Don’t you think dreams are so strange?

Here we are in 2021 and it seems like we’re no closer to understanding what they mean or why we have them.

But one thing is for sure: recurring dreams are REALLY STRANGE. And they can be exhausting.

Folks on AskReddit discussed their odd recurring dreams.

1. The caterpillar.

“When I was a little kid, I kept having this dream where I was eating dinner with my family and I saw a giant cartoon caterpillar in the other room.

Without raising it’s head at all, it was easily as tall as the seat of my chair. I told my family what I saw, But they replied with “Don’t worry, Caterpillars don’t grow that big”.

Then the caterpillar came into our kitchen and sat right next to me. It didn’t do anything menacing, but I was about five, and I was pretty freaked out.”

2. The deer hunter.

“I have this weird dream that would come every time my dad brought home a deer (he is a hunter). I like to watch him clean up the deer whenever he gets home so I am used to gory stuff like that.

Well in my dream the deer has swapped places with my dad and I can’t move so all I can do is just sit there as the deer cleans up my dad. Though I am surprised that seeing that did not traumatize me.

So um ya that was my weird recurring dream. Cleaning up means like skinning the deer, removing organs, removing the head and extra limbs, and so on.”

3. Lady in white.

“When I was around 6 years old I used to dream about a woman in a long white, hooded fur coat.

When I got close to her she would turn around and her face was a bloody, scraped up mess.

I hated that dream so much, I knew what was going to happen every time.

Still shakes me up now, at 53.”

4. Wrapped up.

“I’m 5 years old in the dream and I’m really upset and crying.

Someone wearing really long and baggy sleeves (almost like a blanket) picks me up and holds me tight and tells me that I’m safe and that everything will work itself out.

I start to feel really calm and light and when I close my eyes and just stay there cuddled up with the person, I wake up staring at the ceiling wrapped up in all my blankets.

I still have that feeling of calmness until I realize it was a dream. I’ve kept having that dream since I was 5.”

5. Sounds like a fairy tale.

“I was planting some plants in my awesome dreamland and there were fairies and mermaids and stuff and one of the fairies gave me some kind of brown rock.

I planted it and watered it hoping it would grow. Then, my mom came and dug up the plant, and revealed that the ‘rock’ was just po*p.

Then the dream switched to me being chased by some glowing guy in a fancy house made by fancy Persian rug.”

6. Like a museum.

“I have a speaker and drink every once in a while, I’m with my family and I walk into like a museum, and the museum director take my family like your back room where they all keep their stuff.

Then my family disappears and I’m in a hallway by myself. Sometimes the hallway is different and last time I had a dream I went to the bathroom and one of the rooms, I think it was like a hotel room.

And by the end of the dream I walk out of the door like a clear glass store and I’m in a different time period and my family’s there. This dream usually occurs when I am having a difficult time in my life.”

7. Train tracks.

“I had the dream dozens of times.

It’s not very clear but it’s about trains and train tracks. If the train was too big or small for the tracks it was absolutely horrifying for some reason.

I mean HORRIFYING to the point where I would wake up in the middle of the night and sometimes sweating but when I wake up I just feel stupid for being scared of such a weird thing.

I was not on the train but hovering above the trains. I saw everything in darkish colors like black, gray, and brown. I recently stopped having them. I don’t have OCD or any medical problems(that I am aware of), I’m was not sick or anything.This made me feel a lot better knowing there are other people that have weird recurring dreams.”

8. Still angry.

“Exacting revenge on the scummy manager and her cronies who forced me into retirement.

They still win in the dream too!

It’s almost 15 years ago this happened but I suppose it’s the anger I still feel that drives my dreams.”

9. Very strange.

“I had a dream where people stick two portals into the other while I was in between the two.

Then everything just exploded into color while my body parts melted everywhere and spazzed all over the place.”

10. Dead fish.

“I started to have this strange dream short after I got married (12 years ago, when I was 29).

I would jump in a swimming pool, with clear water, placed in middle of an open field. When I emerge from the water, I see the water turned murky and is full of big black dead fish, floating on their backs.

I struggle to swim through them to get out of the pool… That’s it. nothing happened tho, but it freaks me out every time. Thinking of that I just realized, I haven’t dreamed it for a while….”

11. Every night.

“I’ve had the same dream every night for the past couple of years.

In real life, I’m a professional dancer, still performing and teaching at 72 years old. In the dream, I’m always on my way to a gig with my husband who helps me carry costumes, props, make-up case, etc.

We’re always in a crowded city, and always walking. Each time, the city is invaded by aliens who scoop up humans and turn them in robots. We haven’t been caught by them yet, but I keep wondering if and when we do, what will happen to all my costumes???

Then I wake up…”

12. Dreaming of sushi.

“Sometimes in my dreams, I am a sushi chef, a sushi thief, or even being chase by sushi monsters. Sometimes I dream I am in a science fiction movie.

But for some reason, sushi is always tied in…

I also have a lot of dreams where I am an invisible and nobody can see me. The dream imagines myself as a lonely spirit walking the halls of a house.

Another dream that I’ve been dreaming frequently is the dream of becoming a monster or gaining superpowers.”

13. Back to school.

“I keep going back to a freaky dream version of my college, usually the dorm.

I’m returning to school from winter break (between semesters) to find that the school had thrown away all my stuff and other people are living in my room.

Either that, or I’m trying to access my campus mailbox and can’t get in it. (I did finish college.)”

14. That’s intense.

“I’m on a death march and both my children are still young.

We are exhausted and I can only carry one. I have to choose …”

15. That’s weird.

“I am in school and the teacher tells me to go grab a pen from the back of the class I go to a cabinet and I grab the top of it, surprise surprise it’s a fake peace of wood and there is a bomb hidden behind it I tell the teacher and she sounds a alarm everyone in the entire school starts running out of the school.

Oh yeah it’s also raining nukes everywhere and the sky is red so everyone in the world starts running to Madagascar cuz that’s the only place it’s not raining nukes once we get to Madagascar the dream ends.

Pretty crazy but I love this dream.”

16. The boardwalk.

“I’m walking down this never-ending boardwalk, and it’s like my vision is switching from walking down the boardwalk to looking at myself walking from above.

Then, suddenly this giant fish the color of sewer water with a human face jumps out of the water, and it sails over me. Then more of them jump, until it creates a literal canopy of jumping humanfish.

I just keep walking, and sooner or later, the dream ends. And for some reason, the human face is always Jack Black. Imagine.”

17. The magic deer.

“There would be this deer, but it had wings, and “Magical powers” it gave off through its antlers. Whenever it did that, the antlers would glow a bright blue-ish colour.

There would be these people from the government or something that would chase and try to trap/kill it for some reason. It would keep changing subtly though, sometimes the deer would be in a cave talking to something (yes it could speak), sometimes it would be flying.

I wouldn’t be the deer, but rather something like a bird or something that wouldn’t interact with the deer but could watch it.”

18. Maybe it’s a sign?

“I have these 3 kittens that show up repeatedly in dreams where I can smell my surroundings.

They also inexplicably show up when my dream takes place in a dark mansion.

I keep telling people it’s a sign that if I get three cats by those names I will also get a mansion.”

19. I have these, too.

“I have persistent recurring dreams about the end of the world / collapse of society.

Some where I was underground watching the continent break apart and slide into the ocean. One were I was waiting in an immense line to enter one of the few cities left. Just dream after dream about trying to survive in some post-apocalyptic hellscape.

Not gonna lie, there’s a small part of me that wonders if this is something I’m going to have to survive and my brain is prepping me. That, or I watch too many dystopian movies.

Or my uber religious upbringing and constant threat of hell and the end time. Who knows.”

20. Flippin’ the bird.

“I’ve had several dreams involving me insulting/giving the middle finger to people I don’t like.

I haven’t had one in several weeks, but the last dream about it I had was about someone who kept harassing me back in 8th grade. In the dream, he harassed me again, and I told him to “shut up or become the dirt I walk on”.

I felt powerful, and now I’m kinda pi*sed that it was just a dream.”

21. Yes!

“I am 54.

I still have a dream where I have an English class in college that I continually missed. I need it to graduate, and I go on the last day to take my final test. I never find out if I passed.

Funny, I was an engineering major?!?!”

22. Grandparents.

“I have had about 4 dreams with my grandmother in them since her death.

None of her appearances showed her alive.

And I have also had around 2 dreams with my grandfather within them since his death and both times he has been alive.”

23. Sweethearts.

“My high school sweetheart & I broke up 25 years ago.

I haven’t seen him since 1998. I’m happily married & I understand he is, too.

But I have these recurring dreams that he & I are going to get married & his parents try everything to prevent it. I have no idea why.”

24. Recurring places.

“I haven’t had recurring dreams, as much as recurring places. One of the most common places is this huge Barnes and Noble combined with Kroger.

I’ve had dreams about food, books, friends, and many other weird things IN THE SAME PLACE. There is actually one recurring dream I had, but first some background. I hate P.E. My gym teacher was horrible they made me walk laps when my knee hurt, turns out it was limes disease so HA. In the dream, It starts one of two ways, one with me strapped to the Basketball net.

The other way I would find my self in this white room. everything was white. There were these gaping holes in the ground that probably went to the underworld with swinging platforms above them. I would be looking around and then suddenly there would be this lady, strict looking.

She would command me to jump across the swinging platforms, I would try, and then just as I was about to fall into the abyss, I would wake up. I had this dream so many times, I cant even count them all.

I once had a dream where I was being hunted by Vikings (I love reading Norse Myths) and I was in the closet in my bedroom. MY heart was thumping really loud and I could hear them outside of my door. I heard them talking and then they stopped and slowly turned towards me… Just as they opened the door to the closet I would wake up.

Those were all old reoccurring dreams, lately, my dreams have been getting more vivid. The only way I can tell it is a dream is that my vision sorta fades in and out. It’s actually really frustrating, yet sometimes I still think the dream is real.”

Now we want to hear from you!

If you’ve had recurring dreams, we want to hear from you.

Please tell us about them in the comments!