Don't be put off too much by the horror stories, for every one of them there are thousands of smooth transactions. One of the biggest shocks I got with Bitcoin was realising how much cotton wool had been wrapped around online financial dealing. Just use the same kind of common sense and judgement as you would when dealing in cash, getting someone you know to do your exchanges for you until you get comfortable is definitely a good move.
Thanks! I'm not put off. I'm actually very grateful that I found this forum and started reading and posting before jumping into the BTC pool. ATM, there IS no shallow end! (grin)