As a mixture of vivid imagination, imminent stress, and niche memories, dreams can definitely be random, to say the least. Most dreams are left forgotten, but some are so odd and so unrealistic that they tend to linger around. The most interesting dreams typically leave students feeling unsettled and curious. The subconscious can work in a myriad of magical ways–some a bit more peculiar than others. 

During the pandemic, “lockdown dreams” were found to be particularly memorable, as people were free to stay in bed and sleep in. Dreams could have been derived from stressing about cleanliness, fear of contagion, or simply from boredom. While dreams during the peak of the pandemic were particularly recallable, wild nightmares and crazy dreams aren’t anything new. 

Some dreams are creepier than others. For senior Rend Nayfeh, her weirdest dream was not exactly a walk in the park; “I had a dream that this dude was wearing all white and he looked like a ghost. He had no color except for his eyes, which were red, and his hands were like chainsaws, and he would chase me around. He’d be like ‘I’m going to get your sister, I’m going to get your sister,’ and we put him in jail, but because his arms are chainsaws, he cut through the bars of jail, came to my house, and chained down the front door.” 

Unfortunately, that particular dream has resulted in multiple nightmares; “My brother had to draw the dude on a piece of paper, and I had to rip it apart. It was a scary dude.” To say the least, this dream is definitely not one that easily slips out of mind. Nayfeh is able to connect some of her dreams to particular emotions or experiences, such as stress about her future career or memories of watching FBI shows. Thankfully, the man with the chainsaw hands doesn’t have any real connection to her life. 

Speaking of fear, dreaming about a phobia is the perfect recipe for an eventful nightmare. Fears can take different forms for everyone–for sophomore Abby Conrad, it comes in the shape of King Kong.   

“[The dream] is recurring too, I have to mention this,” Conrad started. “I am in Disney World, which is weird, because I don’t really like Disney World. There was a King Kong ride–it’s like he’s chasing you, and you have to get out of the park before he can get you, but it’s actually King Kong.” Having a gorilla monster sprint after you is enough to make anyone tremble, but it’s even scarier when there is a personal experience attached to it. 

“I never watched King Kong. I do have a fear of gorillas,” Conrad informed. “When I was like four, I went to the zoo and this gorilla got all hot and bothered, and he started pounding on the glass, and I guess I was right there, so… I guess it seeped into my dream.” 

King Kong is not the only creature emerging in dreams–just about anyone can make a guest appearance. Whether they’re swarming basements or appearing at the other end of a fantasy portal, fictional characters have played major roles in some students’ dreams. If students are lucky, or unlucky in some cases, their dreams could include entire casts of characters from different shows, books, and movies. 

“I had a dream where I was in my bed, and all of a sudden, I was woken up by a tapping on my foot…” senior Juliet Pantoulis recalled. “I follow him all the way down to my basement, and all of the Muppets are there, just like every single one. There’s animals on the ceiling, swinging, and Miss Piggy is there beating people up. It was so bad, and everybody was just running around in chaos.”  

Pantoulis’ notes app is filled with inexplicable rants; writing down her dreams enables her to remember them and travel back whenever she needs some entertainment; “Even though I’m in an entirely different universe when I’m in a dream, I can read about it and be re-immersed back into it, and that’s really cool.” As somebody who enjoys analyzing her dreams, Pantoulis tries to make sense of even the most random ones. 

Sometimes, however, dreams are better left unexplained. Sophomore Rachel Middleton drew from her personal experience; “Some dreams–I mean, mine– aren’t exactly something that needs to be analyzed. I think those kinds of dreams, like the ones where you’re in a different reality–they’re just boredom from the real world.”  

Perhaps a different reality is an understatement. Just about every cartoon character has featured themselves in Middleton’s hectic dreams, thanks to her vivid imagination. From fairies to the Avengers and the Justice League, no character is left out. “It was just like a portal to another dimension kind of thing,” Middleton said. “It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.” 

Despite all the dream theories and possible connections to real life, it can be comforting to see them as an escape from normality. Middleton connected dreaming to another pastime of hers; “[Dreaming] is like what they describe reading is, like a portal to another world and it can be whatever you picture.” 

Whether students jot down their dreams or leave them floating in their thoughts, there are certain ones that are simply unforgettable. It’s not everyday that somebody can say they’ve met someone with chainsaw hands, participated in a gorilla chase, woke up to a green frog panicking, or visited fairies on the other side of a new dimension. 

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