Between December 5 and January 14, I call it Bleak Season. It’s the stretch of winter where daylight fades early, the cold hangs on, and everything outside looks a little… dangerous. The folklore version of this is simple: the Veil gets thin. Dreams get louder. Stranger. More threatening. Sometimes they feel like they are not just dreams.

This post is details my dream experiments.

My goal with this dream analysis

I wanted to test a specific idea:
Do dreams during Bleak Season show patterns that feel “supernatural,” like the Veil is open, compared to normal stress dreams?

More specifically, I was looking for:

• Threshold moments (doors, windows, curtains, boundaries)
• Pursuit or presence (something chasing, watching, following)
• Rule-based “entity” behavior (safe once inside, marked if touched, can’t hurt it, etc.)
• A vibe that felt like a thin place rather than random nonsense

I’m not trying to prove demons are texting me at night. I’m trying to document whether Bleak Season produces a distinct type of dream. A dream that might signal the Veil opening. Because there’s a reason the most horrific monsters come during the darkest nights of the year.

Veil Score Scale (0–5)

I also created a ranking system based on the criteria listed above.

Dream Interpretations

Now for the fun part, the dreams that scored a 3 or higher on the Veil Score. Some of these will be quite interesting because they’re dreams being crazy. I used ChatGPT to analyze my dream dumps and asked it to link anything supernatural in folklore to them. This is how it went:

Dream #1: The Chase Through The Snow

Last night’s dream was like a horror movies scene. It’s a crisp, cold night. A full moon lights a snow-covered forest. Something’s chasing me. I run up to different houses, knocking on doors and screaming for help. No opens them. All the lights in the homes are out. It seems like no one has lived in the few houses I stopped by (but they seem to be well maintained). Finally, I get to a little white church. It’s also locked and no one is there. I say “Fuck it,” grab an axe from the firewood next to it and hack my way inside. Turns out, I’m safe now from whatever was chasing me. The end.

Analysis

Veil Score: 4

Why It Scored A 4: Classic pursuer + threshold gauntlet + sanctuary rule (“outside dangerous / inside safe”). Strongest “entity-mechanics” dream you reported.

Interpretation (from ChatGPT)

This dream hits multiple classic markers that show up in “entity encounter” folklore and in nightmare mechanics:

• A pursued-by-something presence (unnamed, unseen, but urgent)
• Dead / silent domestic spaces (houses maintained but empty, lights out)
• Refusal of sanctuary (no one answers)
• Threshold gauntlet (door after door after door)
• The church as a final boundary (and it’s locked)
• Protection works once you cross the threshold (you’re safe inside)

That “safe as soon as I’m inside” mechanic is a huge tell. In story logic, it functions like a ward.

If you’re looking specifically for demon/evil-spirit signals: this dream is more “predator presence + threshold protection” than “demon with personality.” There’s no voice, no name, no bargain, no deception, no imitation. It’s an unstated threat with strong chase energy.

Dream #2: Hospital Portal

Last night’s dream was a doozy: I was in a hospital at night. A woman, everyone called her my mother but she’s not, was in a bed. Obviously in a coma with tubes and machines hooked up to her. Next to her was a man who looked like a gumshoe detective. He knew the scams and schemes going around, and I’d have to investigate with him. The gumshoe and I go to the side, behind a neighboring bed curtain (no one was in the bed), and we planned how to proceed. When we come back to my “mother’s” bed, we pull back the sheet and she has an opening to another dimension or world. We need to go there as the hospital room’s wall collapses into a destroyed world. We both hop into mom’s portal guts. The end.

Analysis

Veil Score: 3

Why It Scored A 3: This is a full-on threshold crossing dream. In folklore terms: you were recruited by a guide (gumshoe) to pass through a boundary inside a body (the “portal guts”). That is textbook “otherworld journey” imagery.

Interpretation (From ChatGPT)

This is a thin-place dream:

• False identity (“mother” but not)
• A guide archetype (gumshoe investigator)
• Reality breaking open
• A literal threshold into another unknown world
• No panic, just purpose

All this tells me, my mind broke through to some place … I don’t know … mystical or grim. I haven’t had a dream like it since.

Dream #3: Kylie Won’t Settle Down

Last night, my dream focused on Kylie, my Saint Bernard-Husky mix. She wanted to jump up on the bed with me. I’d put her up, then she’d jump down and want up again. This repeated in a loop until I finally put her in a bear hug and threw the covers over us. Then she fell right to sleep … and snored so loud, it woke the dead, which kept tapping the window. The end!

Analysis

Veil Score: 3

Why It Scored A 3: This is the most “Bleak Season coded” symbolically. It has threshold behavior. Something wanted you to notice its presence.

Interpretation (from ChatGPT)

Window tapping is a classic “boundary contact” signal (the outside trying to get your attention). “Woke the dead” suggests the dream is playing with the idea that your home is a safe zone, and the dog is your protective weight anchoring you.

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It wasn’t just me participating in the study. One of the Ghostly Club members also sent in their dreams during this period, and one of those has a supernatural hook.

Dream #4: Kidnapped By Trolls

I dreamed that I was looking for houses or something. And I found out they were trolls in the houses and they were trying to kidnap people. And if they grabbed your arm or grab some piece of you they could find you anywhere to get you later on. So we were always trying to run away from them. And there was a whole group of them and we were all running past and one grabbed me. But I was so mad that he was going to try to eat me later. I got caught when we were trying to get into an elevator to get away. And then I was trying to find someone who could help me there’s a group of superheroes who would help people get rid of the trolls that attached to them. And the troll that got me he let me go and said he would still be able to find me once he was able to grab me. I tried staring him and hurting him and it didn’t do anything. So I got into this apartment and decided to try and sleep. And then I woke up.

Analysis

Veil Score: 4

Why It Scored A 4: it has rules (grab = tracking/marking), a predator with a mechanic, inescapability, and resistance to harm. That combo is very “folklore entity” coded.

Interpretation (from ChatGPT)

This dream reads like a rule-based entity encounter, not random nightmare chaos. The “trolls” behave like folklore predators who operate by contact magic: if they touch you, you’re marked, and they can track you later no matter where you run.

The fact that you can’t hurt it, and that you have to seek specialists (the superheroes) to remove the attachment, matches classic paranormal logic where ordinary defenses fail and unbinding is the only solution.

In Bleak Season terms, it’s a “thin veil” dream because the threat isn’t just scary. It follows rules, crosses boundaries, and turns a normal space (a house/elevator) into a hunting ground.

What Do All These Dreams Mean?

I’ll be real with you: Only 4 out of 24 documented dreams had anything supernatural related to them. Most of them were simple, anxiety-driven dreams. I think it’s fascinating how stress and your worklife influences your dreams.

Still, 4 dreams had a supernatural element. Those are just the ones you remember. How many pass by without any conscience memory? That may be a topic for another day.

I’m going to keep a dream journal, especially when I go in the field. I have had a couple of premonitions that panned out. Those happened for the Powell River investigations. But I can’t say I’ve had them for any other haunt.

Speaking of dream journals, you know I can’t bring something up without giving you some tips, eh?

How to Keep a Dream Journal (Ghost Hunter Edition)

Keep it frictionless: notebook + pen on the nightstand (or a phone note). If it’s hard, you won’t do it.

Log it fast: write within 2 minutes of waking. Even 3 bullet points beats a perfect paragraph you never write.

Use a simple template (copy/paste):
Date / Time woke • Mood (1–5) • Setting • Key characters • Weird rule / threshold • One line of plot • Wake feeling

Tag the “veil mechanics”: circle or hashtag doors/windows, pursuit, voices/names, marking/touch, unseen watchers, portals, time loops.

Track real-world context: note stress, illness, meds/alcohol, late screens, investigation night, sleep quality. This keeps you honest.

Give it a “Veil Score” (0–5): quick gut rating so patterns jump out later.

Watch for repeats: if a symbol shows up 3+ times (same hallway, same tapping, same “rule”), highlight it. That’s your lead.

Don’t chase it at 3 a.m.: if a dream ends with “go outside” or “open the door,” write it down and go back to sleep. Investigate in daylight.

Do a weekly 5-minute review: scan tags, count repeats, and write one sentence: “What theme is my subconscious stuck on?”

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Have you had any supernatural dreams or encounters? If so, let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading Ghostly Activities. Much appreciated and take care!