Photo: Henry Fuseli, The Nightmare, 1781
KARACHI: Sleep has always been an intriguing subject for psychologists around the world. And while they have been able to come up with answers for a lot of bizarre things that happen to us during sleep, there are some things that remain unexplained.
We spoke to seven people who shared their scariest experiences to do with sleep or lack of sleep. Don’t say we didn’t warn you:
1. Loud chants
“I knew I was dreaming but couldn’t snap out of it. I felt like there was a huddle of people around me who were yelling or chanting something really loudly. I kept breaking into cold sweats. And I’m sure it lasted only a minute but it felt like a lifetime.”
2. What window?
“I was extremely sleep deprived when I had gone to visit a friend, While waiting outside his house, I noticed a woman standing at the window in a neighbour’s house. But I couldn’t make out who she was; it was just a silhouette. When my friend opened the door, I asked him who that lady at the window was. And he said, “What window?” I turned back and forget the woman, there was no window at all.”
3. Baby’s day out
“I had just had a baby. I woke up in the middle of the night to find my husband and daughter not in bed. I overheard someone opening the fridge downstairs. I thought it was a cat. But I went downstairs to check anyway. And … saw was my one-month-old daughter eating raw chicken. I screamed at the top of my lungs. It was just a dream, thank God.”
4. Held down
“I woke up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat and was parched. But as I was about to get up, I could feel someone holding me down with full force. I swear I could feel the person’s legs on my legs and arms on my arms. I lay there, helpless and frozen, thinking I was going to die. It felt like it lasted for about half an hour and then the feeling just disappeared. I ran to my parents room and couldn’t sleep alone again for a month.”
5. Limbless
“I was watching a really scary movie called Wrong Turn at about 3 or 4 am. I dozed off shortly after. I dreamt I was the protagonist in the movie and my limbs were chopped off. When I woke up, my limbs were numb.”
6. Stabbed
“After a long day’s work, I was extremely tired and just as I was about to fall asleep, I saw that I was in the ancient era, stuck in a fort with no escape. There were people who were out to get me. I kept running to save my life till I came to a dead end. Out of nowhere someone stabbed me in the belly. I woke up panting and with an excruciating stomachache.”
7. Buried
“I had just returned from the graveyard after burying my grandfather. Since his death, there was a lot of unrest in the house and nobody was getting proper sleep. I dozed off for an hour or so and I saw that my apartment building had been sealed. Five minutes later, a team of men in uniforms were at my doorstep and before I could make sense of what was happening, they started dragging me downstairs. Apparently, these people had dug mass graves for everyone. I woke up to find my mother crying, probably still for grandfather. But it’s the most scared I’ve ever been.”
