The most terrifying nightmare.

[Jericho]

I was 4, maybe 5 years old when this dream happened. I don't remember the time when I went to sleep, nor do I remember waking up from it. I only remember the dream.
I was running through a narrow path in a forest, the sides of the path brimmed with tall, large shadowy trees. My good friend was running with me. We were being chased. A monster, I figured it looked like Frankenstein's monster. I stumbled and fell onto the path over my unlatched sandals. My friend struggled to latch the Velcro of my sandals back on, her hands shaking with fear as her face kept looking at me, the sandal, and the path behind us.
The next thing I knew, I was back in my bed. But I never knew from that moment whether I was awake or dreaming. There was a shadowy figure at my door. I was in my mother's bed, where I was sleeping alone (that's the only part I remember before going to sleep that night). The figure was dark, the silhouette of a tall, bulky man with large shoulders and a stout shaped face. Almost the description of Frankenstein's monster. I couldn't move. The blankets were too far to reach; I was paralyzed with fear. The air felt ominous, it almost ringed with terror. I just...couldn't move at all. I just laid there, a pathetic body on the bed, my arms and legs locked like a plank to my body.
That was it. I think I managed to break free of the paralyzing trance I was in and buried my face in the covers. The air was still ringing with the ominous feeling of the shadow coming for me. I don't remember whether the part with me breaking free was a figment of my imagination or it happened. But the nightmare haunts me to this day. Even thinking about the details makes me shiver and brings tears to my eyes.
I have two other nightmares, but I'll write them another time. One of them includes waking up but seeing totally weird things; another includes astral projection.
Thanks for reading.

[Black_Tail]

that is creepy. I know kids are prone to nightmares due to some chemical and growing in their brains. But the being paralyzed is a real thing. When you sleep your body goes into a somewhat paralyzed state. Some people wake up and find themselves still paralyzed, I think its a condition. Its said to be the scariest thing. As for the shadow irl, I don't know, maybe just your mind adjusting to real world. ^^

[Peregrine]

I had one like that as a kid, being chased by a tall shadowy figure shaped like the Frankenstein creature. I could see him (or the shadow anyway) coming up the hallway. I'm not sure what that means as a kid. For me, I think it was just because I had been watching too many classic horror movies. Strange, as I felt a sense of sympathy for the creature when I saw those movies, so I don't know why I had that dream.

As for the feeling of numbness and unable to move, I suggest looking up "sleep paralysis" in the search engine and reading up on the subject. It is more common than you think and you are lucky your experience was not as severe as what some people suffer when they experience it. On second thought, that other comment you made about waking up and seeing weird things, that also has the sound of sleep paralysis. Again, that one was also mild but it happens.