Dreamland not all that dreamy

I've been a bit freaked out by scarecrows since watching the original Children of the Corn. This guy looks harmless...right?


I had a doozy of a nightmare a couple of weeks ago, the kind that was so frightening I dreamed about it after I fell back asleep.

Thankfully these horrible experiences are rare but I have to tell you, they are emotionally and even physically painful.

The nightmare scene took place in our home. I was walking downstairs and a few steps past the top landing I noticed my better half staring up at the foyer ceiling. I could understand why: A lovely dining room table and four chairs were attached upside down just above his head.

Two things happened almost simultaneously. As one of the noticeably heavy chairs disengaged itself from the rest of the upside-down furniture and came hurtling toward me, the dog made a beeline up the stairs, past me and, I’m assuming, into one of the bedrooms.

I froze as the chair came at me even as I forced myself to wake up. Apparently I was voicing my fright because a soothing voice was telling me all was well and to go back to sleep. Except I couldn’t do that; I’ve done that before only to find myself right where the nightmare left off. Not fun.

As I sat up and thought about what freaked-out place I had escaped from, the tingling of what seemed like every nerve in my body was reminding me of the physical pain of such a bad dream. I struggled to stay awake, and that worked for a while.

Sleep took over again, and this time I found myself in an ordinary dream talking to a friend. Nothing out of the ordinary happened at first but before long I proceeded to share with her the nightmare about the upside-down flying furniture. This was turning out to be quite the experience as I’ve never (to my knowledge) remembered a nightmare so vividly as to recall it to someone in a dream.

Those who know me know I love scary books and movies, stormy days and nights, Halloween and all that good stuff. Being trapped in a nightmare is something else though, and since I have a low pain tolerance I didn’t find the other-world experience all that delightful.

We’ve recently watched some mind-tingling movies that I thought might affect my dreams. Devil is about you-know-who being one of the occupants in a stalled elevator with several people trapped inside. The other night we watched Case 39, easily one of the most frightening movies I’ve ever seen. The next night we thoroughly enjoyed The Assignment, a nail-biter with a surprise ending.

I’m not sure what makes some stories weave their way into our minds and take hold beneath in our subconscious, just waiting for us to close our eyes and enter Dreamland. I thought for sure I’d have at least one odd dream after watching Shutter Island or Inception, both starring Leonardo DiCapprio, but nothing happened.

A favorite TV show is on tonight, one of those out-of-this-world stories about aliens taking over the Earth. V has it all—beautiful leading ladies, handsome good guys fighting handsome bad guys, and aliens with long, sharp teeth with evil intentions. So far, though, we’ve not seen any flying furniture and that’s fine with me.