The nightmare is a ghost or night demon that terrorizes people while they sleep by sitting on their chests and suffocating them. The victim is paralyzed, unable cry out, and aware of a frightening presence in the room. A similar sensation is associated with alien abductions.

As seen in the artwork to the right, of which there are many popular variations, the nightmare has been represented as a demon accompanied by a ghostly horse, but is actually a vaporous entity related to the succubus or incubus and the werewolf, she often takes the form of a human woman.

While in the form a woman she can be wounded, and she will disappear or return to her true form if anyone recognizes her true nature.

In her vaporous form she can enter a room through any small opening, even a keyhole. Once inside, she can be trapped by plugging the hole through which she entered. A trapped nightmare can be taken as a wife.

A nail taken from a tomb and placed above the bedroom door may prevent nightmares and other phantoms from entering.

The nightmare may be an agent of Satan bent on the destruction of human souls, or a phenomenon caused by excessive gas which can be prevented by avoiding heavy meals right before bed.

Also known as Ephialtes, Mara, night-hag, Cauchemar, Walriderske, Drude, wytche, and witch-riding.

See Also: Creatures by Type » Incorporeal

References

Brand, John. Faiths and Folklore. London: Reeves and Turner, 1905.

Fiske, John. Myths and Myth-Makers. Boston & New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1872.

Image: Fussli, Johann Heinrich, (1741 - 1825). The Nightmare, 1781. Oil on canvas, 101.6 x 126.7 cm. Detroit Institute of Arts.