Horror Stories • Volume 1 •

Suffering From Nightmares

The following entries were found in New York City in the apartment of Kevin Johnson, who was found in critical condition by the police. He later died in hospital from his injuries.

December 5th, 2002

This journal is being written solely to help me deal with my recurring nightmares. It's been over a month since they began and I've tried everything in my capacity to get them to stop. Therapy, special yoga, pills, anything that I could afford, but nothing seems to take effect. I reasoned with myself for a while and then came to the conclusion that maybe writing them out and spilling out my feelings on paper could help.

I'm ending this entry rather quickly. I have an errand to run and I may not feel up to speed to write another one.

December 6th, 2002

I had a nightmare. Not as terrible as the others I've had but still very horrid. It started with me standing in the middle of black nothingness. Everything was silent around me and I felt very strange, like I couldn't move. It was as if I was floating in midair. Gravity seemed to be nonexistent, I felt extremely light.

I spent half the dream stuck there, unable to move and in darkness. Yet another nightmare taking advantage of one of my fears. There seemed to be a consistent theme in all of my nightmares. Each one seemed to take one of my fears (which I had plenty of) and exploit it to the fullest.

Anyway, it was only at the end of it when everything shifted. I remember a blinding light, leaving me unable to see before feeling like I was falling from a great height. Opening my eyes led me to thrash around and scream as I saw that I was falling through the sky, a night sky. Then, as I was about to hit a patch of hard concrete, I woke up. Sweaty and having a mini-panic attack, I laid back down on my bed, staring intently at the ceiling until the sun rose and I was forced to start the day.

It is always the same. Nightmare, wake up, stare, start the day. I had no idea what started this chain of nightmares, but I definitely know that they are making feel on edge.

December 7th, 2002

I'm actually surprised with myself that I was able to keep this a constant thing. I had another nightmare. It's very different from the last one.

Instead of being stranded in darkness, I was stranded in the middle of a desert. It was night-time, so it was freezing cold. I was surrounded by sand, cacti and dry bushes. This time, I was able to move. In an effort to try to warm myself up, I began running. By mistake, I kicked up sand which ended up getting in my eyes, forcing me to stop running.

The instant I stopped moving, a deep growl came from behind me. Reluctantly and slowly, I turned around to see what was there.

Coyotes, dozens of coyotes were staring at me with menacing, orange eyes. They were in their defensive stance, snarling and showing their teeth. Without thinking about it twice, I booked it.

I didn't stop to look back. The multiple growls following me indicated that I was in danger. This nightmare was worse than yesterday's, much worse. I remember how breathless I was, how much my throat and lungs burned and how my muscles ached.

In the end; the coyotes caught up with me. One of them sunk their teeth in my leg and the others tackled me to the ground. The pain of my flesh getting torn apart by those animals was excruciating and stretched out. I can still hear my own pleads and begs for it to end in my head. Something tells me that the nightmare was purposefully longer than the rest. It was as if something or someone wanted me to suffer. Or maybe it's just my irrationality and desperation to end this mental torture getting the best of me.

December 15th, 2002

I guess that I didn't keep my promise of writing in this thing everyday. As expected, I had another nightmare. I think I take back the statement I made in this journal 8 days ago. Even though I am terribly afraid of coyotes, my fear of spiders is far greater.