Nightmare inspired plots

Reddenedone · Unread post by **Reddenedone** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 4:53 pm

I had a pretty nasty nightmare last night and my husband told me the same thing he always does: "sounds cool." *le sigh*

I've written an adventure or two around some particularly disturbing nightmares but I've never used them.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has used their nightmares for ideas. If you do, how do they work out in an adventure/campaign?

Killer Cyborg · Fri Jun 23, 2006 11:51 pm

I don't generally have nightmares, as such.

I sometimes suffer from what's called a "Night Hag" visit (partially waking up, paralyzed, with a very strong certainty that somebody or something menacing is in the room with you).
Those aren't fun.

I haven't written any adventures off of it, but it's certainly a subject that you can do a lot.
It has been theorized that Night Hags are responsible for a lot of the modern Alien Visitations; that they're the same thing.
Something could be done with that...

Reddenedone · Unread post by **Reddenedone** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 12:03 am

I never called that a 'night hag' I always thought that was sleep paralysis. I got them a lot more when I was little, I'd (at least I thought I was) be fully awake but completely unable to move, but I could look around. Once I saw a thick shadow spider web on the ceiling... felt like something reeeeeeally heavy was sitting on me.

I think I have the most gory nightmares of anyone I've met (which isn't a lot of people). I've had a lot of dreams about aliens and in all those dreams I've died, mostly by gunshot wound.

Killer Cyborg · Sat Jun 24, 2006 1:36 am

reddenedone wrote:I never called that a 'night hag' I always thought that was sleep paralysis. I got them a lot more when I was little, I'd (at least I thought I was) be fully awake but completely unable to move, but I could look around. Once I saw a thick shadow spider web on the ceiling... felt like something reeeeeeally heavy was sitting on me.

The technical name for it is sleep paralysis, but traditionally it's a Night Hag or an Old Hag, because people would often hallucinate an old woman lurking in their room, or suffocating them by sitting on their chest, or whatever.
Although these days, as I've said, more people hallucinate grey aliens with anal probes.
(I've never seen either, or anything else, while I'm suffering one of these)

I think I have the most gory nightmares of anyone I've met (which isn't a lot of people). I've had a lot of dreams about aliens and in all those dreams I've died, mostly by gunshot wound.

I have gorey dreams sometimes, but I wouldn't call them nightmares most of the time.
To me, a nightmare is scary. And most of my dreams, whatever the subject matter, just aren't that scary.
The occasional Falling Dream, sure. Once I had a dream that I was trapped underwater, under a thick layer of ice.

But monster type dreams aren't that way for me.
Back in high school, I had a dream that Predators (from the movie) attacked my house. My friend Eddie got gutted, but I shot the heck out of one with a big revolver (the same one used in Alien Nation), killed it. Then I grabbed it's helmet and realized that when I looked through it I could see through the invisibility field. I killed another of them, and then a bunch more showed up and they let me go because I had fought well and earned my life.
Which was kind of cool, because when Predator II came out it had about the same ending.

There have been a few nightmares, though. Over the years. There's one that I've been working into a short story. A basic "three people go into a haunted house" type deal, but it was very memorable.

Reddenedone · Unread post by **Reddenedone** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 3:08 am

You know.... now that you mention the whole 'Night Hag/Old Hag' thing... I've seen one of those! I had a dream when I was in the 5th grade that a very old, very ugly woman was chasing me through a grocery store, and all the isles fell over and I was swimming through cans of stuff and I almost got caught when I woke up... and I looked ahead of me and she was there, in my poster. The sun was rising and it hit the poster just right and BAM there was the very same woman from my dream.... I took down the poster and gave it to a friend.

In my very last nightmare, there was a huge war, and our town was in fiery ruins, and this evil guy with a gun held us all hostage. Then he called out my name and I answered and he said that he had been looking for me, and he led me to a building and then put me in a room... and there in the corner of the room was my brother, but he was extremely thin, and boney, and he had scratched off all the flesh from his legs and part of his torso. There was a ton of bloody grooves in his flesh and he was raving mad. He kept walking back and forth and screaming about stuff I didn't understand... and it only got worse from there. It sucked.

Reddenedone · Unread post by **Reddenedone** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 7:33 pm

That's really awesome, Atramentus. Sometimes my brain makes up Music in my dreams... which is pretty cool but I can never remember it after a day or so.

Killer Cyborg · Sat Jun 24, 2006 7:37 pm

reddenedone wrote:That's really awesome, Atramentus. Sometimes my brain makes up Music in my dreams... which is pretty cool but I can never remember it after a day or so.

If you can write music down, write it down before it fades.

Reddenedone · Unread post by **Reddenedone** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 7:38 pm

Killer Cyborg wrote:
reddenedone wrote:That's really awesome, Atramentus. Sometimes my brain makes up Music in my dreams... which is pretty cool but I can never remember it after a day or so.

If you can write music down, write it down before it fades.

I can't, that's the problem

Killer Cyborg · Sat Jun 24, 2006 8:13 pm

reddenedone wrote:
Killer Cyborg wrote:
reddenedone wrote:That's really awesome, Atramentus. Sometimes my brain makes up Music in my dreams... which is pretty cool but I can never remember it after a day or so.

If you can write music down, write it down before it fades.

I can't, that's the problem

Better learn!

I one dreamed a book of short stories, complete with cover art.
Unfortunately, I can't draw.

So I feel your pain.

D_Knife · Unread post by **D_Knife** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 8:39 pm

reddenedone you may want to check out
Nightmare The Birth of Horror
by Christopher Frayling

It covers the whole "night-hag" theory as well as deconstructing classic victorian horror stories such as Frankenstien, Dracula, Jekyll and Mr Hyde and lastly one of favs Hound of the Baskerville's

You can check out this Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/056337 ... e&n=283155
or as I did check out used bookstores.

Reddenedone · Unread post by **Reddenedone** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 8:59 pm

D_Knife wrote:reddenedone you may want to check out
Nightmare The Birth of Horror
by Christopher Frayling

It covers the whole "night-hag" theory as well as deconstructing classic victorian horror stories such as Frankenstien, Dracula, Jekyll and Mr Hyde and lastly one of favs Hound of the Baskerville's

You can check out this Amazon link:
here
or as I did check out used bookstores.

I found it at Abe books, been a member for a few years and I find a lot of new, but out of print books there. Anyway, I'll give it a read.

Guest · Unread post by **Guest** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 9:06 pm

http://www.palladium-megaverse.com/foru ... highlight=

Some of us have dreams like that all the time... Now if I could just forget that dream where I was the bride at my own wedding and in a wedding dress

Reddenedone · Unread post by **Reddenedone** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 3:20 am

Kuseru Satsujin wrote:http://www.palladium-megaverse.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=35976&highlight=

Some of us have dreams like that all the time... Now if I could just forget that dream where I was the bride at my own wedding and in a wedding dress

Some of those can scar you for life.... :shock: