"Present ____ / Are less than horrible imaginings” (Hamlet) (5)
I believe the answer is:
fears
'less than horrible imaginings hamlet' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'present are' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
an anagram of 'are' is 'ear' which is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for fears that I've seen before include "Apprehensions" , "Concerns, dreads" , "Is afraid of" .)