June 30
It has been a long journey and I'm quite honestly running out of steam, along with getting quite homesick. It took me a while to find the next creature. But I have!
Dream Demons. Also known as the "Boogyman" or the "Sandman."
It turns out that they are the same thing, though they’re often thought of as different entities all together. A “Sandman” is often thought of as a benevolent figure and a “Boogeyman” a malevolent figure, but as it turns out that’s not always the case it seems. There’s a lot more overlap than you’d think.
While they're called "Dream Demons" it's not known if they actually are a demon or not. They’re more like spirits, but it can’t be proven that they are one either. They’re something in between, I believe. Having properties and abilities of both. Sometimes like Nightmares.
They have the power to influence dreams, like their name would suggest. With sleeping sand or dust, they can give someone a good or bad dream. They then eat the dreams, which are their primary food source.
There’s tales of these creatures all over the world, with various names. We’d be here forever if I went into all of them. There’s the Sack Man, El Coco, A Cuca, Babau, and Butzemann just to name a few. They all share the theme of being used to scare children into behaving, which does have some validity to the claim it seems.
Most Dream Demons can be put into three categories; the ones that punish misbehaving children, the more violent ones, and the ones that protect the innocent regardless of their age. Though most do seem to focus more on children than adults.
There’s a lot of rumors as to what Dream Demons do to misbehaving children. Some believe that the more vicious ones will steal children in the night and eat them. Some believe they do not eat or harm the kids they steal, but instead take them to a mysterious and frightening place. The ones of the “Sandman” variety are said to steal the eyeballs of children that won’t go to sleep to feed their children. There’s even lullabies in some cultures that warn kids of what will happen when they go to sleep.
They’re said to hide under beds or in closets to await their prey. Which seems to be true from what I’ve been able to dig up.
There’s many depictions of what Dream Demons look like. The most common depiction has claws, talons, and sharp teeth, sometimes depicted as a masculine or androgynous figure. Some have more animal features, like horns, hooves, or even being bug-like. I have found they can really take any form they’d like though.
In some lore, Dream Demons are believed to be a child that was the victim of violence and now they’re alive, but not. Something in between, I’d suppose. There’s also some that believe they were created by the Goddess of Sleep and Dreams, of course. They’re said to have sprouted from her dreams and now carry the dreams all over to share with others. No one can really say what their true origin is, and I’m sure there’s more out there.
I don’t know if there’s really any way to avoid a Dream Demon, I wouldn’t think there is. Maybe a dream catcher or something like that really does work though? I’m not sure. But I believe they’re ambivalent enough that there’s really no need to try to avoid them.
R.C.M.












