Dreams and NIghtmares

I think I had one of the classic nightmares last night. That or I met a demon (but since it went away when I woke up, I figure it was a nightmare ;^). It felt like I woke up, but I wasn't in my room. The details of my bed were right, and I was in a basement, but instead of the large escape window, it had one of the more typical 12 x 18 inch basement windows. There was a shelf or a filing cabinet close to the window with a toy black cat sitting on it. The black cat seemed sinister in the dream, though on waking it seemed rather comical. That's not the nightmare bit.

When I "woke up," I was aware of someone/thing in the room with me. I tried to call out, "Who are you?!" but I couldn't move my lips and no sound came out at all. I tried to call out several times. Then a dark, semi-transparent shape came towards me. I remember something shaped sort of like a torso, with arms, but I don't remember a head or any legs. A black semi-transparent cape spread around the torso, which was a semi-transparent brown. I was completely paralyzed and on my back. As the thing came closer, I felt enormous pressure on my chest. Painful pressure. I could still breathe, and finally managed to make a sound through the paralysis, a sort of "mmmmmnnnnnggg" since my mouth still wouldn't move. Making the sound woke me up. Once I verified that, yes, I could move again, I rolled over and went back to sleep.

I had another nightmare last night, and now the only thing I remember is that when I woke up from it, I was also on my back. I don't normally sleep on my back. I also don't normally have nightmares. I do have odd dreams, but unless I'm actually afraid during the dream, I don't consider it a nightmare. Based on this small sample size, I have concluded that I should avoid sleeping on my back in future. Still, I think it's kind of cool to actually be able to say I've had the classic "pressure on the chest" nightmare.