This is for real.
When I was 3 I started getting these things called "Night Terrors"
They are a hell of a lot worse than nightmares.
I only stoppped getting them around 10...after heavy medication.
I kept dreaming everynight for 7 years that my parents were trying to kill me.
And took me to a hospital where a surgeon tied me to a operating table and took out my organs for the black market.