This nightmare is something that I have had not only every night but for as long as I can remember. I have had it looked at by somebody that knows me very well but has been interpreting dreams for about ten years. She told me that I should get other opinions also so here I am.

The dream starts as soon as I fall asleep and I find myself at a very large manor in the middle of swampy type woods. I walk into the manor and at first I'm just wandering through the house and looking at things. Most of the furniture is covered in dust and the house itself looks like it hasn't been lived in for a long time. I walk up two flights of stairs and at the end of the second one there is a door that is locked. My heart starts to beat extremely fast at this point and I am panicking, I run back through the house looking for a key which I will find in one of two places either in the master bedroom or in the kitchen. I attempt to hurry, but my running becomes that slow motion running that happens in dreams sometimes. When I finally arrive at the door I unlock it and I open the door. Walking up three steps I find myself in the attic where there is a man standing there. He is tall, has long black hair and is extremely boney. He turns so that I can see the profile of his face and he says these words every time "I have been waiting for you." The dream ends then and I wake up with my heart beating.


Background Information

Yes I continue to have the nightmare.

I don't remember very much of my life because most of it is repressed. However I do know that I was abandoned by my father at the age of three months and then again at eleven. I was emotionally abused by my brother and my mom ignores me. Other than that most of my childhood has been repressed.

For the most part during the dream I just feel curious but when I find the key I become excited, its almost as if I know that something good is coming. Going back up the stairs with the key I feel nervous but when I open the door and see the man I become extremely calm and at peace.

My home life is good, we live in a small house in the suburb. I work 50 hours a week on a farm about twenty minutes from my house. There are five people in my family.

This is clearly a very important dream. Without knowing the waking life background of your nightmare, it is hard to provide you with an accurate interpretation. Could you please answer the following questions?

1. To be clear, are you still having the dream? Not infrequently, recurring nightmares go away once the dreamer is made aware of their true meaning, so you are wise to keep searching for its meaning.
2. Could you please provide some background about your life at the time the nightmare first started...
a. How old were you when they first started?
b. How long ago... how many decades?
c. Were you living in your family home, by yourself, with roommates/loved ones, etc at the time?
d. In general, who were the important/influential people in your life at that time (parent(s), sibling(s), relative(s), teacher, neighbor, man/woman, etc)?
e. Would you please describe your family home (briefly)? How many were in your family? Did you live in a city, suburb, farm, in the woods? Was it a small house or a manor?
3. How did/do you feel at various time IN the dream... first when you are in the swampy woods... then, when you start up the stairs... then, when you find the door locked... then, when you find the key... and then, when you see the man?

Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions. Knowing them will help me and others give you a relevant interpretation. With any luck, one of them will resonate and make your nightmare go away forever.

I have to defer to the Dream Doctor Team on this one. I hope that you take them up on their offer. They usually charge for a personalized interpretation and this sounds like a lot more than that. Their interpretations are always well-supported and logical. If they say that your nightmare will go away, I bet it will. I just ask that you post the interpretation in the Forum, including when we can see it on TV.