Happy Thoughts

Okay, so as y’all may or may not know, I have really weird, really detailed dreams.  Most of my dreams have plots, antagonists, and at times, they cant be stressful, dark, disturbing, or all of the above.  Case in point: https://jackiesmith114.wordpress.com/2014/09/23/in-dreams/

And: https://jackiesmith114.wordpress.com/2015/03/31/haunted-dreams/

Last night’s dream was probably one of the most disturbing I’ve ever had, and I realized as soon as I woke up that it wasn’t the first time I’d had it.  Or I guess I should say it wasn’t the first time I’d visited that place in my dream.  It’s so strange.  There have been times when my conscious mind can’t remember a dream, but my subconscious dream mind will.  In fact, in my dream last night, the person guiding me through reminded me, “You came here last year, remember?” And I did.

The people in my dream thought I would be interested in visiting this particular building because it was said to be one of the most haunted in the nation.  And it was.  I’m not going to tell you why though.  I could barely get the word out this morning when I called my mom to tell her about it.  I could tell early on that she was horrified that I’d dreamt something so dark, so gruesome, so I didn’t go into detail.  I gave her a one-sentence summary.  But the images and ideas have stayed with me all day.

That being said, I am doing my best today to think happy thoughts.  Like fall!  Pumpkins!  Music!  Parakeets!  Two of my best friends and I are going to be spending Halloween in Houston at the Texas Renaissance Festival, so that’s something fun to look forward to!  We’re going to go shopping for costumes next week.  I’m also puppy sitting for those same two friends this week, so that’s fun.  I haven’t had a puppy since I was two so I’m having a lot of fun with Glorious Dorian as we call him.

There’s not a whole lot new on the book front, except for some awesome new reviews for all three books and lots of new Instagram friends who have been so sweet and supportive in their reviews and pictures!

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Haunted Dreams

I’ve always had incredibly vivd dreams.  My mom always says it’s because of my active writer’s imagination. I guess that’s it, because I know better than to eat anything right before I go to bed.  Some of these dreams are a lot of fun, some are incredibly stressful, and some are just downright creepy.  Last night, I had one of the creepy ones.

It began with a friend of mine (in my dream only.  I don’t actually know this girl.  I don’t even remember her name) telling me that she and her fiancé were going to stay in this old, historic bed and breakfast and that she was terrified.  She said that they’d stayed there before and that she had been terrorized by what she thought was a demon in her room.

Now, it just so happens that in my dream, I was dating Zak Bagans (the lead investigator of Ghost Adventures… Who, you know, I honestly wouldn’t mind dating… He’s kind of hot… Anyway, I’m guessing this was all in my head because I was working on Cemetery Tours 3 last night till like, five in the morning).  Together, we agreed that we would go spend the night in this bed and breakfast to see if we could find out exactly what was going on.

The bed and breakfast itself was really cool and really creepy.  We were staying on the second or third floor, and it had old, fancy burgundy rugs lining the hallway and that overall sensation of a building that has stood for a very long time and has kept more secrets than most of us living can remember. My friend asked if she could spend the night in my room.  Honestly, I didn’t really want her to because I’m really scared of the idea of demonic entities, but I agreed anyway.

I had packed a crucifix, so I made sure to set that on the night stand as we were preparing for bed.  I said a couple of prayers, hoping they would protect the room and keep any unwanted spirits out.  But my friend was still in a panic.  She was convinced that this spirit was going to come for her just as soon as the lights went out.  I tried to comfort her, saying that the building was old, it made a lot of creaking noises, the foundation shifted…  It could very well all be in her mind.  But she wasn’t convinced.

Finally, we turned out the lights and settled into bed.  I was a little nervous, but I kept reminding myself that I grew up in a haunted house (it’s true) and that I’d always been able to sleep just fine.  But then, I heard footsteps walking across the room.  I glanced up and saw the reflection of a man’s silhouette on the television screen.  At first, I really thought it was my friend’s fiancé, so I sat up and looked around and realized that we were still alone.

Freaked out, I ran out into the hallway (yes, I totally abandoned my friend) and looked around for a sign of anyone who could have been the source of those footsteps.  There was no one.  However, as I was standing alone in the hall, some invisible presence rushed up behind me and growled in my ear.  I screamed bloody murder and ran down the hall to Zak’s room (wow, this is beginning to sound an awful lot like a fanfiction).  By the way, I have no idea why he left us girls alone to fight off a demon all by ourselves.  What a terrible boyfriend.

Anyway, I woke him up and told him about what had happened.  He went out into the hall to investigate while I stayed in his room like the scaredy-cat that I totally am.  Meanwhile, my friend joined me and I apologized for leaving her, but we both agreed we were not going back to that room.

Moments later, her fiancé came to get us.  He said that they’d discovered a loose panel in the wall outside of our bedroom.  My friend and I anxiously tip-toed back down the hall to where Zak and he had plied the panel off to reveal an old, dusty, wooden coffin.  It was disgusting and horrific, but I was totally intrigued.  No wonder that room was so haunted.  I told them that we should probably call the police or the manager or something before we went tearing into this creepy wooden box, but of course, no one listened to me.  Even in my own dream, I can’t make people listen to me.

They opened up the box to reveal, not the corpse of a person, but of a mangled, hairy beast, with the body of a jackal and the head of a boar.  I know where that came from.  In The Omen, Damian, the devil’s son, is born from the womb of a jackal.  By that point, I was absolutely done with everything having to do with that bed and breakfast.  I begged them not to mess with the body, to just leave it there and let professionals come in and deal with it, but again, no one listened to me.

The dream ended with the body being destroyed and the four of us hoping that would be the end of it.  But right before I woke up, my friend found a note scribbled on an old piece of parchment.  All the note said was, Don’t you remember me?

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So yeah, that was my dream last night.  Creepy as all hell.  But it left me totally inspired to keep working on Cemetery Tours 3, so that’s a good thing.

In other news, in the midst of editing horse pictures and playing outside, I’ve totally been overlooking all the work I really need to be doing.  For example, I need to revise my short story for the Lurking in the Deep anthology (Cover release on April 2!!!).  I still have an interview with Luke Rainer to write.  I have a friend’s book to edit.  Not to mention, it’s almost April!  Boy Band will be released in less than a month!  In like, 22 days!  I’m so excited!  But I need to get a few more teasers out and get to work formatting the eBooks.  It will all happen.  I just need to get organized.  Make a list.  That’s always my go-to strategy.  Make a to-do list.

That being said, I should probably go get started.  Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Dreams

I have weird dreams.  I always have.

When I was five, I had a dream that a giant macaroni noodle monster with purple spots was chasing me around the mall at Christmastime.  It eventually followed me back to my house, jumped out at me, and I woke up screaming.

A few years ago, I dreamt that my high school class took a field trip to a train amusement park.  All the rides were trains, you moved around the park on a train, you stayed in a train, it was kind of neat.  Then I woke up and completely forgot about the dream.  Until about a year later, that is, when I dreamt I was showing my best friend around the same train amusement park and telling her all about my high school trip to that same place.  That was strange.  How did my subconscious remember what my conscious mind had forgotten?

What really weirds me out is when I can feel what’s happening to me in my dreams.  For example, I’ve had several dreams about tornadoes.  Even though I’ve never experienced a tornado personally, I can always feel the pressure in my head and my ears whenever one is around in my dreams.  Another time, I dreamt I was shot in the back and I could actually feel my lungs filling up with blood.  I’m not sure what was going on there.  Just the other night, I dreamt that I was dying of cancer (probably because I’d been up late rereading The Fault in Our Stars).  Death, in that dream, was actually a very peaceful process.  Hazy and grey and relaxing.  I could feel my loved ones around me and I remember whispering, “Wait for me.”

Last night was probably one of my weirdest dreams of all.  It started off in the house of someone I’d known in college.  Then there were dinosaurs.  Then aliens.  Then an escaped serial killer.  Then a satanic ritualist.  Then zombies.  It was pretty much everything that scares me in one horrifying dream.  On top of all of that, I had no idea where my camera was.  Then, at one point I had to search all over for something to kill zombies with because they were marching down the street, and the best I could come up with was a bowling ball.  I don’t think I’m what you’d call Zombie Apocalypse Material.

One day, I think I’m just going to sit down and rewrite every dream I can remember.  There’d be a lot.  I can’t tell you about the scariest dream I’ve ever had, because I actually managed to rewrite it into Between Worlds, but after it’s released, I’ll be able to tell you.  It’s one that I’m certain I will never forget.

What’s been your weirdest or creepiest dream?