Speaking of nightmares, it's actually been a good while since i had a proper nightmare. That is a good thing. I recall back when i was like 5 years old, i had a nightmare that had me trembling in terror for hours after i woke up. The nightmare itself seems kind of silly now (most of my childhood nightmares do, except one particular one which has left a terrifying imprint in my memory that i'd rather not talk about), but back then it was... Well, a grade A fucking nightmare. Being a wee lad probably didn't help one bit.
Nowadays, any untimely wake-ups not caused by outside sources are usually my pores going batshit insane and covering me with perspiration as a result of an intense dream, though i do get occasional sudden awakenings when a nightmarish face suddenly reveals itself in my minds eye. Like, a grayscale image of a girls face... Whose eyes are empty black sockets/circles. Something about that just freaks the everloving shit out of me, and the worst part is that the image isn't imaginary. See "Black Eyes of Evil" on TVTropes if you're morbidly curious. It's not even that bad in reality (despite what i like to think, it actually takes a bit to genuinely frighten me if it doesn't play on phobias), but it shocked me when it suddenly popped up in my dreamy train of thoughts. Other imaginary and much worse images HAVE popped up, and sometimes i hate my imagination for spawning them. I mean srsly brain, stop thinking of things that are scary!