nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Child Item

Clusters of upsetting dreams

Hugo Stiglitz

Does anyone else find that they have clusters of upsetting dreams? I find I can often have two bad dreams a night, two or three nights in a row. Common themes are rejection and humiliation. I can't identify any triggers.

Find more posts tagged with

Quick Links

Comments

[Deleted User]

I'll buy the book too, so Hugo and Widdershins you've already got your first sale.

Fathom

I can see it. Near future. Retail bookstore. Hugo and Widdershins book signings. Long line of adoring readers. Wanting their Nightmare Anthology authored by Hugo and Widdershins signed. Collector's books.

[Deleted User]

Perhaps Hugo and Widdershins should get together and write an anthology of nightmares for online publication? Collect them here, expand them a bit...

Hugo Stiglitz

Thursday Night

I will preface this by stating that I've been watching The Handmaid's Tale recently, so I feel that this was a partial cause of the dream.

In the dream, I don't know if I was a "character" or just that I was observing it. There was this sort of cult that was obsessed with giving birth to children. People were being paired up etc. Sort of like eugenics now that I think of it. The conception and actual birth weren't witnessed in it, just a lot of pregnant people hanging around picnic tables in a wooded area. Some of them were recorded being interviewed. There was a nice enough feeling

The dream transitioned into an empty house. People were carefully searching the house for something. Suddenly this big gush of this bright blue ooze sloshed from the corner of a room. In the ooze there was a couple of this alien looking babies in a sort of gel capsule. Also in the ooze was a boy (about 14 years old maybe) and a grown man in what looked like modern versions of those old time diving suits with the big helmets. The people started to collect the alien looking babies and rip open their capsules. The man removed his helmet and started screaming "Where's Ismael?! Where's Ismael?!" while searching through the goo. The babies were all crying. No one was attending to them as they all frantically searched in the goo. A sense of panic startled me awake and it took the best part of the morning to shake it off.

[Deleted User]

Widdershins wrote: »

From the moment I closed my eyes in the early hours, I fell straight into dark dreams, or dreams like that one that started out delightfully and quickly turned dark.

Dreams such as these you are experiencing Widdershins, if you expanded them a bit, would make for grand short-short fictional stories for publication online or paper.

Widdershins

I had an incredibly real, vivid dream where I was in Kerry (I don't know why the dream decided it was Kerry) for a few days. It was deep countryside. I went for a walk down a tree lined lane with a brown wooden fence on either side. The sky was aglow with a vivid molten orange sunset but there would still be plenty of light for hours. I was filled with wonder at the beauty of it and especially the wildlife, which was astonishingly tame. A fox emerged from the hedgerow and calmly crossed the road right at my feet. I was really excited and happy.
Then a mink and a badger wandered by. I think there was a roan horse grazing by the fence, and a wild boar piglet gambolled happily past. It was getting very surreal. I encountered six wild boar, the biggest of them all a great hulking beast. She was the mother. They seemed very placid around me. Suddenly the mother boar lost her temper and head butted me and threw me up in the air so I was precariously half on and half off the wooden fence with the very angry boar beneath me. I knew she was going to attack and kill me but two women appeared, one a middle aged woman with short blonde hair and a gun. She looked grim and walked over and shot the boar through its mouth. I felt awful because it had had piglets. I told her I would have tried to fight it off.

From the moment I closed my eyes in the early hours, I fell straight into dark dreams, or dreams like that one that started out delightfully and quickly turned dark.

I also kept suddenly glancing here and there in a dream and seeing people I know standing stock still and staring at me, almost staring through me.

Fathom

Friend's nightmare. Talks about it. Bothered. Dream influencing awake moods. The power of dreams.

Fathom

Nightmare cluster

[Deleted User]

Just had my "clusters of upsetting dreams" nightmare revisit me last night. Was in my locale javahouse pouring in a bit of cream in coffee, turned away for just a moment to do so, and when I returned to my table my netbook was gone. Such dreams influence my awake behaviour to such an extent that I never leave my netbook out-of-sight for a moment. Silly?

Fathom

Gremlinertia wrote: »

I'm back having a run of dreams that leave me confused and often upset when i wake, however my recollection is pretty weak..

Places notepad and pen on Grem's bedside table.

Gremlinertia

I'm back having a run of dreams that leave me confused and often upset when i wake, however my recollection is pretty weak..

Fathom

Black Swan wrote: »

On meds for illness and woke up angry the other night. Cannot remember what the dream was about, but the feeling persisted after arising from bed.

Hugo Stiglitz wrote: »

Being angry about something that you cannot remember is infuriating.

Dreams can influence awake feelings. Angry feelings not restful. Purpose?

[Deleted User]

Dreamed last night that I was on an assembly line manufacturing shopping carts. Never worked an assembly line, so my dream was probably way off what such work was like. It was terribly repetitive and boring work, with management micro-managing me, and such management style has been the worst for me to be under, so this was an upsetting dream. Methinks that I've had a few more nightmares than usual ("clusters" per this thread), given that I've been a bit ill of late and on meds, those meds may influence the nightmare frequency.

Hugo Stiglitz

Black Swan wrote: »

On meds for illness and woke up angry the other night. Cannot remember what the dream was about, but the feeling persisted after arising from bed. Hope that this does not become a dream cluster, because it was no fun.

Being angry about something that you cannot remember is infuriating. I hope it doesn't become a cluster either. Get well soon. x

I'm awake about a half hour here. My last dream last night was strange but not in a disturbing way, more so that the emotions from it linger in my head still.

I dreamt that I returned to my previous job but only as a visitor to the site. I was hanging around outside just before the shift changeover and, for some reason, I was in my bed. Like it was just outside. The shift started leaving and I was giggling like crazy whilst holding the covers up over my face.

The incoming shift started to come in. A girl saw me there and repeatedly glanced over at me as she walked past. Now, this is another one of those "memories in dreams" things: this girl is totally imaginary, never saw her before etc but in the dream I had memories of her and I talking and texting before I left the job.

The next part of the dream was me exploring the complex which, for some reason, had turned from a manufacturing environment into a sprawling ye olde Irish pub. I returned outside and bumped into a guy I sucked up to in high school. He offered me a life back to my home town. On the ride there, he mentioned that he really should have filled up the car with petrol (gasoline

). This caused him to drive like a manic to avoid sitting in traffic: up on the sidewalk, wrong side of the road etc.

Suddenly I was at home. My phone started receiving messages from the girl. Why didn't I say hello? Why didn't we stay in contact after leaving work? Do I still think of her? As I was reading the messages, I received a call from her. I looked at the phone ringing for a moment, and I hit the reject call button. I woke up then.

In the dream world, my dream memory is me really liking her. This followed over into the waking world. Why did I reject her? Head is a little melted here now but I'm sure it'll pass soon.

[Deleted User]

On meds for illness and woke up angry the other night. Cannot remember what the dream was about, but the feeling persisted after arising from bed. Hope that this does not become a dream cluster, because it was no fun.

Fathom

Widdershins wrote: »

I dreamt I had to remove one of my eyebrows and either eat it or melt it down for some reason. I think initially I was going to melt it down and re-apply it in a different shape, but it was the first dream of the night so I've long forgotten.

Shivers at thought!

[Deleted User]

Widdershins wrote: »

I dreamt I had to remove one of my eyebrows and either eat it or melt it down for some reason. I think initially I was going to melt it down and re-apply it in a different shape, but it was the first dream of the night so I've long forgotten.

Yikes! I could just picture your dream Widdershins, and winced a bit thinking about my eyebrows being melted down or eaten. We have a Sci Fi (sometimes horror) station across the pond where such films were aired called Comet TV. Your dream, if expanded with similar plot ideas would make for a B-film screenplay on Comet methinks. So capture your dreams here, and who knows, an Irish Edgar Allen Poe you may someday be.

Widdershins

I dreamt I had to remove one of my eyebrows and either eat it or melt it down for some reason. I think initially I was going to melt it down and re-apply it in a different shape, but it was the first dream of the night so I've long forgotten.

Fathom

Black Swan wrote: »

Do you think there may be some merit in starting a "Daydreaming" thread? Not sure what the relationships between dreaming and daydreaming may be, if any, but it might be worth pursuing.

I'm game.

[Deleted User]

Fathom wrote: »

Daydreamed. In class. Boring lecture. Was at beach. Body surfing. Then class ended.

Do you think there may be some merit in starting a "Daydreaming" thread? Not sure what the relationships between dreaming and daydreaming may be, if any, but it might be worth pursuing.

Fathom

Daydreamed. In class. Boring lecture. Was at beach. Body surfing. Then class ended.

[Deleted User]

Hugo Stiglitz wrote: »

I'd like to visit Edinburgh. I'll keep off the motorways though just in case my dream was a premonition! :eek:

Edinburgh was grand to visit Hugo, which I can daydream about now.

Hugo Stiglitz wrote: »

I must make it a habit to record my dreams asap upon waking. Apparently that is a good way of achieving lucid dreams too.

Indeed Hugo, it's been suggested that lucid dreaming can be facilitated by recording your dreams.

[Deleted User]

My dream had me dressed in debok carrying this huge bag about town, going from store to store aimlessly, finally ending up in a sporting goods store. Asked if I could leave it overnight, and they just looked at me wordlessly. Awoke. Nonsense dream typical of many that I have.

Fathom

Dream. Space travel. Passing through planets. On way to far off destination planet. Argument with crew. They want to stop and play football. On planet we are passing. Exercise. Wake up frustrated.

Hugo Stiglitz

Fathom wrote: »

Scotland?

I've never been there. I'd like to visit Edinburgh. I'll keep off the motorways though just in case my dream was a premonition! :eek:

Black Swan wrote: »

Fading dream memory is normal for most of us, that's why you should always capture your dreams here in your thread Hugo.

I must make it a habit to record my dreams asap upon waking. Apparently that is a good way of achieving lucid dreams too.

Fathom wrote: »

Hugo's champion thread. 400 plus posts.

You flatter me, F!

Fathom

Hugo's champion thread. 400 plus posts.

[Deleted User]

Hugo Stiglitz wrote: »

I had a weird scramble of a dream last night. I've been up since 11 so my memory of it is starting to fade fast.

Fading dream memory is normal for most of us, that's why you should always capture your dreams here in your thread Hugo.

Fathom

Hugo Stiglitz wrote: »

Then I was driving on this weird motorway: it had actual roundabouts on it that you were expected to drive through at very high speeds.

Scotland?

Fathom

Gremlinertia wrote: »

I've been dreaming a lot more than usual the last while. Problem is i only have unrelated fragments that i can remember so i frustrate myself trying to recollect more details

Awake cognitive selves like order. Dreamstates very disordered. Spin a tale we do. To make sense. Out of nonsense.

Hugo Stiglitz

I had a weird scramble of a dream last night. I've been up since 11 so my memory of it is starting to fade fast.

It involved many elements from what I can remember. Me walking around my home town in a panicked state. Then I was driving on this weird motorway: it had actual roundabouts on it that you were expected to drive through at very high speeds. It was extremely bendy and went up and down hills, which caused it to be very hard to see the many entrances and exits. As a result, I went past my exit and had to leave at the next exit. This exit lead to this very steep hill that seemed to go completely vertical. I made it up the hill which brought me right into the middle of a city. I turned into a street but it was one way only, and I came head to head with a big SUV. They were waving at me to turn around but there was people behind me and they were beeping aggressively. I somehow turned around and tried to leave the area but at the only junction to leave, there was a construction crew building something like a subway tunnel. There were cars behind me and they were still aggressively beeping at me. I then seemingly woke up and I was in my older bedroom. It looked like a room in a hoarders house though. Suddenly, a big rat fell out of a hole in the ceiling onto some of the boxes and then down onto my bed. It scurried up towards my face which caused me to wake up kicking and pushing myself sitting up in my bed.