When I was very young, I used to have a recurring dream that I was stuck in a dark maze with something like a panther chasing after me. All I could see of it was glowing yellow eyes, but it felt like a big black cat to me so that’s probably what it would have been if I ever got to see it in the light. In the dream, I could always hear my Nan (my mother’s mom) calling to me from safety but I could never get to her. I had the dream at least weekly for as long as I can remember, until Nan died when I was nine years old, and then I started having it three or more times a week. I still have it every once in a while (I’m 24 now) but only a couple of times a year.
I also have a few more frequently recurring nightmares. A few years ago I was a volunteer firefighter and my first burned body was also my last; I could deal with car accidents and things like that without the crushed and mangled bodies bothering me, but crispy people are apparently just not something I can handle. I still have nightmares about that a lot.
I have other recurring fire-related dreams where I can see and hear that people I care about are stuck in a burning building but for some reason I can’t get to them and I also can’t get outside help so all I can do is stand there and watch them burn.
I’ve also got one that’s kind of post-apocalyptic, where there’s been some kind of extinction-level event. All the survivors try to group together and find a safe place. Then a couple of people (sometimes people I know, sometimes random faces I don’t recognize) and I leave the safe place to go find food or something. When we get back, all the people we’d left in the “safe” place are dead. Either rotting with chunks of skin falling off or stiff and brittle like all their fluids have been drained, like they’ve all been dead for weeks instead of hours. Most of the time before I wake up, my dream-self gets curious and touches one of the rotting bodies (usually my dad) and it goes to mush and sloshes all over my feet which causes me to freak out in the dream and wake up screaming for real.
Somewhat related, since this also makes me wake up screaming and happens fairly often, I also have night terrors. I can never remember what actually happened in those, though, or even if there was a dream at all. I just know something scared the bejeezus out of me.
I once heard that the average person has one nightmare per month. I count myself lucky if I only have one per night. Urgh.