Problem

[jenP_97]

Oh, Sinead, I'm so sorry that you're having this problem.  I know 
it's probably a little too late for my good thoughts to come your 
way, but when you read this, you can know that I sent them!

I have the same problem.  I purposely stay away from anything creepy 
because of it.  I used to sleep with my father (my mother died when 
I was 8) because I'd hear scary things at night (and imagine them to 
be even worse!).  I finally got out of that habit when I was 
probably around 11 or 12, but when I was in high school, the 
miniseries of _IT_ (by Stephen King) came on tv, and my sisters (who 
are horror-addicts) wouldn't turn it off... so I ended up sitting in 
my room, huddled in my bed, listening (I couldn't help it - the tv 
was right next to my wall) to this scary, creepy movie... and hating 
the fact that my sisters were laughing at me because of it.  It was 
so bad that I ended up back in my dad's bed for a week (!) - and I 
was 15 or 16 years old!  What a nightmare.  Here I was, with a 
boyfriend, for goodness sakes, huddling under the covers of my 
father's bed.  Talk about possible Greek Mythology complexes!

Of course, now that I'm married and have a kid, my worst nights are 
when my husband is out of town for some reason or another... and the 
house noises scare me.  Especially after 9-11, I was having 
nightmares about people coming into the house and doing all sorts of 
bad things (and I had a memorable one about taking the family to 
Disneyland and watching planes crash into the freeway and amusement 
park), so when he decided to go down to Los Angeles for a weekend and 
take Ginger, my nights were horrible.  Here's what I ended up doing.  
I turned on a small lamp in the living room.  That way, I knew that 
people outside could tell there was someone in the house.  I turned 
the radio on.  I made sure the dog was inside and that I was close to 
her kennel so I could hear if she woke up because of some strange 
noise.  I read at LEAST 5 books that weekend - all during the wee 
hours - to keep my mind off things.  All books with happy things in 
them. :)

But of course, I only really became comfortable again when Chris 
finally came home.

So hopefully, you're asleep now, and with any luck, you won't have 
to go through it again.  If you're at a friend's house, then if you 
need to, go get the dog!  An animal always helps!  Don't just wait 
for him to jump on your bed... open the door and call him!  If 
anything, just stay awake until 4 or 5, make sure you see the light 
coming up over the horizon, then fall asleep and get a few hours 
before you're woken up... and use the excuse "I didn't sleep very 
well last night... sorry" whenever someone asks you why you're so 
cranky. ;)

Jen (who is mortally afraid of anything creepy, and won't even open 
the covers to her husband's copy of _IT_ - even though she's read 
plenty of other Stephen King books... in the daytime...)