Last week, my slumber was interrupted by an extremely frightening dream. I woke up in sweats and could not get back to sleep. I even resorted to going downstairs to sleep with my mom because I was so disturbed. This nightmare got me thinking, do others also have these twisted dreams? What do they mean? Here are the strange dreams of some of the newspaper staff. Using your imagination or even some AP Psych knowledge, let me know in the comments how you interpret the content of these dreams. 

Chloe Carlsten: 

Okay, brace yourself. This is a weird one. “I was in California at a summer camp with my whole family and grandparents on a lake. On the bank of the lake, there was a “death forest” that you could not go into because it was terrifying. However, during the day, grandparents would spend their time in the forest. One day, when we were canoeing, I was looking over into the death forest and I saw a kid running out with a plastic bag of “dust”. We then had dinner where we ate weird mystery cubes of food. I then noticed that my grandmother was GONE, she vanished and I was wondering what this had to do with the boy. It was all adding up: grandmothers disappearing, boy carrying ashes, weird blocks of food. They were FEEDING us our dead grandparents. When we realized this, we skedaddled out of there.” Chloe thinks this dream stemmed from her watching a similar episode of the Walking Dead and it is “by far the weirdest dream I’ve ever had”. 

Jason Gould:

“It was nighttime and I was in the car with my dad. We were going unbelievably fast, speeding through the neighborhood. Then, we went over this long bridge while it was pitch black. Eventually, we crashed and both cars flew off the bridge. However, we didn’t land in the water. We landed on this sandbar and I discovered that the person we crashed into was someone I knew from camp who was pretty weird. We waited for the police until the sun rose then I woke up.”

Cliffie Manuel: 

This memorable dream happened last spring, during soccer season. That night, Cliffie had a dream filled with exclusion. Apparently, Chloe Carlsten and I “didn’t like” Cliffie and were talking bad about her behind her back. She woke up in a rage, physically angry and me and Chloe for our heinous actions. She thinks this stems from the fact that Chloe and I drove to soccer practice together that day while she remained alone in her 4Runner. Someone’s insecure…

Coltrane Margosian: 

“Last year, I had a dream that the rest of the class council showed up to my house one day unannounced and Elliot Romero started searching my entire house and all of my belongings. For some reason, Ms Zerbst appeared in my house and although I protested against Elliot’s search, she said that since Romero had higher authority, I couldn’t do anything about it. This is where it gets strange. I later found out that the reason he was searching my house was to find a child predator who was hiding in it. I went into one of the rooms in my house for some reason to look for Gustavo Fring (Breaking Bad character) and I called out to him. The predator that was actually there then jumped out from behind some clothes and I called for Elliot to come over but he didn’t believe me and the criminal got away. Overall, this dream was very strange and I have no idea why Gustavo Fring was in the dream.” 

Suzanna Carlsten: 

Approximately one year ago, this sassy twin had a frightening dream. She was stranded on an island called, “Daufuskie” (it’s real, look it up). On this island, golf carts are the sole mode of transportation. However, when Suzanna was all alone on her golf cart and it died, she began being chased by lost souls of people and animals. Freaky. 

Isaac Cherry: 

Isaac’s strange dream is one that I think many of us have had: arriving at school naked. In my opinion, this is one of the worst dream’s to have as there is nothing like feeling trapped in front of your classmates with no clothes on. Terrible. 

Burton McCulley: 

“Last night I had a dream that I was driving with Abby, Charlie and Piper. We were going down one long road to a beach and tourist shops lined the street. Except, when I looked out the window, the stores were all made of sand. I REALLY needed water, so I opened the door to the sand shop. When I entered, I got crushed by sand. I could barely breathe and could feel the grains getting in my eye sockets. I thought Piper was pulling me out, but it was actually just a dog. The dog began to lead me to the ocean to find the real Piper and then I woke up”. 

Piper Hudgins: 

On September 7th 2022, Piper Hudgings had a dream that she was supposed to go to Embre Slack’s house to have dinner with Sadie Hoertdoerfer’s (R.I.P.) family but instead she went to explore this creek. There, a sign stated not to take pictures but the sunset was just so pretty so she had to take a picture. As soon as she did so, there were these creepy black shadow figures running from a distance. Then “all of my friends showed up and we were finding our way out UNTIL a herd of big white wild horses started running all around us. Two of them ran right at me and I barely avoided them by hiding behind a tree”. Upon reflection she recalls, “I made it to dinner and it was a majestic experience yet eerie like something really bad could have happened”. 

Charlie Zaifert: 

“I don’t really remember how it started but I discovered I was pregnant. When I found out, I was very upset because I don’t want kids and I was only 16. My mom and grandma decided for me to have an at home birth. However, I chickened out because I thought it would hurt too much so I suggested just having a C-section. We go to the food court at the mall because that’s where the doctor was located and she tells me that if I have a C-section, my child will be born with no brain so I decide to try again for a natural birth. We make it back home (me, my mom, and grandma Carole) and I find my friends, Piper and Abby, waiting. The next day, I went to my soccer game and my whole team was shocked about my pregnancy. After the game, I got home and Piper was having a seizure! So, I ran over and she stopped but wasn’t breathing. I then began to give her CPR but the second I touched her she disappeared completely. Then I woke up.”

Wyatt Mahoney: 

This one is not just a dream, but a real life spectacle. Wyatt had a dream that there was a strange man in his bed and started to scream and flail around in his sleep. His parents then proceeded to come into his room because they were awoken and frightened by his night terror. Wyatt, you may want to speak to a doctor about this. Yikes. 

Lots of our newspaper staff have had recurring dreams. The Sleep Foundation states, “Experiencing recurring dreams may point at underlying issues regardless of the dream’s content. Adults who experience frequent recurring dreams tend to have worse psychological health than those who do not, and many experts theorize that these dreams may be a way to work through unmet needs or process trauma.” Yikes. Here are a series of recurring dreams from our potentially emotionally damaged writers. 

Lauren Faust: 

When she was little, Lauren had a recurring dream that there was an alligator living under her bed and it was going to crawl up the curtain and eat her. Although she was seven, this dream still haunts her to this day. 

Holly Manning: 

Another recurring nightmare, Holly dreamt she was in a dark swamp on a really rickety dock as fog filled the air. She began to be chased by something so she sprinted down the dock. However, at the end of the dog, alligators filled the water. She was trapped. However, she says she always wakes up in this trapped position and nothing bad ever ends up happening. 

Alexa Conlon: 

Often Alexa dreams that she is sitting on her porch with her sister and her pets. When she looks down, she sees a snake and jumps on the chair. Suddenly, the area below her would become a sea of snakes and they would float on chairs over them. She was alone now then a pirate would come save her and take her on her their ship. It was all good until the pirate tried to get her to walk the plank. She turns around and everything disappears, then she is awoken. 

Elaina Seymour: 

Elaina used to always have this one dream where she would be driving at night and then everything went dark and she couldn’t see. Although I’m on the edge of my seat, nothing ever happens because she is always woken up in fright of a car wreck. 

Bellamy Kline: 

“I have a lot of dreams about taking the SAT, I wake up in the middle of the night nervous about not studying or being late.”

Thanks for reading! Part 2 coming soon?!