WIL WHEATON dot NET: 1.5

I recommend copious amounts of NyQuil as a short term solution.

Also, no pizza right before bedtime.

Seriously.

You should know better than that.

~j

Wil,

I've had dreams like that myself. Even worse in mine is that I can't get out of them until the evil deed is done. Every so often, I can somehow make my mind take a different turn in a dream and take control and be a hero. Give it some time, it will eventually go away. You'll be too tired to even dream. If it doesn't, then you should probably find out what the root of the nightmare is. I'm not a psychologist or anything, so don't think that I am. Just speaking for past experience. Just thought I'd let you know. Pleasant dreams. Peace......

Wil,
Nightmares are very real and very scary. As a sufferer myself, I wish you all the best.

Good luck and I hope you get some sleep!

Wait, I like what James said better.

I'm going with that.

;)

~j

When I was a kid, I used to have night terrors (technical term). Maybe you should look into it.

http://www.nightterrors.org/

You're probably just working through some stress or fears that crop up during the course of the day that you don't really have time to consciously deal with. It sucks when sleep becomes something you fear, because the anxiety of laying there restlessly trying to find it is almost as bad as the actual dreams.

Try to focus on the good things that have been happening before you drift off. Sometimes to avoid repetative nightmares I have to exhaust myself to the point to where I just pass out. This way I don't give myself the opportunity to "work myself up" before I get to sleep.

Anyway, these dreams will pass sooner or later. Until then you can always work on your writing. I always find I come up with great stuff at 3AM.

Will, get your butt down to your local counsellor and talk things through.

Recommend you do it as soon as possible.

Have you tried "directed" dreaming? At some point in every dream, you ask (or tell yourself) "Is this a dream?"
Then - FIND YOUR HANDS. Look at them. Turn them over. You are now in control of your dream. Fly, grow ten stories tall, or change the sky to purple.
It works - beats the Blue Meanies every time.

wasn't lack of R.E.M. sleep covered in a couple trek episodes? I suggest smokin a big phat one. From what I understand, Brent Spiner gets some gooood sh*t. Regardless, sleep is so important, I hope you get some good rest.
Peace and Sweet Dreams

stay AWAY from the melatonin.....

Wil, you are one dark guy.

I've had dreams where I was being chased by some faceless entity - one so terrifying that the faster I ran, the more my legs failed me, like I was running against a strong current.

I turned to see it gaining on me slowly, arms reaching out, mouth open unnaturally wide with row after row of long-narrow needle-sharp teeth... I open my mouth to scream, but nothing but a squeak escaped my lips.

Suddenly, I was frozen, and it's on me. I'm enveloped in its stinking misty form. I realized that it was the embodiment of pure terror. I expected it to devour me, close its nightmarish-maw on my face, and shred the flesh from my skull. Instead, my body absorbed it, and became a part of me - and that terror will always be a part of me.

Nightmares are not fun, I know because I get them too and a lot of regular sleep disturbance as a result ~.~

The only thing I can think of to suggest as help is what I do if something's bugging me. A lot of nights Ogrek and I don't get to sleep for anything up to an hour after we go to bed because we talk about what's on our mind before we sleep. The other thing I try is a hot drink, cocoa usually works although (I wouldn't recommend THIS one by the way) I have such a weird physiology that even a cup of milky sweet coffee helps too o.O

It doesn't always work but it does help me a little, I hope it helps you both too ^_^

} {
^_~

Benadryl helps also....for the sleep. I have no suggestions for combatting the nightmares other than what has been suggested. I always have trouble trying to redirect a dream, myself. I'm curious....how does one practice such a thing?

Oh, my. You are really being battered by your subconscious. :(
They say that if you die in a dream you die in real life, of course that is not true in all cases. I have died in a nightmare once before and just slipped into darkness until I woke up. Still to get to that point is not a good sign. You have got to find out what the source of your anxiety is and put a stopper on it. Tommorow night... you kick HIS ass!

*hugs & blissful dreams mojo*

oh, one more thing...

"If you don't see the Fnord it can't eat you! Don't see the Fnord. Don't see the Fnord."

Wil,

2 words: Gaunt Let!

There are some good books on Lucid Dreaming, just search Amazon for "lucid dreaming". I have never had the patience to practice it, but it seems like it would be fun if person got good at it.

Damnit Wil, thanks a lot, now I'm going to start having nightmares. :P
(just kidding, I rarely do, and when I do it can't be brought on by something scary in the concious world, at least not this)
I used to lie awake in my bed after a scary episode of TNG worried that I'd have bad dreams, but they never came. Well, that's what I get for having nothing of substance to worry about. *sigh* I wanna worry about something.

I have those "loved one(s)" in trouble and no way to help nightmares too and mine drag on with me trying to do many things to save them and all of them getting stopped somehow. Icky.

This weeks nightmare was just me being crushed by a big concrete block.

I won't get too far into my dreams because they are really f-ed up, shrinks would love me.

Wil, good luck with the getting peaceful sleep you need. I hope someone is able to give you some advice that will help.

When I was little, my mother taught me to think of my dreams (or nightmares) as television programs. When I find myself in a nightmare, or even a dream that suddenly isn't going well, I just visualize "zooming out" so the dream is framed inside a TV set, and see myself reaching up and changing the channel. (Yeah, I'm old ... when I was little my TV didn't have a remote). Good luck -- remember *you* are in control!

waitress, i'll have some of what he's having...

Wil,
I used to have horrible nightmares about my father dying all the time, and I'd always just wake up and remember that he was alive and that all was good. Then three weeks ago he had a heart attack and almost died 3 times as complications grew worse. But he's ok. And he's going to get better. Eventually life is going to face you with your worst fear whether you like it or not. It might be bad, but maybe not as bad as you think. So enjoy day time. Go out and look at the stars at night. You're in such a good place right now. Don't let fear ruin that. Alternatively, turn on John Conley's "I don't remember lovin' you", sip some grand marnier, and toast to life.

*gives you a platonic hug of reassurance, hoping it will do something to comfort you*

I hope you can overcome these nightmares soon. You have my well-wishes and hope.

Once, in college, I had a dream my grandfather died. My mother's father.
Nothing really scary or nightmarish about it. We were sitting in a car, I got out, the car rolled down the hill and up an enbankment and rolled over onto the roof. I never 'saw' him die in the dream, I just knew, you know?
Well, superstitiously, I called my mother who said no, he was fine.
I felt stupid about it and forgot about it.
A week later, he died.
Ok, that's not the weird part.
When I went home for the funeral, my parents told me the night I had the dream about my mother's father, my FATHER'S father died!
(they hadn't spoken in years and he didn't find out until the day he told me)

How's THAT for creeeeeeeeee-pyyyyyyyy!?!

I've always been able to control my dreams. When something gets scary or uncomfortable, I do this thing in my dreams where I tell myself, "It's only a dream." Sometimes, I'll even rewind the dream, so I can redo something I don't like.

Yeah, I savescum (savespam? I forget) in my dreams, but not in NetHack. ;)

Incidentally, this Bogeyman wasn't a dream. It's something I came out of my brain this morning while I was trying to write about how I can't sleep. I actually didn't have any dreams last night that I remember, and I slept for 6 hours before I woke up.

I had similar experiences in times with too much stress. Worst nightmares include my best loved people, and I agree, it feels like hell.

When the stress disapeared, the nightmares did too. Unfortunately, it´s easier to say "give up your stress" than to do .

Good luck. :)

Bit of bad beef, old chap?

How's your daytime resting pulse? Maybe you have some anxiety that needs treatment.

Okay, now I'm going to sound all new-agey and stuff, but I really do believe this helps.

Meditation. And I don't mean the hum a mantra kind of meditation. Before you go to sleep, find a quiet space to just sit by yourself. Close your eyes and let all your thoughts come to you. Don't fight them. When you have a thought, "look" at it,analyze it, then let it go. Wait until the next thought comes. After a while, you'll find that your mind goes blank and you'll feel at peace. I find that usually I get nightmares because of some kind of stress in my waking life. Sometimes it's even something I'm not aware of. Sitting peacefully for a while before going to bed gets your mind into the same resting phase as your body. As far as I know, that's the best way to guarantee a peaceful night's sleep.

Hope this helps, Wil.

Rest well, sweet dreams.

Em

1 2 Freddy's coming for you
3 4 better lock the door...

Well, at least you can remember your dreams. Glad to see you're using some of fear/creativity in your writing. I remember reading somewhere about Clive Barker getting a lot of imagery from his dreams/nightmares.

The beast sounds a bit like Stephen King's Cujo. At least it isn't a crazed serial killer is coming back in your dreams to kill everyone who appeared in the last Star Trek movie.

Wil,

sounds like 'Dream' will make for a good book eventually, but you're a shithead for posting it to your Blog without any 'Just Being Creative' disclaimer. *shaking head*

Yes, you've just gone feet first into an 'Ooops' moment.

So....you're dead?

;-)

Seriously, I think you should contact some kind of professional about this. If it happens every once in a while, no biggie. But if it happens this often, there's a bigger problem lurking.

Good luck.

Rx:

Three hours before bed, pour 2 1/4 ounces of your favorite ethanol.

Repeat every twenty minutes until bedtime.

You might still have nightmares, but you won't remember them.

When I was about 5, I had a recurring dream of seeing my newborn sister, dismembered, a pile of limbs and other body parts. She lay on a sun-baked sidewalk, in a pool of her own blood, staining the pavement a dark red.

That was frightening. Especially for a five-year-old.

My sister had something wrong with her lungs and was on oxygen for quite a while after she was born. My mom told me, as she cradled me in her arms after I'd crept into her room in tears, that I was afraid that more bad things would happen to Marie. Makes sense, I guess. But it sure wasn't fun.

Incidentally, my sister is now 14 and perfectly healthy.

Wil,

I took a class on understanding dreams a few years back and would like to explain my interpretation of your remembered dreams.

First, do you consider yourself to be controlling?
*--A dream involving evil that is unsurpassable is usually linked to a lack of control. A feeling of "facing the unbeatable". If it's work of simply your (what I believe is misguided) view of our current war effort. Also the fact that your wife is involed shows a lack of closeness.
*-- You said yourself that she has been coming home late, you maybe having fear regarding that.
*-- In most cases the location of a dream is symbolically the feeling of your inner self.
Example-- A dark room shows a lack of understanding.
While bright light shows enlightenment.
The weapon is also suspect.
More powerful weapons are a showing of a more severe emotion. Some say a pointed object is a sexual symbol (I disagree), I see it as a manifestation of fear or insecurity.

Even if you think I'm full of SHIT you still need to understand the dream in order to tell why you’re having it!!

Smile BITCH and keep not replying to my E-Mail's I understand you actor types!!

Later Wil....

Good Lord I don't think I've ever experienced such a vivid, detailed dream like you're discribing!

squish the demons

Hi Will,

First of all, the alcohol before bed is bunk. It will just make it worse.

Second, don't eat anything (especially heavy things like ice cream, pizza, pasta, etc) within 2 hours of going to bed. (I had a choc milkshake last night and dreamt I almost got mowed down by a bus.)

Third, start free-writing about how you feel --just in general--and do that for about 15 minutes without stopping and see what pops up.

Fourth, have you started taking any new medications or supplements lately? Certain meds can give you nightmares or more vivid dreams. A little research should answer that.

Fifth, good luck!

Sixth, bye the way --I grew up in Wheaton, Illinois and went to school with the Wheatons of Wheaton. And I'm a fan (of yours)!

Wil,
That sounds nasty, I remember I used to have quite nasty nightmares when I was younger, but I seem to have left them behind for now.

I hope you haven't been dabbling in the mysteries of elder things and scouring aged tomes of forbidden knowledge, for this is enough to give anybody sleepless nights.

A relaxing bath or other stress relief method may be helpful, failing that, a protective sigil in black sand may hold the hideous spawn of the ancients at bay for a time...

Cthulhu Fhtagn!

I agree with the first comment: NyQuil, or some other shot of alcohol before bed.

Sigmund Freud would say that all dreams are expressions of our unconscious desires and thoughts. The "Boogey Man" could represent a number of things, pretty much anything that threatens the stability of the life you have made for yourself. Maybe if you figure it out what is troubling your subconscious, you can confront it and the dreams might cease.

Good Luck!

Bryan

Either you're schizophrenic, or I need to buy a gun. I'm no sure which.

Try milk, turkey or chicken before going to bed. It'll help out.

Hey Wil,

I'm sure you've gotten a ton of advice, but I didn't read all of them, so here's mine:

Chamomile tea. It works. But not by itself. First recognize the dream for what it is. Dreams of being chased usually indicate you're trying to get away from something in your life (I know it's obvious)or there's something you don't want to have to deal with and you're putting it off.

Fear of a loss of a loved one doesn't always mean just that, usually it could be something as simple as being hesitant to tell that person something or to deal with something regarding that person.

So how to deal with it? If there's something needing to be done, just buckle down and do it, you'll feel better. Also, try listening to some quiet music (if you don't like Enya, classical will do)even if you hate it, it calms the mind.

Try some stress relief things, like meditating. i know how New-Agey this sounds, but it works. Try self-hypnosis too, that works great.

Sweet dreams!

---Ashley

My own experience is that when a dream recurs, something in my life really needs to be addressed. Years ago, I used to have a dream 2 or 3 times a week where I would be driving along at night, straddling a bright white line painted on blacktop; I'd suddenly realize that the blacktop stretched in all directions, and only the line provided any landmark. Then I'd drive off a cliff.

I quit my job; I hadn't known there was a connection until one day I noticed I'd stopped having the dream.

Does this "evil" go by the name of George?

Welcome to getting older, Wil.

You never get to stay asleep for any length of
time...sigh.

Something to look forward to eh..?

Sweet dreams...

(Catnip tea..organic..helps..really)

there are a couple of things you can do to improve your sleep hygeine (although most of them are easier said than done):
~ no more caffeine, or no more caffeine after a certain time (when I'm being good, it's 5pm for me)
~ like the other posters said, don't eat in the two hours or so before you go to bed.
~ keep a regular schedule: go to bed at the same time every night and in a very dark, very quiet environment. try and wake up around the same time every morning
~ make an extra effort to deal with the stress in your life (this is the one i hate, because it always comes out as 'try to avoid having stressful things in your life.' so like, okay, should i drop out of school, then?). different things work for different people, so whether it's kickboxing, yoga, meditation, therapy, smoking a bowl before bedtime, or whatever, the important thing is that you find out what works for you and make an effort.
~ finally, don't hesitate to get help as soon as you feel you need it. this is not a case for heroism, toy soldier :).

wow, long post. best of luck to you, wil

I used to have terrible nightmares myself, until I found a little thing called a dreamcatcher. It's a Native American 'tool'. You hang it above your bed, and the good dreams can find their way through the web, where the bad dreams get caught and disappear in the morning sunlight. Since I started using one of these, I haven't had a nightmare since. It's probably just the power of suggestion, but hey, don't look a gift horse in the mouth, ya know? Wil, if you'd like one, email me and I'd be more than happy to make one and ship it your way.

Stacey Wacey
Member of the Sault Ste. Marie, MI Tribe of Chippewa Indians

Whoa nellie, Wil. That's a pretty bad one. The last nightmare I can recall having was at least a couple of years ago, and involved one of those 'doomsday' scenarios where the world ends despite all efforts to stop it. But yours seems to be much more up close and personal.

I'd reiterate what's already been said: talk to a therapist, meditate (don't medicate!), and if you discover something bugging you, don't harbor it, get it out and deal with it. The subconscious has to carry a lot of baggage around all day, and sometimes it just has to throw a tantrum.

Of course, given your (ahem) VIVID description of this particular boogeyman, you COULD just have someone program up a Quake mod and turn it into so much quivering virtual gibs...

Don't listen to posters who want you to drink/drug yourself to sleep. Nightmares are there for a reason, and if you repress them with sleep-aids, you'll never work through them. I'm just a lowly 20 yr old pscyh minor, so I won't offer any advice except: you're having these dreams for a reason, don't repress them, work through them.

"I'd reiterate what's already been said: talk to a therapist"

A wise man once said Liberalism is a mental disorder... :)

LOL... This is a prime example... !

HA!!

Everyone's given lots of good suggestions..... tea, meditation, therapy, staying away from food....

Here's mine, from one Big Ol' Geek to another: Play RPGs. A lot.

I've had nightmares my entire life. Vivid, horrible, nightmares. If I were lucky, they'd be Bogeymen, but they're not. Being an assault survivor did not help them at all-- it made them, predictably, worse.

A few years ago, I got into a D&D game as a player. I played for about 4 years. Somewhere about halfway through the campaign, I had this really terrible nightmare (being chased by my assailant or something). I turned around, pulled out the longsword my character always carried, and proceded to defend myself, as the character. In time, she has become a persona I can call on to beat back the nightmares. It's not lucid dreaming, but it's a tool I can call on sometimes.

Yeah, it's probably one of the few times a D&D game has actually helped someone's mental health.

hey there wil...
yeah, sounds like you have some other stuff going on in your life that for some reason turns into bad sleeping stuff.
another good idea is to write down anything you can remember from a dream as soon as you wake up. just keep a journal and a pen by the bed so if you wake up in the night, just start jotting down the things that you remember. one tends to lose the intricacies (sp?) of a dream in the minutes after waking up. after you write the stuff down, go back to sleep, and then you can read about it when you finally get up in the morning. that way, you're putting the feelings down on paper, and kinf of "trapping" the dream, making it harder for it to come back to you the next night. you can also go over what the things in the dream might mean to you.
i started doing that a while ago, and pretty much stopped having nightmares. in fact, i really can't remember the last time i've had one. yay! ^_^

Wil, that is one mofo of a dream. A nightmare now and then is nothing to worry about, it happens. However, every night, coupled with insommnia over an extended period is the sign of something more serious. Here's a thought: you're going to be doing a major convention appearance in about 3 weeks, and your first (yes, first, probably of several) book is about to be published, we're about to be plunged into an ill-advised war, and then there's the family issues you've alluded to. Your stress level must be through the roof. Drugs (alcohol, weed, melatonin, Nyquil, etc) will only mask the problem. I'm no psychologist, but it would appear that there's something coming out in your sleep cycle that isn't being addressed while awake. Seriously, if this doesn't pass in a week or so, find a therapist. If whatever's troubling you hasn't gone away by then, it probably isn't going to pass on it's own.

-=Peace

PS: I was serious about that Dev Box.

Dude no more creepy movies for you. :(

I went through the same sort of stuff twise in my life. Once when I was about 10 years old (lasted about 5 months) and then again in my mid 20's (lasted a few weeks). It will pass. When I had trouble sleeping, I imagine a star, far far away, in a dark dark sky. Then consentrate ALL my thought on that star, NOTHING else. It worked for me.

toughen up kid

nice post. quite entertaining.

Probably better than darkness falls.

Wil, usually when you dream of a loved one being kidnapped or being taken away from you. It means you fear them leaving you in the waking world. The fact that you dream of Anne and other loved ones leaving mainly means that you are afraid circumstances and stresses in your life may end up controlling where your life will lead and will push your loved ones away. Whether thats what you really feel or not I wouldnt know but thats what it usually means. Dream analyzation is fun sometimes and helps out. My advice is to love your family as much as possible. Dont stress over your goals just do the best you can with them and if they falter you can be happy with the fact you did your best and you still have a family who loves you. If you succeed then you can share in the joy of that. You've made it very clear a number of times how much you love your family. I'm sure they love you too. Just go to bed thinking of how lucky you are to have a great wife and great kids, and a great group of family and friends who support you.
There are also tons of ways to relieve stress, do what works best for you. I'm sure once you relieve the stress you will have better sleep.

Bye the way... What the hell is FNORD? One time I got a fan club pic of you waaay back in '87 i guess and the back of it said a little something sweet and then, FNORD. Is that a cali thing? haha.

24.127.145.7 has valid reverse DNS of c-24-127-145-7.we.client2.attbi.com

I am really sorry to hear about those nightmares of yours, I've been talking to a lot of people about their recent dreams and most of them have had really bad nightmares, similar to those that you describe... I guess it is a 'global' thing, something perhaps related to the universal mind, to common affairs, to the fact that we are all afraid, not only because of wars and the likes but also because of humanity per se... I wish from the bottom of my heart that you and all of those who have had constant nightmares, have a chance to have sweet dreams for a change. // The way you narrated the last nightmare, was captivating, thank you for sharing.

Wil,
As a teenager I use to have nightmares. I taught myself to take control in my dreams (I know this sounds like a Star Trek thing). When I would have a nightmare & I was aware it was one I would loudly say in the dream "No, this is not going to happen, I'm in control!!!" It worked! To this day I can still do this in a nightmare & I must tell you how empowering it is to have control even if it is my sleep. I wake up feeling strong.
I hope you can use this to help with your nightmares.
Please sleep well.

Wil,
Dream analysis is garbage. Most of the people who posted their analyses used it to make judgements upon your life (you're too controlling, too much stress, etc.). Here is what I take comfort in. You control your mind and the way you feel. The dreams may not be voluntary but you DO choose what to do with them. Dreams only affect reality if you choose to let them.

By the way, you're a good writer. Keep it up! I'd love to PAY MONEY to see you in a FILM soon too!

I got pregnant immediately after getting married, and began having very strange dreams every time I went to sleep. With the help of a dream interpretation web site (much cheaper than a therapist) I realized that I was afraid of losing myself in my new life. (Being Cody's mom or Chris's wife instead of being Amanda). Just knowing what it meant helped me deal with it. Every time my loser brother gets engaged (he's on fiance #4 now, and hasn't bought a single ring, much less got married or got a job), I start to dream that he brings his child to meet me and abandons it with me. Not hard to figure that one out.
I agree with the other Monkeys on why you're having these troubles. And that's my two cents.

*shudders*

I know that dream although obviously i have never experienced it at your house.

Dream interpretation is risque at the best of times, but clearly you fear being overwhelmed and/or destroyed by something.

I suggest...actually i dont know what.

I never was very good at this...

one, two freddies after you

three, four better shut the door

five, six grab your crucifix

seven, eight better stay up late

nine, ten never sleep again......

sorry...just HAD to post that...

not poking fun at ya wil, i just remembered that when i first saw a nightmare on elm street (the original of course) it scared the living be-jesus out of me...and i just remembered that childrens rhyme from it....

you know...a few years ago, i had a pretty nasty toothache..
couldn't fall asleep it was so painful..and the dentist appointment was days away...

my solution?

3 pints of beer

not enough to get drunk..
but juuuuust enough to make ya sleepy...

worked like a total charm :)

I used to have nasty dreams about things that were after me and they would also 'take over' my mom kind of like a space alien kind of thing. I think I got the idea from that mini-series "V". It would terrify me and I would be convinced the dream was true. Had that dream sometimes several times a week. I got so worked up about it that when my mom sent me to counseling (some b-s about kids involved in divorces need counseling) I had to talk about that dream right away. The counselor gave me the excellent advice to take over the dream, not to let it run me. I told her I had never seen one particular wall of the room, even tho I "knew" what was on that wall. She said next time you have the dream, I should turn my head and look at the wall. A few weeks later, I had that dream, as soon as I turned to that wall, the dream ended, instead of getting into the rest of the scary dream.
You can take over your dreams, it's just hard to remember to do it. Most of the time, I let them flow to see what will happen next, I have dreams now that are like stories instead of being night mares.

Wil,

I am no expert when it comes to dream analysis but I have read a few books on it since I too tend to have those dreams where terror reigns supreme and I feel like I am losing the battle against it.

Did you ever consider the boogeyman might actually be you? Or at least a side of you you haven't dealt with yet? I have often read that dreams that involve fear of something or someone is usually a reflection on a fear about one's self that you have yet to come to grips with. Apparently once you have chosen to face that fear in your dream symbolized by the thing you are running from or fearing than they will no longer exist.

Anyway just a thought. I found it sort of helped me deal with things.

when next you see the demon in your dreams its important that you not run away from him. no matter how much fear you feel you must face it head on. dont try to fight it in the begining if thats too hard, just focus on understanding what kind of creature you are confronting. there will be a weakness within it, they are always flawed in some way. demons are guardians of knowledge we are often too afraid to face. the fear, the running away... there is something within you that you have not acknowledged which demands attention. it may not be a literal truth, it may be an internal realization you have to seek out, but only through facing this demon can you get the knowledge you need.a god ignored is a demon born

Have to see The Simpsons now, frightened we are;everything is fine.

Eat more sprouts and mashed yeast.

Stop writing scary stories.

Think happy thoughts as you fall asleep.

It works.

Wil,

I had a recurring dream about being chased by skeletons. I think I may have seen that "Jason and the Argonauts" movie where the skeleton warriors pop out of the ground. I was pretty young, probably less than 5 years old. I finally found a way to deal with it. I made friends with the skeletons. For some reason after making friends with the skellies I no longer had any nightmares again. I have had dreams where I have suffered a lot of physical damage but it no longer scares me. It is just sort of , wow, look at all that gory stuff.

Good luck getting repeated doeses of deep and restfull sleep, sleep, sleepppppp.

dzimmerm

Wil,
As long as you know that it is only a dream, you will be just fine. If that does not work have Anne tape you a bed time story.

FG

Wil, I hope I'm not to far down so you don't see this...

When I was younger, I was plagued my nightmares for a while. I talked to a counselor friend. I'll give you the advice he gave me:

You wake up upset as if Anne really was kidnapped or the dream you had was real. Keep in mind that they are just stories that are coming from YOUR mind, from YOUR imagination. You have the right to control the stories. If you decide that you want to change the ending, do it. Just because you are awake doesn't make the endings any less significant than the endings when you were asleep. You have the right to change the stories if you want. They always were yours.

So, when you wake up from a scary dream, say to yourself, "This is MY story and I don't like the ending. I'm going to change it." Then change the story in your mind to suit you. Once you give control back to yourself, the dreams will stop.

Wil, try it and let me know how this works for you. It worked wonders for me almost immediately.

I am sooooo glad the subject of dreams has come up in a comment. I have wanted to get this off my chest for sooooooo long.

Before I start, what I am about to divulge is true, no-one could come up with this out of their imaginations, and to that extent, I swear to the almighty that what I say is the truth, may I be struck down if I lie. Phew...lets continue.........

I am lucky in the sense that I rarely get what everyone here has termed 'nightmares'. Sure, I dream, heck I dream plenty, and like most people rarely remember my dreams the day after.

However, (and this is the non BS part, I swear to God) nearly every time I dream about an aeroplane, no matter how benign, within a week, somewhere in the world a plane will crash and that it would make the main news. The dream itself could be of me lying on a tropical beach somewhere and I look up and see a plane, the said plane doesnt crash, it just flies, that kinda thing, totally insignificant you would think. I dont know what airline is involved, or what kind of plane it is. The nearest dream to the actual crash that I had featured Concorde. I was walking to work and Concorde flew between the cooling towers of one of the heavy industrial works that dominate my town, and you know that Concorde has square engines as opposed to the regular round ones? Well plumes of black smoke were corkscrewing down to the ground and half its tail was missing.

Three days later, Concorde had to make an emergency landing with engine trouble and a section of the tail missing due to bird strikes.

I had a dream about a plane 2 days before 9-11, and (hopefully I dont freak anyone out) I had a dream 2 days ago.

Before anyone does get freaked, as written above, not ALL of my plane related dreams come true, and I am in no way trying to pass myself off as a psychic. This may seem like I'm going WAAAAY off topic but I'm a third daughter of a third daughter of a third daughter, so maybe that has something to do with it (7th son of a 7th son kinda thing).

If any others have any constructive advice or comments about this, I would love to know, because it does sometimes freak me out so much so that I now write a 'Dream Diary' with dates when I dream about planes.

Honestly, that is a marvelous piece of writing. I do not choose to psychoanalyze you, as that is not my field, but I wanted to be certain to tell you I enjoy your writing.

Write on, so to speak. :)

Your very real (and in many ways, justified) FUD regarding your book seems to have spilled into your nightdreams. This sort of night terror is very common among creative people reaching some sort of reckoning with the work at hand. Ship the book, and the dreams will be all raspberry lollipops and Jaime Pressly love-slaves.

At least mine are...well, at least the lollipops.

Stephen King included an anecdote in his marvelous Danse Macabre, regarding the nightmares he's had while in the heat (and stress) of creation: He was always in an abandoned house, typing his manuscript in a room just adjoining the attic. He'd hear sounds coming from the top of the steps, behind the attic door...and was certain a madwoman with an ax was waiting to eviscerate him if he opened the door.

Not fun, but the unenviable byproduct of the creative mind, which can sometimes turn on itself savagely. Witness Sylvia Plath or Dylan Thomas.

Keep writing, Wil.

Wil,
Unless you've had your dreams come true (I call them prophetic dreams, of which I suffer from), I wouldn't worry to much about it. It's just your sub concious telling you that you have way to much on your mind.

Try writing things down. Get a private journal and write down things, anything, you'll be surprised about what comes out. When I do it, I'm always surprised. I do it to help with my depression but my coucillor says she recommends that anyone with nightmares do it. It helps the mind to sort itself out and get stuff out that it can not normally bring forth.

If you start get prophetic dreams thats when you start to worry. I get them regularly and it freaks me out. Although like you I can control my dreams, and if I'm having a really good dream but wake up from it, I can get back into it at any point I want to weather it's the next night or even if it's three years later.

Don't worry to much about it. Nothings happening.

Sleep well mate.

Spike
2.30am GMT
England
8th March

If I could hear the details of the dream,I can tell you what it means or,what's wrong.It's really hard for me to say right now and trust me,I'm very good at this.If you're wondering,then please feel free in contacting me.

Weird, I had a nightmare last night for the first time in years.

Mine involved a trip to LA.... So is my nightmare your reality?

Seriously, I figure I've been watching the news too much about the pending war. The Shrub does not inspire confidence.

Dude...sounds like you're afraid everything in your life is either being taken from you, or is about to be. You're 30 years old and shit...midlife crisis, all that bullshit. By the way, Diablo 2 blows chunks. ;)

Sounds like your worrying is carrying over from real life. Something you have no control over has you very worried... Do you have some issues or problems that you can't seem to resolve? Or something to that affect. Once you resolve these problems these dreams should subside. If unable to resolve them you need to do some meditation and really consider the dreams. Focus on each point and let the random thoughts go through your mind. As you do this you might find a pattern that might help you figure out what is bothering you so much. Work, relationships, family, etc... It might help in the meantime to try and focus on some happy thoughts before bedtime each night. It might head off those nasty dreams and help focus your thoughts into a more positive realm.

Sorry,I didn't see that read more.This really is simple.You,my dear,have been wanting something,and you may not realize it,but it's eating at you.You see it as being overwhelming,that's why you have been seeing this thing coming at you like you have.

You said that you seen Ann taken away,that's just another way you see this thing that you want.See,when you dream,you will dream about the days events or worries.When we dream them,we see them as something that we don't recognize.Don't get me wrong though,we can dream of things that are going to happen.

Anyway,I hope that helps you out some.Sweet dreams Wil :)

Getting a journal going before going to bed is a very good thing to do. Write all your worries and concerns of that day. What you know you have to do tomorrow. You don't have to be creative, you don't even have to make sense of it.

Suggestion: When you do try to sleep close your eyes and place yourself into a vision of your choosing. Make the background ie: a green forest or a fantasy city, plot out what you are doing pleasent things, things you know you enjoy and relaxes you. Give in to the slightest whim, afterall it is in your brain and no one can view that. This does take a bit of practice, but it is very successful. I've taught myself, my son, and my nephews this and now they do not have hardly any nightmares.

Dreams are a reflection of what you may think about, feel, worry, stress, or even the environment around you. The dreams may not "mean" anything, some are even quite opisite of what you think they are. Do not dwell on them even if they are re-occuring (sometimes they re-occur just because you remember them)

I also adopted a sort of philosophy, if a problem or stress looms in life:
a) you can deal with it right away so it goes away
b) you cannot change or prevent it, it will happen or not happen so why worry? deal with it, if or when it ever happens
c) is it about a friend, or family member? Concerned about something - talking is the best soothsayer - talk to that individual. Rationalize it. then refer to (b)
d)work or deadlines (the real killers) do your best then refer to (b) :)

Again you may find a nighttime journal is a good practice anyway, you'd be amazed at what oddments turn up in it.

**sorry so long** =)

http://www.dreammoods.com

There's something you're not facing in your life. Your heart knows it and wants you to deal with it.

Good luck =) *hugs*

Wil,

I'll assume you're still with us and were not only able to escape the death grip of the Bogeyman but were probably talented enough to imagine the whole story. It was a very well written piece, I might add. However, as an earlier commenter replied, the Bogeyman is likely you, created by your furtive imagination to simply write a short story or he's really part of your subconscious self. As the darker part of your id, he hangs outside the secure warm abode of your more civilized mind. On your mental patio. (I think it's physically located somewhere near your frontal lobe.) To nit-pick, you said as he took another step, you "smelled his Terror." The keyword here is 'HIS'. You see, subconsciously, you knew as you wrote this that he felt the terror. The Bogeyman felt terror as he approached you. Perhaps the wild and chaotic part of you is horrified at the thought of being normal and just a nice guy. So it rebels with sharp pointy claws.

It's cool how you pimp your new "Just a Geek" book and selling your WWDN paraphernalia on your site. Seriously, this is a cool site. And I shouldn?t dis someone who has published something.

Too much news...you're watching way too much news. Start watching things that will make you laugh. Not that you have to be out of touch with what's happening...you just need to control how much you "upload" into your brain everyday.

At least, that's what I have to do when this happens to me.

:o)

Wil, have you been staying up at night watching the late late late late late late show again?! ;}

Seriously, I don't really have any superb advice to give you or any annecdotes about nightmares I've had, but I think that like a few people have said there is just a lot of stress going on.

Someone mentioned before that maybe you were having anxiety about Anne coming home late or something. If your normal daily routine has been drasticly changed to the point where you and Anne don't get to spend as much time together as you used to, that could possibly explain her disappearance in your dreams.

The part about running from someone, could be caused by the real life things you wish you could just get away from. Maybe an aggrivating financial situation, annoying neighbors, the asshat trolls that like to hang around here...It's hard to say. Even the simplist, most insignificant little thing can send major repercussions through the subconsciouss.

As far as that Big Terrifying Thing is concerned, that could possibly be a manifestation of the potential war that could break out in Iraq any day. That is something that has been weighing heavy on the minds of many people around the world I think. I've had a few unsavory dreams about the end of the world as we know it because of the constant barrage of scrolling news tickers and anti-American former 1980s pop stars...

Hell I guess they could even be caused by certain foods that you have during the day. Without knowing you on a personal basis and being there in your life every minute of every day I really could't say. Perhaps filling your last few waking hours of every day with pleasant thoughts and positive things could help out. Maybe you could even bribe Anne to give you a nice backrub to help you relax a bit, but if she does, you'll owe her one ;}

Sorry I'm not much of a help my friend. Just keep in mind that no matter what happens you'll always have thousands of monkeys pullin' for ya :}

You know what Uncle Wil? thats sick that he tasted your tears as you died. i've never had a nightmare like that. my worst nightmares involve clowns coming out the walls with knifes. lol.

Wow, that's a very dark image.
I've never had screaming nightmares, although I've woken up crying a couple of times.
And when you figure out how to get to sleep, let me know. It's not happening for me.
No sleep make Karina go craaaaazy

There are a few people that had the right idea here... go see a doctor :)

Relieve your stress. :)

Was it this guy?

http://www.tvland.com/shows/barneymiller/images/shows/actpic7.jpg

Was it Detective Nick Yemana?

That fucker wakes me up all the time. And when it's not him, it's Detective Wojciehowicz. Goddamn, he creeps me out. They ALL creeped me out.

go a little easier on the tequila and twilight zone reruns and you should be fine! trust the force, Wil.
hehe paul

Yikes! Scary dreams are definitely no fun. At the risk of repeating about 27 other people... I've found that a cup of chammomile tea before bedtime really helps to relax me. I think warm milk has also been mentioned once or twice.

Many people around the world are experiencing nightmares lately. I wonder if it is somehow connected...?

I see that you've already been inundated with countless replies to this, but at the urging of a friend, I thought maybe I should add my (un-asked for) advice as well.

I've suffered Night Terrors all my life. Growing up, I didn't even realize that other people didn't die in their dreams. I rarely survived mine, and It just never occurred to me that others did. I wont say how I died, I don't want to give the others here bad dreams of their own (::grins::), however over the last 20 years, I have learned a few things about dealing with them. So here ya go...maybe something here will help.

First off, *DONT TAKE THE BENADRYL*! No pot either. Both of these things will (yes, I grantee it) make your Night Terrors worse. And if you take too much of the Benadryl, it can give you severe hallucinations (think, really bad acid trip). Especially if your body is unused to taking it, and already exhausted from lack of sleep. The Pot might put you to sleep, but then the dreams will just get much worse, and you will (usually) be unable to wake up at all from them. It just gives your subconscious free reign to terrify you.

I'm not going to tell you to take something. I would say "talk to a councilor", but that has to be your choice. You have to decide on your own if these dreams are bad enough, or going on for long enough, before you see someone about them. If you don't feel they are, then seeing someone would just be a waste of energy. I hope you do see someone when you are ready though.

After reading about your dream, my advice to you would be this...sit down with Anne somewhere where you feel safe. Outside, in bed, on the couch, doesn't much matter. Just sit facing her, hold her hand, and tell her about your dreams. Just tell her everything about them. What you see, what you do, what you feel...and then what you think they mean. Just get it all out, and *share* them. The sharing of the fear is the important thing, psychologically. Show her that you are afraid, and let her help support you and give you strength. Reaffirming that bond really does make a world of difference. It truly, truly does.

And that's all I'm going to say. Even if you don't read this (wow, that's a lot of replies to go though, I don't blame ya for just skimm'n them, or skip'n them all together, man! ::lol::), I hope that someone here who may be going though the same thing can garner some help from what I've said here. This post is already *WAAAAY* longer then I ever intended it to be. ::chuckles::

So, on that note, I hope everyone here stays safe tonight, is happy by morning, and is loved in-between. Now I'm gunna go bury my face in complete embarrassment for giving all this advice to people who have no idea who the smeg I am. ;-)

~Torra

God, Wil, you're scaring the hell out of me with this one, as in "scared for you." But if this is what is going on in your head right now, then the very first thing that I need to do here is to thank you, for having the courage to share it.

Somebody else I cared about, but also never met, ended up dead not too long ago, and it's just possible that if he had been able to talk about his "Bogeyman" - whatever it was that was really going on there - he might have been still alive in the morning. If he had been willing to admit his fear, maybe he could have survived it.

If really getting to all of us out here who care about you is what you meant to do ... well, you succeeded at that, and yeah, there will be a few other people not sleeping tonight, for whatever it's worth (probably not much). Does it help at all to watch us lining up to take a number to do some Bogeyman-slaying?

Not all the advice that you're getting is necessarily good (I name no names, I point no fingers) but I think you get the common theme: We care. Does any of it do any good? I don't know. Most of the time, with most people, it seems like it doesn't, and I'm not just talking about those who bear the "celebrity" label, either. Each one of us gets locked into our own private nightmare at times and nobody else can reach in to help.

But then again, most people don't have the courage to open the door and let others look in.

Nightmares are a constant companion of mine. Waking life is a nightmare at some points, and sometimes I wish I could really wake up from this place of eternal hell that God, Fate, Chaos, Whomever has so "lovingly" deposited me in.

The one thing you left out Wil, was that awful nightmarish background music that plays behind every conflict. There is always that awful background music. You might not hear it but it's there. And somehow, I get the feeling that the music playing in the background of your nightmares sounds something like this...

http://soundamerica.com/sounds/tvshows/Star_Trek/Original_Series/fightm.wav

(Sorry, couldn't resist. ;} )

Wil

There are doctors that can help. Have you thought about hypnosis? That can help, plus sleep therapy can help. I hope you get some kind of help. It makes good writing for your site, but you should get some help.

Good luck

Wil,
There are numerous ways to avoid these damn dreams:
1) 200 grams of vodka before sleep.
2) Smoking a joint.
3) Doing both #1 and #2.
4) Seeing a shrink and paying $100/hour.
5) Instead of #4 doing a double dose of #3.
6) Recompiling your kernel before going to sleep.
7) I won't say this one explicitly, but I'll give you a hint: just as much fun as #6, starts with an 's' - ends with an 'x'.

Good luck.

Holy Crap. That was creepy, Dude. You should like...be a writer or somethin'. Seriously.

I've always liked ya, man, so here we go.

Your realizationis totally correct that your successes or failures as an actor are not reflections of your successes or failures as a human being. It also seems to me that the agony that you used to place upon whether you ace this or that audition has been trasnfered to whether you do well or not on this, the first of your books.

Wil, write the books for you. You made this site for you. You realized that your being a good person is different from being a good actor. You did that for you. There are always going to be critics of everything you write. Some of them will be people you respect. I know.. I write. (I used to write daily.)

Forget about what people say about the book. Write it for you. Follow what your editor says. Make adjustments to the book from what your editor suggests. Then publish it and let it be.

Being a good writer is not reflective on yourself. Maybe the dream of being chased will go away.

I'm not a psyc. I think dream analysis is interesting, but, as was pointed out earlier, it's not an exact science. Take everything in moderation, I say. So take it for what it's worth. You're a good person.

Keep it up.
--- Robert Aldridge, webmaster@macradio.com

Sorry about the nightmares, Wil.

I don't know about your religious beliefs, but when I get scared at night for no reason or have a dream about a family member dying or have something bad happen, I say a decade of the Rosary (Glory be, Our Father, Hail Mary, etc.)
It does seem to help calm the mind down.
Also works with middle of the night earthquakes.

Hope you get some quality sleep.

"...and tasted my tears as I died."

You know what, I’ve trolled for a bit...enough to give me some kind of reconciliation with the image I developed of you as an actor in STNG and SBM. Frankly, I like you better now, as a colleague. Rather than hold you up as some Hollywood icon, I now want to buy you a beer. While that seems trite and ridiculous as a write it, it’s the truth.

What I’d like to say is this:

The hype of your site (the Onion and /. being the primary sources) cannot compare to my enjoyment of your writing. You have the skills. You have the material. You have the voice. Keep it up. Seriously.

Quotes like the above are all the proof anybody needs.

Move out of LA. Seriously.

hmmmmmmmmmm k, what the hell was that about?? I was like "what? someoen broke into his house??" then i was like, "no, he's dreaming" then i was like, "no, he's doing creative writing" now, i don't knwo what the hell to think. Drink some ovaltene for god sakes!