Why Nightmare Fuel is So Scary?

In the billions of images available over the internet, in movies and video games, it’s inevitable you’ll come in contact with a fair amount of nightmare fuel. You don’t always know which images will spawn nightmares, tho. One thing’s for sure, your dreams have thousands of pics to choose from and is just waiting to terrify you with them.

Nightmare fuel is so scary because the dark fear behind the image connects to the inner heart of the fear inside you. You have fear in common, and it connects deep. The fuel of your nightmares can be anything, but most commonly a highly disturbing image that provides fuel for your nightmares. In a word, nightmare fuel is so scary because it’s so personal.

Fear Drives Nightmare Fuel

The term nightmare fuel was coined by Mystery Science Theater 3000 and made popular by the TV Tropes website. Nightmare fuel is simply something capable of inducing nightmares. That something is most often a dark disturbing highly unnatural image that give rise to fear.

Fear does more than ignite a person’s primal instinct of fight or flight. It speaks out a place where it’s welcome in the person its terrifying. Once it finds the place its accepted, even welcomed, fear bonds itself to that place and adds fuel to the already existing embers. If the person has no smoldering fear embers, there’s nowhere for the nightmare fuel to ignite.

To some, my description of this process of fear binding itself to its victim in order to power nightmares might seem like a foreign concept because it seems to give fear an intentionality.

Merriam-Webster ‘s dictionary defines fear as an “unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger.” This dictionary definition seems to cover the basics, but lacks the passion we all know fear for.

In my study of nightmares I often research ancient cultures and how they viewed the nightmare experience. Along the way, I discovered some interesting differences in their beliefs about fear.

The experiences of the ancient Egyptians inspired the belief that fear is a monstrous serpent that threatened the very balance of the universe. Those in ancient Mesopotamia attributed the frightening troubles caused by nightmares to certain demonic entities. Ancient Hebraic differed wildly in belief systems and every other way imaginable. They did, however agrees fear acts more like a living entity in nightmares than an emotion that inspires fight or flight.

When I took a closer look at the idea of fear being a sentient being that inflicts terror on us all, it made complete sense how fear is not only driving nightmare fuel but seems to be that fuel. If fear is a spirit and seeks out commonality with humans who are fearful, it gives further disfunction and credibility to how and why fear is the fuel of nightmares.

How to Diminish Nightmare Fuel

Now that you know what you’re dealing with, you can reduce the effects of nightmare fuel by doing a couple of simple things. First, disconnect from everything you have in common with fear. This means fearful entertainment like horror movies, haunted houses, and the like. You might not like this idea at first, but when you indulge in horrifying entertainment you’re feeding fear and in turn, increasing fear’s influence over you.

Unfortunately fear is not alone. Where you find fear you find death, and a whole lot of doors open to some other really bad stuff. When you close the door to fear your life improves dramatically.

How then do you close the door to fear? A first practical step is to face your fear head on. Whatever you’re afraid of take it on head first. Don’t run away and allow fear to grow. It’s not easy to do, but it’s a vital step to closing the door to fear.

A second practical step you can take it to close the door to fear. Death is so prevalent in our society both in our daily lives and in our entertainment. Remove any access to death that you’re allowing in your life (and that includes memes) and you’ll greatly diminish the effect nightmare fuel has on your life.

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