(Male, 40s)
As a child, I had a recurring nightmare about a monster under my bed.
The horrific thing about it was not its scaly skin, nor its long and sinewy arms and legs, nor its needle-sharp teeth (I knew its form exactly, although I could not see it).
Instead, the monster’s most terrifying aspect was that it lived on its victims’ belief and fear. If you did not believe in it, it could not harm you. The more you accepted and feared its presence, the stronger it became.
In my nightmare, I was trapped in my bed, the nightlight mysteriously extinguished, with that creature below me trying to MAKE me believe in its existence … and succeeding …