Nightmares and why I am up at 5:45 am on a weekend

[Cpu46]

So as you can probably gather from the title, I just had a nightmare and as a result am up a good 3 to 4 hours before I even normally start to wake up and now I can't fall back asleep. What could I have dreamt about to wake me up and send all my adrenal glands into overtime?

Sharks, out of all the horror and eldritch abominations I could have dreamt about it had to be Sharks. I would have taken facing down Cthulhu with a rusty spoon over sharks. Sharks combine my three greatest fears: Being hunted, drowning, and being so far outside of my element that my chances of survival even without being hunted by a ferocious predator is highly improbable. I don't care how many sharks actually attack people, I don't care how irrational it is, I hate having dreams about those swimming tooth factories.

The dream in question had me in a jaws like scenario, but instead of having the old shark hunter and scientist I had a boatful of drunken teenagers. Sharks attack, I fall off boat, boat disappears, great now I have the lesser fear of abandonment in a dangerous situation thrown in and three 15 foot sharks after me. Yea, add in the usual 'I can't move fast in a dream syndrome' and there was lots of imaginary teeth and blood and for some reason me surviving to be attacked again. Now after I woke up from this sea of terror I easily recognized that I was in my dorm room, however the paranoia that if I went back to sleep I would drop right into that same sequence kept me from falling asleep. The fact that my dorm room was lit in that odd shade of underwater blue that horror films love to use because it looks dark but still lets everyone see what is going on didn't help me to calm down despite my brain rationalizing as fast as it could.


So escapist, what is your nightmare scenario and when was the last time you had it?

 

[ReservoirAngel]

The last time I had my ultimate nightmare scenario was a couple of weeks ago.

My ultimate nightmare, basically, is being trapped in a confined space with either a person or (in the case of the most recent dream) a monster/creature of some description that won't leave you alone and just wants to hurt you.

So yeah...it didn't start out as a nightmare but I ended up going from normal dream to finding myself locked in a small room with no doors or windows. Then the monster arrived (in this case a weird mummy/werewolf-hybrid thing) and started trying to attack me. I managed to avoid it for a long while, but then it grabbed me by the throat and slammed me into a wall.

Cue me waking up screaming and actually forcefully throwing myself out of the bed in instinctual horror.

It's kinda tame compared to being hunted and killed by sharks, but it's my ultimate idea of hell.

 

[Ultrajoe]

I have a dream I have once every so often about a creature that exists only to make me weep like a child. It really only consists of a disembodied pair of massive eyes and a leering mouth, but for some reason in the context of a dream I attach an impossible amount of fear to this image. The moment I recognize I'm in a dream and 'it' is coming I freak the hell out and try to run (quite hard in a dream, as we all know) but eventually it finds me. The moment I see it for a fraction of a second, never long enough to work out what it is beyond those eyes and that mouth, I wake up sobbing.

So yeah, my brain likes to terrorblast me with a construct it came up with purely for this purpose.

Thankfully, it only happens two or three times a year.

 

[Zarincos]

I think my unconscious upped its game after I got over most of my nightmares, now instead of waking up terrified I wake up depressed. A while back I had fairly standard nightmares, things chasing/hunting me, etc., and I can remember clearly thinking occasionally "Can't wait 'till this nightmare's over." After that, I started getting more "good" dreams, the girl I've had a crush on, a good job, the dead back to life, and those are far worse than being hunted ever was, because most of what I can think about during them is hoping really hard that it's not a dream when I know it is. Haven't had one of those for a few weeks, thankfully.

 

[Cpu46]

I have a dream I have once every so often about a creature that exists only to make me weep like a child. It really only consists of a disembodied pair of massive eyes and a leering mouth, but for some reason in the context of a dream I attach an impossible amount of fear to this image. The moment I recognize I'm in a dream and 'it' is coming I freak the hell out and try to run (quite hard in a dream, as we all know) but eventually it finds me. The moment I see it for a fraction of a second, never long enough to work out what it is beyond those eyes and that mouth, I wake up sobbing.

So yeah, my brain likes to terrorblast me with a construct it came up with purely for this purpose.

Thankfully, it only happens two or three times a year.

Yea you would think recognizing its a dream would help in some way but all it really does is make you panic because you still can't wake up and realize that you are at the mercy of your subconscious. Also, when you described 'it' and my mind immediately thought of shoop da whoop, the laser face.

 

[imnot]

When I was 6 I had a terrifying dream that I was in a hallway and there was a huge friggen caterpiller attacking me.
I was scared ok!

 

[Whateveralot]

I have loads of nightmares, but I seem to be able to control them regardless. Sometimes one pops up that is beyond my control, though. This is usually about losing something (the last time I had this it was about a marathon and I was well ahead of everyone and in the end I slowed down even though I was trying my hardest.

Most of my nightmares are about thunderstorms, tornados or giant buildings falling over when I'm inside them. At first, these nightmares scared me, but nowadays whenever I get one I just stand there and enjoy the impressive view of a city being torn down by 5 or 6 tornados and thunderstroms. It doesn't scare me any more because I realise it's just a dream.

Ages ago I also dreamt that I could fly, but only very slowly (crawling speed). Some times I accellerated only to slow down when I started forcing it. It feels like it needs to happen naturally. Eventually, after dreaming the same thing over and over, I conquered this obstacle and now I'm able to fly at unimaginable speeds whenever I dream this, or even in other random dreams when I think of it.

The most amazing dreams I've had are ones are a city unknown to me, with alot of very narrow streets at night and the streets are lit by small lights. It's very gloomy, melancholic but feels like a very lively place. I feel very distant to it and its people, but in my dreams I still visit them.

 

[nuba km]

most come one is were I trying to get away from something, don't know what it is were it is r why it is dangerous all I now is that I fear it but as I try to run I am pulled towards it, never looking behind me I try to keep walking often the dream ending just before I cross a finishing line.

 

[Cpu46]

-snip-

I give this to you;

Spoiler: The three main topics

1. To see an ocean in your dream, represents the state of your emotions and feelings. It is indicative of spiritual refreshment, tranquility and renewal. Alternatively, the dream means that you are feeling empowered and unhindered. You have a positive outlook in life and are not limited by anything. If you are sailing across the ocean, then it signifies new found freedom and independence. You are showing great courage. If the ocean is rough, then the dream represents some emotional turmoil. You are doing your best to handle life's ups and downs.

2. To dream that you are drowning, indicates that you are feeling overwhelmed by emotions. Repressed issues may be coming back to haunt you. You may be proceeding too quickly in trying to discover your unconscious thoughts. You should proceed more cautiously and slowly. If you drown to death, then is refers to an emotional rebirth. If your survive the drowning, then it means that a waking relationship or situation will ultimately survive the turmoil.

3. To see a shark in your dream, indicates feelings of anger, hostility, and fierceness. You are undergoing a long and difficult emotional period and may be an emotional threat to yourself or to others. Perhaps, you are struggling with your individuality and independence, especially in some aspect of your relationship. Alternatively, a shark represents a person in your life who is greedy and unscrupulous. This person goes after what he or she wants with no regards to the well-being and sensitivity of others. The shark may also be an aspect of your own personality with these qualities.

Source; http://www.dreammoods.com/

Think about your dream and better learn yourself.

.... what is this magical site?

Seriously, now that I think about it this hit the nail on the head in a weird way.

 

[Art Axiv]

I always hate falling down in nightmares :|

 

[imnot]

I fucking hate sharks. I refuse to swim in the ocean because of those soulless bastards! When I was little I used to imagine one breaking through the vents in the local swimming pool and attacking me... I know its retarded but hey, I was a kid.

I would rather take on a damn lion or bear bare handed than a shark. At least on land I can have the ever so slight hope of smacking them in the face before they kill me or maybe finding a bit of a branch I can use as a weapon. Shark, I could not even move in the slightest as it closed in on me.

Anyway, I still have nightmares about my old profession. I have nightmares that I am cooking again and it takes me like a full hour to get even a couple meals out. I wake up really stressed out.

I hope to hell you havent seen A Goblin shark, or you will never want to touch water again...

 

[[.redacted]]

I'm never really scared of dreams or nightmares, I have been in the past, but recently I decided that I would prefer there being something supernatural out there, even if it kills me, than there not being anything but our world.

That said, I sleep in a raised bed, and I once dreamed that a face was peering over it and watching me. Just to my right, with improbably long, spindly fingers hooked over the side, and the eyes I still remember so well sunk into a half-shadowed face.

Not a human face...

...I woke up to find that the dream had been perfectly accurate in regard to the state of my room, and that the curtain to the window had been left half open.

That did scare the shit out of me, though I've convinced myself that it was indeed a dream, and that I must have just left the curtain open a bit.

 

[Cpu46]

I fucking hate sharks. I refuse to swim in the ocean because of those soulless bastards! When I was little I used to imagine one breaking through the vents in the local swimming pool and attacking me... I know its retarded but hey, I was a kid.

I would rather take on a damn lion or bear bare handed than a shark. At least on land I can have the ever so slight hope of smacking them in the face before they kill me or maybe finding a bit of a branch I can use as a weapon. Shark, I could not even move in the slightest as it closed in on me.

Anyway, I still have nightmares about my old profession. I have nightmares that I am cooking again and it takes me like a full hour to get even a couple meals out. I wake up really stressed out.

Hey, I had the exact same fear in the swimming pool as a kid and I only swam in the ocean once, and only then because there were a few dozen other snorkelers and I was constantly checking behind me.

 

[Cpu46]

I'm never really scared of dreams or nightmares, I have been in the past, but recently I decided that I would prefer there being something supernatural out there, even if it kills me, than there not being anything but our world.

That said, I sleep in a raised bed, and I once dreamed that a face was peering over it and watching me. Not a human face...

...I woke up to find that the dream had been perfectly accurate in regard to the state of my room, and that the curtain to the window had been left half open.

That did scare the shit out of me, though I've convinced myself that it was indeed a dream, and that I must have just left the curtain open a bit.

I can never sleep soundly if the blinds don't cover the window completely or if I watch anything on alien abductions. Hell, I couldn't sleep for a week after watching the trailer for that alien abduction movie 'the third kind'. Probably my greatest waking irrational fear is seeing something peering through the window. Oh and when I was a little kid I totally freaked out one time when I thought I saw a face at the end of my bed, turns out it was the blankets propped up by my foot that had gone numb.
Nowadays I have no space at the end of my bed and I don't imagine faces right next to me because I would just punch or kick them.

 

[JRoch]

I've been awake since about 3:45 after a "nightmare". It was lame compared to the other ones here.
I was driving home from a late dinner with some friends and I was really tired and almost fell asleep at the wheel (could have been an interesting twist) and didn't realize I was being chased by a cop and just kept going because I thought it was the radio or something. I stop at a light and realize he's on me so I pull over. He walks up and I see he's like the T-1000, but that isn't the "scary part".

He puts me out the car and stands me at the front while looking at my license and windshield stickers, rips a sticker off the car and yells at me because they're all fake (really bad fakes at that). This was the scary part, that my identity/registration had been stolen and I start begging and swearing up and down I didn't know and that I didn't sell them to criminals (which is what he thought I did). That was where I woke up in a cold sweat.

Looking back it doesn't rank in some of the more interesting and scary nightmares I've had.

 

[CarlMin]

So as you can probably gather from the title, I just had a nightmare and as a result am up a good 3 to 4 hours before I even normally start to wake up and now I can't fall back asleep. What could I have dreamt about to wake me up and send all my adrenal glands into overtime?

Sharks, out of all the horror and eldritch abominations I could have dreamt about it had to be Sharks. I would have taken facing down Cthulhu with a rusty spoon over sharks. Sharks combine my three greatest fears: Being hunted, drowning, and being so far outside of my element that my chances of survival even without being hunted by a ferocious predator is highly improbable. I don't care how many sharks actually attack people, I don't care how irrational it is, I hate having dreams about those swimming tooth factories.

The dream in question had me in a jaws like scenario, but instead of having the old shark hunter and scientist I had a boatful of drunken teenagers. Sharks attack, I fall off boat, boat disappears, great now I have the lesser fear of abandonment in a dangerous situation thrown in and three 15 foot sharks after me. Yea, add in the usual 'I can't move fast in a dream syndrome' and there was lots of imaginary teeth and blood and for some reason me surviving to be attacked again. Now after I woke up from this sea of terror I easily recognized that I was in my dorm room, however the paranoia that if I went back to sleep I would drop right into that same sequence kept me from falling asleep. The fact that my dorm room was lit in that odd shade of underwater blue that horror films love to use because it looks dark but still lets everyone see what is going on didn't help me to calm down despite my brain rationalizing as fast as it could.


So escapist, what is your nightmare scenario and when was the last time you had it?

But sharks are so friendly and misunderstood! Sharks don't eat humans and are normally very timid. They even play with dolphins!