mean old lady and you could simply make yourself wake up. waking up from such an experience is involuntary anyway. its how we deal with unpleasant experiences, we blink in and out of consciousness this way.
Don't go out if you don't feel ready. you can grow spiritually just from reading books or meditating. also Bets is right, you can ask for protection and it's best to ask for guidance for the highest good to occur, this way you won't get in trouble. treat it as an adventure in growth where you are the creator of your adventure.
love, alysia
ps. I never met anything I couldn't handle. once I did meet a cartoonish monster chasing me about, but all I had to do was sqaure off with it, and it dissolved. nothing can really harm you, its only the physical body is subject to injury. hope this helps.

Ryans right. its more fun than a barrel of monkeys! forgot to mention that! heres more little advice, just try rolling over in bed; if one of you is facing the opposite direction from the physical, then thats an awakening experience in its own right. also you could try thrusting your hand thru the wall, see what thats like and report back..that was fun too. its like the wall is jello, its solid at first, then just push gently thru it. then you know you're having an obe. love, alysia

Cool. I think I'm far from all this, though. I was just wondering about what hazards were out there. Maybe I should read a book though and learn more about how beings interact there and how things work there and all. What book is good for a newcomer? Something that's really straightforward?

I have gotten near to OOBE a few times, mostly when not trying and not expecting it. It felt literally like reality was rocketing away, and I could feel a loud noise, like an internal earthquake. I ended up becoming frightened though, and it always stopped. It's intense just lying in bed relaxing then all the sudden out of nowhere you're bombarded by so much. I hope I'll get past that for starters.

Hello Nomad 00:

I wouldn't assume there aren't any unfriendly spirits you can run into. Even if you limit things to a TMI perspective, Robert Monroe wrote in his third book that he was told by the inspec (his guides) that there are spirits who used to be human that can influence people in a negative way. The inspec told him they aren't smarter than him; however, they have a lot of experience.  The inspec also told Robert that there are some unfriendly alien beings. Therefore, if one goes out of body, one should be discriminating about who they communicate with.

The inspec also told Robert that he is absolutely safe.  This leads to the natural conclusion that one can't be influenced by a negative minded spirit if one is spiritually developed enough. I've had experiences and received messages from my guidance which told me that if you keep your vibrational rate at a higher rate than an unfriendly spirit, they can't harm you. Being open to love is a key way of keeping your vibrational rate up. It is also a matter of keeping your energy balanced, and making certain that you don't do anything to have energetic breaks within your energy system. It is also important to not have any negative tendencies of mind such an addiction or anger, so unfriendly spirits don't have anything to prey on. It also helps to have a connection to spirits who represent the light.

Robert Monroe found that his guides helped him go out of body for years, without his knowing about it.  I too found that my guides helped me go out body during my initial experiences without my realizing it. I haven't gone out of body to the extent Robert Monroe has done so.

I've found that spiritual growth tends to progress quite different that you expect. One is likely to find that going out of body a lot isn't a big need. We have all of eternity to explore the astral realms. For many, spiritual growth is much more important.

You might consider Bruce Moen's method of exploration. I used to go out of body with all the effects, but eventually found this isn't necessary.