In March of 2014, I experienced a terrifying nightmare. Nightmares are extremely rare for me, fortunately, so they tend to stand out when they occur.
That day, 28 March 2014, I had watched an entertaining video compilation on YouTube of all the movie scenes in which Christopher Walken was dancing. One of the featured clips was of the movie Communion, in which Walken played alien-abduction experiencer Whitley Strieber. At the end of the video I turned my attention to other things but apparently the video stayed with me.
It was an unseasonably warm night, with nighttime temperatures in the 60s and light rain moving through Raleigh. The comforter was still on the bed and I was feeling hot. I don’t sleep well when it’s warm.
Sometime in the early morning, I dreamed I was seated with my eyes closed in what seemed like a dentist’s chair. Three doctors hovered just above, doing work on me. A pencil-thin rod of some sort was being used to somehow adjust my spine.
As the work progressed, something being done to me began to really, really hurt and snapped out of whatever kind of trance I had been in. Anger flaring, I mentally formed a message in my mind, aiming it towards my ham-handed medical team:
“You’re hurting me. Please … STOP.”
I knew my thoughts would be understood as if I had done this before. Mine was not a desperate cry, either, but more acerbic. These guys were completely clueless. They just didn’t understand that what they were doing was painful and I dismissed them as if I was scolding my dog. My message was understood, though, as they immediately stopped their work and the pain subsided.
The nightmare then shifted into bizarre thoughts of implantation. I was shown how a fiber-optic-like wand was used to insert something behind my eyeball. How I could see this while my eyes were involved was not clear to me.
The next thing I know, I experience a false awakening (a false awakening is where the dreamer thinks that he or she has awakened but in actuality is still dreaming). I am lying in my bed with my wife, Kelly, sleeping next to me. I discover with a shock of fear that I am completely paralyzed, able only to move my eyes. Time slows down and my heart leaps into my throat when I realize there is someone else in the room with us!
About two feet from the foot of my bed stands some sort of being, with dark eyes and a large, lightbulb-shaped head. It is surprisingly short, standing about 3 1/2 feet tall. I find out later that it matches the description of a “Small Gray” alien.
I begin to panic. I don’t want to see this! I don’t want to see this! I silently think to myself as I lie there completely powerless to move.
I muster all my willpower and try desperately to wake Kelly. I need her to validate what I’m seeing, that there’s actually something in our room. I command my lungs and vocal chords to yell but the only sound I produce is nothing more than a pathetic gurgling sound. I can hear my whimper’s echo as it dies softly in the room around me. Kelly continues to slumber.
The being backs slowly away from me and eventually vanishes. My paralysis fades as I awaken for real and I check the clock. It’s 1:30 AM. I then fall back to sleep and sleep more or less soundly for the rest of the night.
Where did this nightmare originate? I have no idea. It had been years since I last watched Communion and I don’t recall it ever having such a strong effect on me. The movie apparently had a strong enough effect on me to cause nightmares decades later. It’s been two years after this nightmare and I’m still mulling it over.