It is Halloween, and what is it without a good horror story? Even better when it turns out to be real. In some ways.
Living With Night Terrors
This is it, the worst night terror ever told.
It all started when I was four years old—or so I can remember. I would have quite detailed nightmares and real to the touch it had me not wanting to sleep. Later, my grandparents raised me.
My mother even revealed to me that I would not want to sleep in daycare. I was afraid I would not wake up.
However, what if the real reason was horrifying? What if I was afraid not to wake up because someone in my nightmares told me I would not?
I believe it happened that way because I grew up to develop a hypersensitive sleep and repetitive dream within a dream. The worst night terror ever told hides deep and possesses many layers.
Brains Leaving Trails
This article is about the worst nightmare I had, but my worst nightmares are truly clinical night terrors.
When people say dreams and nightmares are a way for your subconscious to communicate or release tension, mine is either clogged up or hates me.
The truth is that I cannot sleep unless the room is pitch black. If you wonder why I have the “Vampire Eye Syndrome” or “Vampire Vision,” I can see very well in the dark due to the high count of vitamin A. The most fainted light can wake me up.
Because I am highly sensitive to light, I often have migraines because of reflective surfaces. I learned to sleep in the darkest places. However, my brains find other ways to terrorize me.
Sleep Deprivation And Insomnia Recipe
It is hard for me to find the perfect scenario to fall asleep. I need a background noise machine to stop my auditive hallucinations. Henceforth, fall short of sleep.
You read right, piling on to the darkest surroundings for me to fall asleep, I must have a white noise that is consistent and blocks my auditory hallucination syndrome. The worst night terror ever told took years in the making.
Over the years, it created insomnia. I would not be able to fall asleep and get the REM sleep I needed. It does create many problems like hallucinations, “light sparkles” as if you just banged your head on a wall, headaches, eye-crossing, and a black cloud formation in your peripheral vision area. Do not get me started on the temper or hunger.
Insomnia is the cause of sleep deprivation in my case. When I fall asleep, it is like my brain is trying to communicate at the speed of light, all of which it wants to tell me.
This situation results in a nightmare, which I can enjoy most of the time. However, it turns into night terrors that scare the bats out of me.
Active Lucid Dreaming Vampire
Due to my many nightmares and active, creative imagination, I learned the technique of lucid dreaming at a young age. Long story short, you learn tricks to recognize that your environment is not real. It could be as simple as running without fatigue or your feet that do not quite touch the earth.
Once you are aware, it is simple to find ways to protect yourself against your nightmare and turn it into a dream even. However, do not shout victory too soon; it takes years of practice to be able to defeat “your brain” at its own game.
My nightmare routine is running away from my family, except my grandpa. It is no surprise to me. My brain is redundant. However, the familiarity all around me is strange. I sometimes do not know where I am. However, I know the place. Nightmares are often contradictory and create a false sentiment of safety.
Never forget your shield. Mine is the Hail Mary’s Prayer. She never failed to save me. However, you must believe in your shield, whether your dog, your favorite doll or plush, person, or stone. It would help if you believed it to be true.
My Worst Terror I Cannot Forget.
Now, here is the story. I am sorry for The worst night terror ever told but here it is.
I was in bed beside my husband, who face the other way. My dog, Carey, as usual, was in between us against my thigh as I lied on my back. The room was pitch dark, and the white noise machine was working well.
In the distance, a noise like a picked lock got my attention. The residual of the alarm system let out the usual “beep-beep-beep” warning. Nothing more because the person had the key. The steps were hefty and coming to the bedroom, but I could not move.
I cannot move. That was my nightmare warning. I must take control.
However, night terrors are different from nightmares. They are like another dimension grabbing you by the brain and dragging you into their realm. I doubt even Freddy Krueger can rule overnight terrors.
When Your Brain Melts In Your Hands
I am lying on the bed, unable to move or take control. I must say the Hail Mary prayer, but night terrors are overwhelming and cut my vocal cords. However, it is okay. Holy Mary does not need my voice. She is only a thought away. However, this shadow figure had other plans.
In a second, this demon is sitting on top of me. The demon has a black cloak, and the only light provided is from my husband’s alarm clock. I try to move to have him wake me up. Carey is aware, sitting, and unable to help or bark.
Night terrors occur when you are not quite awake and not quite asleep. You receive the worst reality, and fiction has to offer once meld together. The worst night terror ever told I wish I never had.
Above me, the cloaked demon holds a pair of scissors and cut open my grey tank-top. The demon let it drop to the floor without a sound and grabbed a medical scalpel. He gently pressed it against my skin, leaving a sting burning sensation as he sliced me open like a corpse.
I try to scream, but I choke. I look down, and he holds a bone saw. For the first time, I hear his many voices merging into one smoky echo, “You died twice but lived.”
Each back and forth move against my ribcage, my screams were without a voice, but real to me as I cried and drowned my eyes trying to call for Holy Mary. It was in vain because the demon knew how to keep my brain busy with the pain and anxiety racing my nervous system to the maximum it could take.
Night Terrors Keeps You Too Busy
My ribcage was cracked open like a Jack In The Box. The demon reached inside me and held each of my organs to my face, “Remember you drowned?” he tossed my lungs away. “Remember when you had bulimia?” My pancreas fell to the floor. Nevertheless, he kept going, “Car accident?” and “Cutting yourself?” and “Bicycle accident?” again, “Cutting yourself?”
With each mention, an organ was showed to my face and thrown away like garbage. Until the demon pulled my heart out in his dark skeleton hand, “When you wished to die when you grandpa passed away?”
I could barely see. It was as if I had my head wrapped in plastic. I thought it was the end, he emptied me, and I should be dead. Nevertheless, instead, my nervous system was continually reminding me of overwhelming pain, my skin going from burning to ice cold.
The demon reached for a razor and said, “And now, you will not see it coming.” He plucked my eyes out.
It Was My Last Hail Mary
I shouted, waking up, but the door opened. Night terrors never come alone. They can be slightly different, but you cannot only have one. Caught between sleep and the waking world, I knew he would come again in a demon cloak or disguised as my husband.
I eventually woke up inside my night terror and from the first layer again by finally calling Holy Mary. My husband was off to work, which explained why I heard the second alarm beeping.
Reality and fiction should not meet when deprived of sleep.
So, this was The worst night terror ever told by me.
What is your worst nightmare?
© Gothic Bite Magazine 