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by type0 680 days ago
Nightmare stems from when a mare comes at night and sits on your chest

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mare_(folklore) https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nightmare

3 comments

Nightmares differ from night terrors though. To quote Wikipedia:

Night terrors are distinct from nightmares.[31] In fact, in nightmares there are almost never vocalization or agitation, and if there are any, they are less strong in comparison to night terrors.[31] In addition, nightmares appear ordinarily during REM sleep in contrast to night terrors, which occur in NREM sleep.[2] Finally, individuals with nightmares can wake up completely and easily and have clear and detailed memories of their dreams.[2][31]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_terror

For a good description of what they are like, read the "Signs and Symptoms" section of that article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_terror#Signs_and_symptom...).

And this is induced by sleep paralysis : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis
TIL: in French, "nightmare" is "cauchemar" and has the same etymology (the second part, at least).