In Your Dreams
After a dreadful nightmare, a mother comforts her son by saying that dreams can't hurt the dreamer... or can they?

Some of the best horror – no matter how short – hinges on lulling audiences to “sleep” with a heavy blanket of comfy normalcy and oh-so-soothing status quo…

Only to rip it away with a no-mercy yank, to reveal something squirming and ugly underneath.

Meet Maggie and Freddie; a 40 something couple whose date nights are long past gone. Now the parents of eight year old Tommy, Maggie and Freddie’s current idea of thrills is to kick back in dingy clothes to watch reruns of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. 

A Norman Rockwell life? In your dreams. But it’s safe and predictable. And that’s what counts.

At least – until Maggie hears a scream from the other room. 

Zipping off the recliner and into a nearby bedroom, Maggie comforts her distraught son. Tommy’s just woken from a nightmare, one that’s got him in tears.

TOMMY
So... I was in the woods and, and,
oh, Mummy... A grizzly bear charged me!

Maggie does her best to comfort Tommy.

MAGGIE
Oh, my! That would be scary!

TOMMY
No, you don't get it. It was so real. 
The roar it made. The smell of its breath....

Maggie leans back and cups Tommy's face in her hands.

MAGGIE
Oh, Tommy. 
You got nothing to be afraid of in dreams. 
They can't hurt you.

TOMMY
But...but...I always heard that 
if you get killed in a dream 
that you really die.

Oh yes – THAT fairytale!  Well, Tommy woke up before the bear could pounce. So even IF the urban legend had some “teeth”, the boy’s safe.  Emergency averted…

Right?

Maybe, but Tommy’s got to sleep SOMETIME. Maybe the bear’s just lurking, waiting to finish the hunt later that night. Then there’s that extra detail Tommy wants to relay to dear old Mum.

But in the living room, the telly calls. So Maggie tucks in her son. Pecks his cheek… and heads out to watch.

What will Tommy face in the dark? And what might Maggie find when she returns? 

In Your Dreams by John Staats is a smart and easy horror shoot. Three actors, two sets… and one very stomach churning twist that’s sure to keep folks awake at nights!