How Do I Give Myself Nightmares? [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

Chainsaw Hobbit

2012-11-03, 02:11 PM

Xondoure

2012-11-03, 03:08 PM

I used to have nightmares all the time, and I kind of loved it. Not universally, but most of the time. The actual experience left me a bit shaken, but reflecting on them later and discussing them with my friends was very interesting.

How could I bring about such a thing again, without doing anything that would seriously screw me up?

Scary movies? Slenderman?

Chainsaw Hobbit

2012-11-03, 03:11 PM

Scary movies? Slenderman?

I'm not really scared by movies anymore. There are a few exceptions (such as Coraline and Fight Club), but for the most part, I am pretty desensitized.

Books might work ...

Mordokai

2012-11-03, 03:12 PM

Dr.Epic

2012-11-03, 03:50 PM

Watch episodes of Honey Boo Boo.:smallwink:

How could I bring about such a thing again, without doing anything that would seriously screw me up?

Oh, never mind then.:smallwink:

The Succubus

2012-11-03, 05:18 PM

Dr.Epic

2012-11-03, 05:20 PM

How do you know you're not dreaming right now, and the nightmare is actually reality? Or did I just blow your mind?:smalleek:

Eldan

2012-11-03, 05:22 PM

Ask Serpy to link you an online manga called "The Mystery of Amiere Gorge" or something like that. That gave me freaking nightmares for a week and put me off doing *anything* near a cave for life.:smalleek:

Amigara Fault. I thought it was rather funny, actually. I guess you need to be claustrophobic for that.

Morcleon

2012-11-03, 05:32 PM

Umm... Higurashi (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/NightmareFuel/HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi)/Umineko (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/NightmareFuel/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi) no Naku Koro ni. Wonderfully bloody murder mysteries, complete with School Days-esque killer lolis... :smalltongue:

Also School Days. But only the ending. :smallamused:

(...and you wonder why I'm crazy... :smalltongue:)

How do you know you're not dreaming right now, and the nightmare is actually reality? Or did I just blow your mind?:smalleek:

Is it possible to prove the existence of the simulation without referring to the simulation itself...? (http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/04/your-own-private-universe/)

The Glyphstone

2012-11-03, 06:28 PM

Orzel

2012-11-03, 07:05 PM

Hire someone to chase you with a knife. Someone ugly or wearing a mask. Possibly while wearing a bathing suit while covered in fake blood.

Or always remember... HE is behind you.

Heliomance

2012-11-03, 07:30 PM

I found watching Supernatural right before bed gave me amazingly vivid dreams. Not nightmares, but very interesting nonetheless.

I think the best one was the time Dean was just opening his mouth to start exorcising a demon, when my alarm went off. Playing O Fortuna. That was terrifying.

Winthur

2012-11-03, 07:31 PM

I'm afraid this might not allow you to even fall asleep. (http://comic.naver.com/webtoon/detail.nhn?titleId=350217&no=20&weekday=tue)

Traab

2012-11-03, 08:17 PM

I find putting myself in the movies works. Meaning, I am the guy getting chased by zombies/mass murderer/monsters. Before I go to bed, I think all about it and how I would handle being a part of it. Thats all I think of as I fall asleep and I usually manage to dream about it. I hate nightmares personally. Not because they are scary, but because they involve lots of physical activity, fighting, running, barricades, whatever. And I always wake up exhausted!

Dr.Epic

2012-11-03, 08:23 PM

Hire someone to chase you with a knife. Someone ugly or wearing a mask.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Michaelmyers2007.JPG

I've been looking for more work. I got excellent references.

Morcleon

2012-11-03, 08:26 PM

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Michaelmyers2007.JPG

I've been looking for more work. I got excellent references.

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae293/gennymzg/Worldwide%20Anime/Higurashi%20No%20Naku%20Koro%20Ni-When%20They%20Cry/Rena.png
"Oh, I'll follow you around... kana, kana..." *insane laughter*

Dr.Epic

2012-11-03, 08:28 PM

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Michaelmyers2007.JPG

I've been looking for more work. I got excellent references.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/44/Freddy_Krueger.JPG

Though now that I think about it, I think this guy's more likely to cause nightmares.

INDYSTAR188

2012-11-03, 08:40 PM

On deployment near Djibouti we had to take malaria pills. I hear that they give people (but not me) very vivid and scary dreams.

Chromascope3D

2012-11-03, 09:19 PM

Eat Pizza right before bed.

The Glyphstone

2012-11-03, 09:26 PM

Eat Pizza right before bed.

Eat anything before bed. When I eat right before sleeping, it gives me either really bad heartburn or really weird dreams. Not usually nightmares, but bizarre ones.

John Cribati

2012-11-03, 09:30 PM

I'm not sure why exactly this works, but it did for me: for about an hour or two before bed, make a constant effort to not look at your reflection. Go to the bathroom, wash your face, brush your teeth, the works. The important thing is to look into the mirror, but not so you can see yourself.

Dimonite

2012-11-03, 09:35 PM

Morcleon

2012-11-03, 09:38 PM

My advice? DON'T. I consider people who don't have nightmares some of the luckiest on the planet; because (at least, in my experience) it's not the things you do to get the nightmares that screw you up. It's the nightmares themselves. You want my subconscious? I dream on a semi-regular (about once every other month or so) that I'm possessed and watch impotently from behind my own eyes as my body slaughters everyone I care about. If I could trade for a boring, nightmare-free life, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

I've had those dreams before. I actually find them rather interesting (probably explains why I'm so crazy). If you could make it into a lucid dream, you may be able to figure out why you have these dreams. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to force a lucid dream. Perhaps you would have better luck?

Xondoure

2012-11-03, 09:39 PM

My advice? DON'T. I consider people who don't have nightmares some of the luckiest on the planet; because (at least, in my experience) it's not the things you do to get the nightmares that screw you up. It's the nightmares themselves. You want my subconscious? I dream on a semi-regular (about once every other month or so) that I'm possessed and watch impotently from behind my own eyes as my body slaughters everyone I care about. If I could trade for a boring, nightmare-free life, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

I occasionally get nightmares where everyone important to me is taken away or killed and me powerless to stop it. That and there being a ledge I know I am predestined to fall off, and I spend the whole dream battling with my subconscious for that not to happen. It's a lot like not picturing a pink elephant, if the elephant was always just out of sight but you knew he'd pop in to view if you think about him.

Dimonite

2012-11-03, 09:45 PM

I've had those dreams before. I actually find them rather interesting (probably explains why I'm so crazy). If you could make it into a lucid dream, you may be able to figure out why you have these dreams. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to force a lucid dream. Perhaps you would have better luck?
Oh, I've tried to force lucid dreaming as well, but I've also had no luck with that. And mine aren't remotely interesting - the look of horror on my mother's face when I stab her and can't stop myself from doing it haunts my waking hours as well. Seriously, it's hard work to not begin weeping as I type this.

I occasionally get nightmares where everyone important to me is taken away or killed and me powerless to stop it. That and there being a ledge I know I am predestined to fall off, and I spend the whole dream battling with my subconscious for that not to happen. It's a lot like not picturing a pink elephant, if the elephant was always just out of sight but you knew he'd pop in to view if you think about him.

Yeah, I don't have the kind of nightmares where I wake up with a shout in a cold sweat. I have the kind of nightmares where I wake up sobbing. The example I gave was simply one of the more... forum-appropriate ones.

Morcleon

2012-11-03, 09:48 PM

Oh, I've tried to force lucid dreaming as well, but I've also had no luck with that. And mine aren't remotely interesting - the look of horror on my mother's face when I stab her and can't stop myself from doing it haunts my waking hours as well. Seriously, it's hard work to not begin weeping as I type this.

Oh. I'm sorry. I'm a little insane, and can turn my empathy off pretty much at will, so I sometimes can't relate that well to normal people.

Perhaps you could seek help for this?

Dimonite

2012-11-03, 09:55 PM

Oh. I'm sorry. I'm a little insane, and can turn my empathy off pretty much at will, so I sometimes can't relate that well to normal people.

Perhaps you could seek help for this?

I'm aware that I probably should be telling this stuff to a shrink instead of an internet forum... but I feel safer and more among friends here than I ever have talking to a counselor or therapist (I haven't talked to one for actual therapy, but I know a couple and with them EVERY conversation is a therapy opportunity). But this thread isn't really about my psychological issues - I'm just making a recommendation and delivering a warning.

Dr.Epic

2012-11-03, 09:58 PM

Meh, the worst dream I've ever had was the United States in its underwear. (http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail34.html):smallwink:

INDYSTAR188

2012-11-03, 10:03 PM

I cannot ever remember dreaming or having woken up with the feeling that I just dreamt something except for one very clear dream. My wife was pregnant and I was on deployment and I dreamt that I was sitting around a bonfire with some of my closest friends and I was singing and playing guitar w/a little blonde haired girl but I couldn't see her face. That next day I got an email from my wife that we were having a daughter.

Chainsaw Hobbit

2012-11-03, 10:22 PM

Reading this has been interesting, since people seem to have such vastly differing nightmares.

Mine have always been about being dragged down to a cell deep beneath the earth where I pound against the walls and slowly starve to death, or have just been surreal, like something out of the fever hallucinations of H. R. Giger. Never have they involved any real people other than me.

Traab

2012-11-03, 10:25 PM

I guess im lucky, most of my nightmares turn into lucid dreaming and I force myself awake. Not out of fear, or horror, or soul wrenching sorrow, but boredom. Once I start looping, like, as an example, evil thing is chasing me and I start running laps around the same place, its like I realize how stupid this all is, force myself awake, then try to fall asleep and dream of something else. Even when I go back to my old dream, its like smacking a repeating record and knocking the pin loose, it moves on to something else besides the endless loop.

Or my dream starts getting incoherent and jumping all over the place, I wake myself up and basically hit the reset button and try again. I hate it when I am in a dream, cool or otherwise, and it just starts getting incoherent and fading all over the place. Like one second im fighting against an army from my foxhole, then blur and im running along a line of bunkers, then blur and im talking with someone, then blur and im awake. Ugh, I like my dreams logical thank you very much. Even if the "logic" is a bit dubious, like discovering that if I jump, land, and use the impact of my landing to bounce myself further into the sky until im doing classic superman leaps over tall buildings and across wide fields.

JoshL

2012-11-03, 10:40 PM

I actually have a very similar experience. I love nightmares. Haven't had one in almost 20 years. The moment I realized that I loved it (after waking up in a cold-sweat terror) was the last actual nightmare I've had. I still remember it clearly, though to be fair, I remember a lot of old dreams pretty clearly.

Now, that said, I've had upsetting dreams, or frustrating dreams, but that's not the same. The feeling of pure, irrational fear I haven't had, and I miss it.

Amidus Drexel

2012-11-03, 11:03 PM

I'm afraid this might not allow you to even fall asleep. (http://comic.naver.com/webtoon/detail.nhn?titleId=350217&no=20&weekday=tue)

That is absolutely terrifying. That's the first thing that's actually made me jump in a long while. Exactly what I needed to see at midnight.

I am going to look at that again, because I have poor judgement.

Saskia

2012-11-04, 01:34 AM

Find employment as a medium earning wage slave.

Now find yourself a woman, get her pregnant two or three times, get an apartement and a family car. A dog is optional, but certainly helps.

Now just roll over and wait for nightmares to roll in, as you think for a way how to pay all your credits and debts away, while still have enough money to put food on table and trying to get kids through school. Hell, sometimes you won't even need to go to sleep.

That's dark.

I used to have nightmares all the time, and I kind of loved it. Not universally, but most of the time. The actual experience left me a bit shaken, but reflecting on them later and discussing them with my friends was very interesting.

How could I bring about such a thing again, without doing anything that would seriously screw me up?

As a rule nightmares are the result of tension or anxiety, or of psychoactive drugs like antidepressants, alcohol, narcotics, and so on. Sleep deprivation can also lead to nightmares, as can sleep disorders or breathing issues. I've been told that hyperoxia can also cause vivid dreams, naturally including nightmares, but at high pressure and very high concentrations needed for that oxygen actually becomes pretty nasty stuff. Simple high concentrations of oxygen (30-40%), normal ambient atmospheric pressure, and exposure times of less than half an hour for a simple high before going to bed might yield similar effects, and shouldn't come with as much danger as heroin or regular use of Xanax.

Asta Kask

2012-11-04, 07:14 AM

My brother says that when he forgets to remove his snus when he goes to bed at night he has dim nightmares of being hunted. Very unpleasant but nothing you can put your finger on... but that would entail you starting to use snus so it's probably not a good idea.

Neftren

2012-11-04, 02:42 PM

http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/main

Hit 'Random SCP' for an hour or so, and read each article you get. Problem solved.

Or just track down a horror manga called Uzumaki.

Hah, you know, after Triscuitable started linking me articles from that SCP site, I just started reading them and was mildly amused at some of the articles, rather than actually freaked out or anything. Am I crazy? :smalleek:

lsfreak

2012-11-04, 04:19 PM

I've found if you're in a position to let yourself slowly wake up and fall back asleep and wake up and fall back asleep, the dreams tend to get weirder with each cycle. That may only work when you're sleep deprived or something, though.

It also depends on what you consider nightmarish. Are we talking fear-for-your-life terror, or heartwrenching "adult fear" type things, or something that's disturbing in its absurdity, or what? Because the wake up-fall asleep goes into the absurd for me, rather than anything really fearful.

The only terror-nightmare I've had in the last few years was actually caused by the music I had playing while I slept - my brain reinterpreted a high-pitched glitchy sound as the scream of this massive, amorphous shadowy thing.

The Glyphstone

2012-11-04, 04:21 PM

Hah, you know, after Triscuitable started linking me articles from that SCP site, I just started reading them and was mildly amused at some of the articles, rather than actually freaked out or anything. Am I crazy? :smalleek:

Nope. A lot of them are entertaining, some are genuinely amusing or heartwarming. But then you run across one via the randomizer that freaks you out, since it's only a matter of time.

razorback

2012-11-04, 11:37 PM

Have a child... watch the news. Seeing all the sicko's and pedophiles will cause you to have nightmares.

Barring that... I'm pretty sure everyone dreams but I have a hard time recalling if I ever dream let alone remember what they might be about normally. One thing I do, and I don't know if it's a quirk to me or what, but I turn the heat up a bit to uncomfortably warm, dress warm (which means more than my boxers), and throw blankets over me. The heat causes me to have dreams I remember, even the occasional lucid dream or nightmare. Although it makes me feel like I've been on a week long bender, leaving me cranky and grumpy for the next day or so.

Zetapup

2012-11-05, 07:04 PM

I'm going to recommend Amnesia: the Dark Descent. It might not work for giving you nightmares, but it's certainly scary.

I'm afraid this might not allow you to even fall asleep. (http://comic.naver.com/webtoon/detail.nhn?titleId=350217&no=20&weekday=tue)
Wow, that was... creepy. :smalleek:

Haruspex_Pariah

2012-11-05, 08:31 PM

I find that afternoon naps on the couch give me weird dreams and sometimes nightmares. I always feel cranky and not rested too so it may be related to that. I've stopped sleeping on the couch if I can help it.

Debbie_D

2012-11-06, 09:24 AM

Ive heard that eating a banana just before bed induces them

Chainsaw Hobbit

2012-11-06, 01:37 PM

Ive heard that eating a banana just before bed induces them

I would try, but I'm sadly allergic.

Dr.Epic

2012-11-06, 06:57 PM

Ive heard that eating a banana just before bed induces them

Really? Because I heard if you eat a banana right before you go to bed your dreams become really appealing!:smallwink::smallbiggrin:

The Glyphstone

2012-11-06, 07:14 PM

Really? Because I heard if you eat a banana right before you go to bed your dreams become really appealing!:smallwink::smallbiggrin:

www.instantrimshot.com

Dr.Epic

2012-11-06, 07:16 PM

www.instantrimshot.com

Um, okay...what does that have to do with my post?:smallconfused:

Amidus Drexel

2012-11-06, 07:17 PM

Um, okay...what does that have to do with my post?:smallconfused:

Just click the button.

Dr.Epic

2012-11-06, 07:20 PM

Just click the button.

I ain't clicking no button I don't know what it will do!

Amidus Drexel

2012-11-06, 07:27 PM

I ain't clicking no button I don't know what it will do!

I can sympathize with your paranoia, but I'll let Glyphstone tell you what it does.

Heliomance

2012-11-06, 08:15 PM

I ain't clicking no button I don't know what it will do!

It produces a rimshot.

The Glyphstone

2012-11-06, 09:21 PM

I ain't clicking no button I don't know what it will do!

What joy exists in life beyond the unknown? Or read the yellow box to the right of the button.

enderlord99

2012-11-06, 09:31 PM

I ain't clicking no button I don't know what it will do!

It says "Ba Dum Tish!"

Giggling Ghast

2012-11-06, 09:49 PM

I'm afraid this might not allow you to even fall asleep. (http://comic.naver.com/webtoon/detail.nhn?titleId=350217&no=20&weekday=tue)

Damn, I'm not going to die in seven days now, am I?

I don't know what insecurities they represent, but I'm always dreaming about zombies. They're always after me, whether I'm me or I'm some other new person. Best case scenario, I'm getting bitten and becoming a zombie. Worst case scenario, I'm getting eaten, or I'm failing to protect other people from getting eaten.

I have trouble these days convincing myself to fall asleep, because I'm always worried the dead will break into my house and I'll wake up with half my face missing and some zombie up to his elbows in my guts. Because of my dreams, I worry about falling sleep. Because of my fear of falling asleep, I have dreams about zombies. It's a vicious cycle.

enderlord99

2012-11-06, 10:58 PM

Damn, I'm not going to die in seven days now, am I?

I don't know what insecurities they represent, but I'm always dreaming about zombies. They're always after me, whether I'm me or I'm some other new person. Best case scenario, I'm getting bitten and becoming a zombie. Worst case scenario, I'm getting eaten, or I'm failing to protect other people from getting eaten.

I have trouble these days convincing myself to fall asleep, because I'm always worried the dead will break into my house and I'll wake up with half my face missing and some zombie up to his elbows in my guts. Because of my dreams, I worry about falling sleep. Because of my fear of falling asleep, I have dreams about zombies. It's a vicious cycle.

The o.p. should say this guy's username. Loudly.:smallamused:

Amidus Drexel

2012-11-06, 11:04 PM

The o.p. should say this guy's username. Loudly.:smallamused:

What's so bad about saying Candleja--

Dr.Epic

2012-11-07, 12:18 AM

It says "Ba Dum Tish!"

Sorry, I don't speak Spanish or whatever language that is. French maybe?:smallconfused:

Kelb_Panthera

2012-11-07, 12:33 AM

Sorry, I don't speak Spanish or whatever language that is. French maybe?:smallconfused:

It's an onomatopoeia for a rimshot. The quick 3 note bit a drummer plays when the comic makes a pun. 2 quick notes on the drum followed by 1 on the cymbal.

oblivion6

2012-11-07, 06:17 PM

while maybe not nightmares, clearly reading about dreams means your more likely to dream:smalltongue:

i read through this thread about 20 minutes before i went to bed and had the strangest dream...

Dr.Epic

2012-11-07, 06:28 PM

while maybe not nightmares, clearly reading about dreams means your more likely to dream:smalltongue:

i read through this thread about 20 minutes before i went to bed and had the strangest dream...

ELABORATE!!!

oblivion6

2012-11-07, 06:54 PM

ELABORATE!!!

it was all over the place...not related at all, and like most dreams of mine, its fuzzy in many spots....but here goes:

the first part of it was the really strange part. i dont remember any concrete details, but i can tell you that for whatever reason it involved the Titan Cronus/Kronos/whatever from greek mythology...attacking walmart of all places!

then, it kinda switched to some sort of cross-country roadtrip with family "friends."

then, the last little scene i remember, seems to be a flashback/fantasy of my 8th and 10th grade years...quite strange IMO...i just wish i could remember the ends of the dreams!

mucco

2012-11-21, 09:18 PM

I used to dream of dying in the most gruesome ways. Like Happy Tree Friends, basically. I had HTF nightmares in first person. Sometimes I died alone, sometimes with my friends, but my friends had their bodies and faces all mixed up. Oh and I felt a lot of despair in those dreams.

Hasn't happened in years. Fun times, those were.

Thajocoth

2012-11-21, 10:39 PM

I have a website in mind for you that might help, but I don't think I can link it here.

JoshL

2012-11-21, 11:24 PM

PM required, Thajocoth

Chainsaw Hobbit

2012-11-22, 01:11 AM

PM required, Thajocoth

Yes. Same here.

Thajocoth

2012-11-24, 01:39 PM

Yes. Same here.

Your box is full, so I can't send you anything. PM me a reminder once you've made some room.

Seppl

2012-11-24, 02:36 PM

I found that I often get nightmares when I'm thirsty. It also helps a lot if there is at least some light in the room to produce some visual input during REM-sleep. Maybe the thirst thing is specific for me, but if you want nightmares should arrange the furniture to make some "spooky" shapes and place a dim lamp behind it. The shapes do not have to be very specific, your brain will do most of the imaginative work. Maybe just something that could just be the shadow of the man in the dark that is coming after you:smalltongue:. Also, try the thirst thing. Maybe that is the same type of advice as eating pizza, as most people get thirsty from eating pizza.