To die,--to sleep;-- To sleep! Perchance to dream:--ay, there’s the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause” —William Shakespeare, Hamlet

This famous quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet introduces a terrifying thought about nightmares able to haunt, even after death. The only thing to do , is to cure oneself from them during waking life. According to the American Psychiatric Assocation's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM IV), “Nightmares typically occur in a lengthy elaborate dream sequence that is highly anxiety provoking or terrifying. Dream content most often focuses on imminent physical danger to the individual (e.g., pursuit, attack, injury). In other cases, the perceived danger may be more subtle, involving personal failure or embarrassment." Artists and writers throughout history—William Shakespeare, Charlotte Bronte, and Alfred Hitchcock, to name just a few—have used nightmares with varying effects, from sublime terror to slapstick. From film to psychadelic and existential literature, from biblical allusions to sleep paralysis, the portrayal of nightmares allows us to examine the inner struggles of fictional characters and explore one of the stranger and more terrifying aspects of the human mind. “To sleep! Perchance to dream": Dreaming is a wonderful thing; however, when it turns to terror, the heavenly feeling turns hellish.