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[Lord Shonus]

http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/nuclear/nuclearwar1.html

It's actually pretty interesting, though. I recommend reading it.

A great deal of information from SIOP and the Soviet equivalent are now available, with none of the war plans having much resemblance to this. Most importantly, the only nuclear power that targeted most cities for purposes other than retaliation (and both the US and USSR plans included the fine distinction of "shooting at the base" and "shooting at the city" for this purpose) was Great Britain in the early 1950s (they initially just updated WWII Bomber Command plans) - the only cities that were likely to be targeted directly were D.C and Moscow (for their command-and-control functions). While there would be a lot of collateral damage (especially in the US) from attacks on strategic bases, and countries where ground combat was heavy would suffer damage from tactical exchanges (although much less than you would think - tactical warheads were relatively low-yield, and maximizing the effects against troops would simultaneously minimize fallout), cities without a nearby missile base, sub pen, or bomber airfield would take relatively little direct damage.

Moreover, the scenario outlined begins with pre-positioned orbital nuclear warheads crippling the US with an EMP strike. There's no evidence that such warheads ever existed, and the US maintained vacuum-tube backups for a lot of the strategic infrastructure to blunt exactly that sort of attack. The damage to civilian infrastructure from that would be appalling, but the military air defenses would remain mostly intact, and the chances of any Soviet bomber making it through would be very low, particularly since their primary long-range bomber, the Tu-95 Bear was a fairly slow turboprop aircraft that would be easy meat for any fighter or SAM.

[Rolan7]

First post here but just wow, I just had nightmares.  Actually nightmares, ones I couldn't wake up from.  At first I thought I was waking up, and just falling back asleep immediately...  But no, I was sound asleep the entire time.  But I was trying so hard to wake up!

They were based on nightmares I had back in college.  Apparitions who looked and acted like people I care about...  Until I realize it's a dream, and that realization transforms them into horrible monsters (with the same normal, loved one's appearance).  It was always at that point that I woke up.  I could try to look away or stay very still, but once I knew it was a dream their transformation was inevitable.

Eventually I started confronting them directly as soon as I realized.  It wasn't at all pleasant, but it was very brief and basically nothing.  Soon the dreams became rarer, and later stopped...  Unless I ever took a nap, in which case I'd have to dispel them occasionally and go back to sleep.

This was so different.  I went to sleep at... about 3:15, no earlier than 3.  Only an hour ago.  I didn't know REM sleep started that fast, but the dreams seemed to last longer than that.

I was in a warped version of my home, alone.  It was nighttime, and I needed to sleep.  I didn't need any lights, a soft blue glow poured in from windows which don't exist, into rooms too long and in the wrong places, and repeated.  (Previously in such nightmares, there would be a red glow like sunset or blood everywhere).  I found my "bed" but was uncomfortable.  Couldn't fall asleep, the cot kept moving around the room.  I fell off, and I swear, the impact felt absolutely real.  I had no idea I was dreaming.  I decided to sleep in the guest room.

I won't go into detail on the apparition who met me there.  Just that I realized I was asleep, and...  Gave it a hug, assuming I'd wake back up anyway.  It was a nice hug.  It produced a sharp fork.  We wrestled, and I still remember the feel of its fingers gripping mine.  It screamed static and I finally managed to wake up.

...Except I hadn't, I only thought so.  Worried about going directly back to sleep, I got up and looked outside.  I think I heard someone shouting.  I considered, I swear, making a first post in the Things That Made You Terrified thread...  But my laptop wasn't where I expected.  Something was wrong, and I concluded I'd fallen back asleep.  I concentrated hard, and again "woke up".

This time I woke up outdoors, in my car.  For some reason my car was parked in a lot overlooking my apartment from high above, but that seemed normal.  The blue light was everywhere, but I still thought I was awake.  I tried to make myself comfortable and fall back asleep, but that was tricky when I realized someone else was in the car.  And the ground was shaking, and the mountain tipping over as if to drop me.  "This isn't right, it's like I'm still asleep".  Which caused the figure beside me to start shaking and murmuring in rage...  I tried hard to will it away, or for me to wake up.  Unless every other time I'd tried, nothing.  I did manage to set it on fire but that didn't really improve the situation.

I ran out of the car and began walking along the apartment complex.  Somehow I reached the conclusion that I was awake, but, was so sleep-deprived that I was hallucinating.  A pack of dogs approached me, snarling.  "They're just hallucinations, they can't hurt me..."  Yeah, stupid I know.  They kept growling and nudging me until I tried to push them away, at which point one bit my hand.  It *hurt*.  I've died in dreams many times, but it's always been oddly serene and painless (even if it should have hurt).  This pain was muted, but it was there, and every impact carried real weight.

The owner of the dogs called out from a window, and the dogs backed off.  He said it wasn't his fault though, I was right outside his yard at night.  I grumbled and walked away, eventually calling back "Fuck you!  You're not even real, probably!"  Then regretting it.  One way or another, I was definitely going insane.

I kept trying to open my eyes all the way, because they felt partly closed.  I had no idea I was asleep.  I returned to my warped home and met the first apparition there again, the scariest one.  Desperate, and incredibly frustrated, I grabbed the fake thing and just starting punching it.  Which was pretty traumatic considering its form.  I felt like I was punching through water, and that's what finally let me realize I wasn't hallucinating at all.  I was asleep.

This time, completely freaking out, *I* did the static-screaming.  Which finally woke me up, for real, but also worries me.

;tldr usually I can wake up but this time I couldn't, and the apparitions took advantage of that for the longest hour.  Also I was the demons?

That's probably enough time passed that I can go to sleep safely.  I also suspect it was triggered by putting the pillow too far up my "headrest", something I used to do when these nightmares were common.

[Amperzand]

-nightmaresnip-

That sounds deeply unpleasant and I do not envy you.

-nukesnip-

Thanks! That's actually quite interesting. I'd like to see somebody rewrite the paper with updated information.

[Loud Whispers]

Sorta reminds me of how I had one dream where I was diving underwater through some flooded great building, brightly lit despite the aquatic invasion
All of a sudden the person I'm diving with pulls out a knife and digs it right into my ribs

I ran out of the car and began walking along the apartment complex.  Somehow I reached the conclusion that I was awake, but, was so sleep-deprived that I was hallucinating.  A pack of dogs approached me, snarling.  "They're just hallucinations, they can't hurt me..."  Yeah, stupid I know.  They kept growling and nudging me until I tried to push them away, at which point one bit my hand.  It *hurt*.  I've died in dreams many times, but it's always been oddly serene and painless (even if it should have hurt).  This pain was muted, but it was there, and every impact carried real weight.

The horrid part was it didn't feel like I'd been stabbed, which sure hurts like hell - this felt like someone had shattered my ribcage and my lungs were being torn apart by my own bones

Only other time I've felt pain in my dreams was when I woke up having punched what turned out to be a drawer as hard as I could

[TD1]

I've never felt pain in dreams - other things, sure, like contentment or happiness, and sometimes fear/terror at the rare nightmare. Only time I sleep-hurt myself was when I was certain something was grabbing my hand, and I viciously clawed at it. Turns out I clawed my own-monster hand. Hurt like hell when I woke, heh.

[Rolan7]

Yeah I thought pain was supposed to be a sign that a situation was real.  Like, you pinch yourself to see if you're asleep.

Anyway I messed with my pillows and slept untroubled the rest of the night.  I even woke up late and well-rested (lately I'd been waking up way too early, like 5-6AM, though not from nightmares.  It was making it hard to stay awake as long as I needed to at night).

I'm not too worried, this was probably a rare and preventable thing.  I've mostly forgotten it...  Glad I wrote it down though.

[Arx]

I think you pinch yourself because your subconscious sucks at producing expected responses. It's like blocking your nose or pushing your fingers through your palm - you don't represent it properly, and then notice that it's not properly represented.

[DeKaFu]

I tend to have a lot of freaky dreams due to reading things like SCP and nosleep to relax before bed, but I can usually enjoy them because I'm always aware that I'm ultimately the one in control.

This reminded me of one exception a few years back. Not as dramatic, by far, but still really alarming to me.

I don't even recall the details of the first stage of the dream. I know there was a forest that was... cursed or evil in some way. I was lost in it and another person enacted some kind of ritual... I may have died there? Been sacrificed? It wasn't overly concerning at the time.

It only became concerning when I woke myself up. In my house, everything was normal at first, except for an intense feeling of paranoia and creepiness. I kept trying to turn on lights but they didn't work. If they lit up at all they'd only illuminate a few inches of faint yellow light around them. I realized I was still dreaming and, in some kind of abstract way, still in the forest.

I woke myself up again, and the situation repeated itself. And again. I began to understand that the rules of the ritual in the forest meant I didn't get to leave. I also knew this was bullshit because I was dreaming. But after several more false awakenings that landed me back there, I was starting to feel an uncomfortably genuine feeling of hopelessness. Like I was actually beginning to believe, despite myself, that I wasn't going to be able to escape. Like maybe I should've taken the whole thing more seriously, and was going to be paying the consequences for a long time.

...There was no big ending or anything. I just eventually woke up for real. But it freaked me the heck out at the time.

[hops]

I wonder what trigger repetitive false awakenings. I once had a dream where I spent half of the day before waking up, and did the same thing over and over. Now that I'm a lucid dreamer that BS doesn't tend to happen.

[Loud Whispers]

I tend to have a lot of freaky dreams due to reading things like SCP and nosleep to relax before bed, but I can usually enjoy them because I'm always aware that I'm ultimately the one in control.

This reminded me of one exception a few years back. Not as dramatic, by far, but still really alarming to me.

I don't even recall the details of the first stage of the dream. I know there was a forest that was... cursed or evil in some way. I was lost in it and another person enacted some kind of ritual... I may have died there? Been sacrificed? It wasn't overly concerning at the time.

It only became concerning when I woke myself up. In my house, everything was normal at first, except for an intense feeling of paranoia and creepiness. I kept trying to turn on lights but they didn't work. If they lit up at all they'd only illuminate a few inches of faint yellow light around them. I realized I was still dreaming and, in some kind of abstract way, still in the forest.

I woke myself up again, and the situation repeated itself. And again. I began to understand that the rules of the ritual in the forest meant I didn't get to leave. I also knew this was bullshit because I was dreaming. But after several more false awakenings that landed me back there, I was starting to feel an uncomfortably genuine feeling of hopelessness. Like I was actually beginning to believe, despite myself, that I wasn't going to be able to escape. Like maybe I should've taken the whole thing more seriously, and was going to be paying the consequences for a long time.

...There was no big ending or anything. I just eventually woke up for real. But it freaked me the heck out at the time.

Gotta say, looking at the trees outside my window with the same fear I once had seeing them lit dark blue in a stormy childhood night

[TheDarkStar]

Sorta reminds me of how I had one dream where I was diving underwater through some flooded great building, brightly lit despite the aquatic invasion
All of a sudden the person I'm diving with pulls out a knife and digs it right into my ribs

I ran out of the car and began walking along the apartment complex.  Somehow I reached the conclusion that I was awake, but, was so sleep-deprived that I was hallucinating.  A pack of dogs approached me, snarling.  "They're just hallucinations, they can't hurt me..."  Yeah, stupid I know.  They kept growling and nudging me until I tried to push them away, at which point one bit my hand.  It *hurt*.  I've died in dreams many times, but it's always been oddly serene and painless (even if it should have hurt).  This pain was muted, but it was there, and every impact carried real weight.

The horrid part was it didn't feel like I'd been stabbed, which sure hurts like hell - this felt like someone had shattered my ribcage and my lungs were being torn apart by my own bones

Only other time I've felt pain in my dreams was when I woke up having punched what turned out to be a drawer as hard as I could

I occasionally have this (as in, feeling pain in my dreams) happen too. In one of my particularly memorable dreams, I was trying to run to something and grab something (IDK what it was) so that I could wake up. Meanwhile, someone was trying to shoot me. I succeeded in grabbing whatever-it-was, but it was too late and I woke up with the sensation of being shot.

[Eric Blank]

Oh gods the wind. The house is creaking loudly. Things are breaking. It is not good. At all.

Please stop wind ;_;

[Amperzand]

Aww jeeze. I hate when that happens, reminds me of that mini-hurricane my area had several years ago. Knocked out so much of the communications and electrical infrastructure, the rest of the US learned what happened via ham radio operators.

[Reelya]

I think you pinch yourself because your subconscious sucks at producing expected responses. It's like blocking your nose or pushing your fingers through your palm - you don't represent it properly, and then notice that it's not properly represented.

I've sometimes dreamed that it was dark, and try to turn the light switch on but nothing happens. I can feel the switch clicking, but no actual light. So, yeah, the mind can model the switch and clicking action but that doesn't mean it's "wired up" to an actual light in the dream. Also fitting for the fear thread, as not being able to turn the light on in a nightmare could be pretty scary in itself.

[Amperzand]

Thankfully for my mental health, I have so few memorable dreams that nightmares almost never occur.