John Henry Fuseli, The Nightmare
via: Wikipedia
[ed. There's a Reddit thread titled "What is the weirdest sensation that you only experienced ONCE?", which made me think of a couple nightmares in my life that were so terrorizing I still get the chills. One (I know now) was probably "sleep paralysis", a condition that feels like you're unable to move a single muscle but are wide awake. This is usually accompanied by a sense of some huge malevolent presence or force in the room (and a large, heavy pressure hovering above or on your chest). In my case, I also experienced a deep, soul-vibrating thrumming sound, which was the scariest part. The other weirdest feeling was a nightmare too, but this time my appendages (head and hands) were extremely huge and disproportionate to the rest of my body, so much so that if I swung them I'd tumble over and be crushed (sort of like those big balloons you see in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade). I've always thought that if Hell existed, these two experiences are what it would feel like.]
