TheRiov wrote:
Lenas/LadyKate-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysisI had several recurring nightmares but the only one that truly terrified me makes no logical sense. It was just an image of a football being inverted by the blunt end of a needle--it ended up quasi-Escherish in that it resulted in an impossible physical form, but for hours after I'd wake up I would shake with fear from the image. It followed me through college even.
I get this from time to time when I am lucid dreaming and attempt to force myself to awaken, for whatever reason. I've found that if you use enough willpower you can overcome it, but it's definitely a lot more willpower to do that than it takes to become lucid or willfully change your dreams to your wants and desires. So it would not surprise me that it causes panic in most.
I don't remember any nightmares specifically that scared me, as I've always been able to write off dreams as dreams even at a young age. But my active waking imagination gave me several horrifying images that scared me for a long time.
My earliest vivid fear was of a Muppet, actually. I was probably around 3 or 4. I could vividly imagine
Beauregard popping up from under my bed and saying the word "Yarn." I don't know why exactly this scared the bejeezus out of me, especially since the Muppet himself was not that frightening to me. I think the fact of the unexpected happening and being an unwelcome surprise is what scared me. Funnily enough, I never mentioned this to anyone before and that image was always my "Prove to me that you're my future self, if we ever meet" verification. I guess I have to go with some of my fallbacks if that ever happens. And yes, I do have some.
The other thing that scared the crap out of me for several years was the guy from the 70s B-movie "The Incredible Melting Man." This was on basic cable in the middle of the day, and I saw it at my Grandma's house around age 5. A guy catches some virus that causes his skin to begin melting off of his body. It was a horrifying image to a 5 year old (seriously, google it and you'll see no 5 year old should ever see that thing), and I wish I had adult supervision at the time. I had an image of that Melting Man outside my bedroom window for at least 3 more years. I remember specifically wishing, "I can't wait to be a grown-up so I won't be scared of him!"