Night Terrors

by Caitlin Ball

Callie is a girl suffering from what her husband calls Night Terrors.

I wanted to write a short horror story for Halloween. Having suffered from night terrors, I hold a unique perspective on something truly terrifying. For a person experiencing Night Terror’s the dreams feel entirely real and often inescapable. Callie's husband, Donny, is also a character in the Mageca series I’m working on. Being completely indifferent to Callie's plight, he was the perfect choice to show others just how horrifying Night Terrors can be. There is nothing worse than knowing there's a monster at the foot of your bed, but no one around you will listen. Upon waking, the most horrifying question a dreamer will ask themselves is, "What if the monster was real?"

25 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 6, 2022

About the author

Caitlin Ball is a passionate writer with a deep love for storytelling. Her life has been defined by constant change, adventure, and exploration. She has lived all over the U.S. and Korea. Her first job at Portsmouth Public Library sparked a lifelong connection to the written word. She's known for writing The Multi Corp. series and for reaching her goal of reading a thousand books in a single year. She's committed her life to creating compelling, high-quality fiction for the world to enjoy.

Reviews

[Joseph Schulte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Callie suffers from night terrors while dealing with her husband who has grown tired of the issue.

So I'm not entirely informed on what night terrors are, but I'm familiar with hallucinations which occur from sleep paralysis, which is what the story seemed to refer to with the creature's descriptions. Of course, there is the implication that the creature which was haunting Callie was, in fact, real, so she wasn't hallucinating at all. Either way, I read the story with the idea that it was based on some sort of experience's of Caitlin's (which is usually how I approach most books, depending on the author), and I think it's interesting to see what sort of monsters she might see.

I personally used to be afraid of the dark because I saw a lot of things form in the shadows. I remember staring at the textures on walls and seeing creatures and faces take shape, but it was never to the point of feeling real at all. My worst nightmares were all easily separable from the real world, so it was never enough to really make sleeping difficult. I can't imagine what it'd be like to be afraid of sleeping, though. That's an actual hell that goes understated.

The relation between her night terror of the creature and her husband who's shown to be physically abusive to an extent is a great element to include. Usually the hardest things for people with issues like this is the inability of others' to understand what they're going through, to the point that it ruins relationships and connections.