Tell Us About...Favorite Art Related to Dreams & Nightmares
- sallyinstpaul
- Apr 9
- 9 min read
I am fortunate to have joined a talented group of bloggers for the Global Writing Challenge. Each month, we write about a very broadly defined topic, and the responses are quite varied. The newly revised group includes Deb’s World, Marsha in the Middle, Rosie Amber, Suzy Turner, Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After Again, and me.
This month, Marsha selected the topic of Dreams, and I decided it would be interesting to think about favorite artistic creations that involve dreams in about a dozen different categories. I have once again tasked my intern (Google's Gemini AI) to create a list of the "top [category] that relate to dreams" and "top [category] that relate to nightmares" for a popular "Survey Says" answer. I will also reveal my own favorites for each category. I hope you will play along by thinking about your own choices in these categories.
Let's work through the categories in alphabetical order, starting with the popular choices compiled by Gemini, then my own picks...
1 - Animated Movies
My choice of animated movie - dreams is:
Alice in Wonderland (Disney 1951)! This is one of my two favorite movies of all time so obviously it wins this category hands-down. The "it was all a dream...or was it?" framing can sometimes be frustrating, but the ambiguity around whether Alice traveled to an externally existent Wonderland or a dream world works well here. I wrote about this movie and shared some of my Alice collectibles and décor in this post.
Dishonorable mentions: I could not finish either Yellow Submarine or Inside Out.
My choice of animated movie - nightmares is:
The Nightmare Before Christmas! My husband and I went to see this movie in the theater on our first official date so it's a sentimental favorite, but I also just adore the "creepy, chaotic energy" and the surprisingly sweet love story between Jack and Sally.
Here are a pair of ultra-easy DIY earrings I made by attaching Sally doll charms to ear wires.
Honorable mentions: Spirited Away (which I saw as an adult and loved) and The Black Cauldron (a childhood favorite we will hear more about later in this post)
2 - Ballets
My choice of ballet - dreams is:
Oklahoma! I grew up in Oklahoma so I have seen this performed quite a few times - the live play/musical version and the film version. Fun fact: the musical version was performed every summer all summer long at our local outdoor amphitheater, and getting a summer job there was considered a real prize. (I spent the summers working at Sonic Drive-In instead of musical theater. But I did meet Frankie Avalon so there's that.)
My choice of ballet - nightmare is:
Giselle and The Nutcracker (tie)! My grandmother (of the terrible gift-giving) volunteered as an usher for the ballet, theater, etc., and so my sister and I occasionally were able to get seats to watch performances. I know that we saw The Nutcracker at the ballet multiple times, and I believe Giselle was one of them as well. I have seen these two ballets performed on TV over the years, too. (My sister studied ballet through high school so I have seen a fair amount of ballet.)
I would love to see the modern ballets Poe and Nightmare Before Nutcracker from this list.
3 - Classical Music
My choice of classical music - dream is:
Clair de Lune! I agree that it has a "calm, dreamy" quality but also has a contrasting emotional intensity that makes for a dynamic piece I could listen to again and again.
My choice of classical music - nightmare is:
Carmina Burana, O Fortuna! Carmina Burana is one of my absolute all-time favorites of classical music, and O Fortuna is absolutely amazing. How many dozens of times did I stay home sick from school, lying in bed in a darkened bedroom with my cat asleep on the heating pad on my belly while I listened to Carmina Burana on the stereo as a distraction from pain? Oddly, those are fond memories, and I am happy to listen to any part of Carmina Burana today.
Honorable mentions: Danse Macabre and Night on Bald Mountain are also great - I would actually put them well above Clair de Lune on my list. I suppose I just like the darker pieces.
4 - Movies
My choice of movie - dream is:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind! Kate Winslet was terrific and had a surprisingly good on-screen chemistry with Jim Carrey.
Honorable mentions: Vanilla Sky...really? Yes. The intro scene is just so good, and I had no idea what I was walking into when I started watching that movie so it was a delightfully strange surprise. I still think about that scene sometimes.
My choice of movie - nightmare is:
Mulholland Drive! It's a weird movie, no doubt, but so interesting.
Honorable mention: Inception
5 - Novels
My choice of novel - dream is:
1984...at least from this list. My actual top choice is A Christmas Carol - I wrote an entire post about the book and its various screen adaptions here.
Honorable mentions: Wuthering Heights (the book version, please) and Frankenstein (ditto).
My choice of novel - nightmare is:
The Shining and The Haunting of Hill House (tie)...but the film/TV versions! I have not read these books because certain kind of horror novels are too scary for me to read alone but I can watch them with someone else.
6 - Operas
My choice of opera - dream is:
La Rondine! I had to listen to this one to be sure it was the one I was thinking of, and yes, it's so, so beautiful.
My choice of opera - nightmare is:
Don Giovanni! So much to love about this one, but the line "Boss, we're as good as dead" sparks with that strange dark comedy that suffuses the work.
7 - Paintings
My choice of painting - dream is:
Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee! It's Salvador Dali (a favorite), and this painting had me at "tiger." (I was thinking, ooh, is this the one with the tigers??? Yes!!)
My choice of painting - nightmare is:
The Garden of Earthy Delights and The Scream (tie)!
I'm not sure what it says about me that I've had this crazy thing hanging in my various bedrooms for about 30 years, but its strangeness speaks to me.
I admit that it's hard at this point to think of The Scream as a depiction of psychological terror since the image is so ubiquitous in pop culture. I mean, I even have a little pendant that features this iconic image (the blurriness is my photo, not the item itself, though that maybe adds to the "nightmarish sensory experience"). But the painting is undeniably brilliant.
8 - Plays
My choice of play - dream is:
A Midsummer Night's Dream! I have read it, of course, but I have not seen it performed. I do have a soft spot for the 1999 movie version with Kevin Kline, though.
My choice of play - nightmare is:
Macbeth! Obviously. Along with Hamlet and King Lear, it's one of the best plays ever, surely.
Honorable mention: I was surprised to see The Turn of the Screw listed as a play, but the book is an excellent atmospheric gothic horror story.
9 - Poems
My choice of poem - dream is:
A Dream Within a Dream! I actually think of this poem, and the haunting lines "Is all that we see or seem / But a dream within a dream?", all the time. It's weird, but this poem has worked its way deep into my psyche. It's not necessarily my favorite Poe poem, but it's the one I think of most often.
That is a photo of the last stanza of the poem from one of the few books that I have moved from my childhood home to apartment to apartment to apartment across multiple states in the last 30 years. With every move, the number of books that makes the cut gets smaller, but there was never any doubt that my two-volume set of the complete poems and stories of Edgar Allen Poe would be left behind. (Actually, a few years ago, I had this sudden feeling that I had gotten rid of my Borzoi Poe, and I was gripped with an aptly terrible feeling until I checked my shelves and held it in my hands again.)
My choice of poem - nightmare is:
Fox by Alice Oswald! I'm actually not familiar with any of the poems on the list, and this one is the first one I think of as a "nightmare poem."
10 - Pop Music
My choice of pop music - dream is:
Daydream Believer (from this list)! That kind of surprises me, actually, but I always enjoy hearing this song, which is fun all the way through.
Off-list selection: I'll Be Home for Christmas...which is probably considered a Christmas standard these days rather than "pop music." The first time I heard this song as a child, I didn't know what it was about, so the line "if only in my dreams" hit hard.
Honorable mention: All I Have to Do is Dream
My choice of pop music - nightmare is:
Sweet Dreams (are Made of This)! A sentimental favorite, for sure. I remember recording this off the radio onto a cassette tape when it came out, and of course Annie Lennox was just amazing-looking in the video. The opening four lines especially caught my imagination. I still like the synth-pop vibes of this song today.
11 - Pop Music (Alternative)
I had to add alternative music as its own category in order to capture the kind of music I've actually listened to the most in my life.
My choice of alternative pop music - dream is:
Dreams (The Cranberries)! It's such a straightforward love song, so lush and beautiful.
Honorable mention: Here I Dreamt I was an Architect. Such a weird and compelling song in which the singer takes on the guise of various failing characters but "alright, it's okay / Guess it's better to turn this way."
My choice of alternative pop music - nightmare is:
Dead Souls...the Nine Inch Nails cover! I also like the original Joy Division version, but the NIN cover from the soundtrack for The Crow is my definitive version. (It's a great soundtrack.)
Honorable mention: The 1989 gothic rock album Disintegration by The Cure has a few nightmarish songs...Lullaby and Charlotte Sometimes among them.
12 - Video Games
My choice of video game - dream is:
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33! My husband played this game when it came out last year, and it was so, so good. It was visually spectacular (as befits the setting of the "painted world") and the story took on heavy emotional themes.
My choice of video game - nightmare is:
American McGee's Alice and The Black Cauldron (tie)!
American McGee's Alice is the original Alice game (released in 2000) to which the Alice: Madness Returns mentioned above is the sequel. Even though I was only in my 20s, I was not great at the "platforming" elements of the game: jumping, climbing, swinging, ducking, etc. in specific timing/rhythm to move through an area. So I never finished the game even though I enjoyed the setting, the story line, the characters, the artwork, and some of the game play.
The Black Cauldron (1985) was an adventure game based on the Disney film that we saw listed in the first category of this post. My sister and I played this one and had such a great time with it. It's definitely not considered one of the great video games of all time, but we really enjoyed it. (My sister enjoyed it less when I made a play on her name and called her "Hen Jen" or "Jen Wen" as a reference to the magical pig "Hen Wen" in the game. She liked "Jen - Jen - truly outrageous" better.)
Check out what other bloggers have to say about dreams:
Debbie: Debbie has gone with quotes and songs which feature Dreams as we all need to have dreams and hope for the future, no matter how dire things look at times.
Marsha: Marsha has always had vivid and strange dreams, but she’s had lots of hopes and dreams. Which will she write about?
Rosie: Rosie talks about some of the dreams she has while asleep.
Suzy: Suzy writes about the contrast between vivid night-time dreams and the big life dreams she once had, and how her idea of success has quietly shifted over time.
Leslie: Leslie will be sharing a bit about her daytime dreams and nighttime nightmares.
Now over to you...what are your favorite pieces of dream or nightmare related art in any of these categories (or other categories I missed)?
Blogs I link up with are listed here.
Wow--I cannot believe how thorough your thoughts on dreams are. I couldn't have come up with 1/100th of this. I actually really liked Inside Out because of the dreams as movie sequences. I feel like that's how my brain does dreams. And, of course, I like The Nutcracker (the music especially). I cannot do nightmare-themed anything, so I haven't heard of most of your listings in that category. I think you knocked the "dreams" challenge out of the park, though. :) Thank you for sharing this post with us at the Will Blog for Comments #81 linkup. We look forward to what you'll share--old posts or new--at #82 which opens Monday morning. Hope it's a great week for you.
Hi Sally, these lists are fulsome! Well done on compiling them and it's good to see your preferences in each section as well. I'm listening to my Dreams playlist now, which I created for my Dreams post, and have most of the ones you listed included. A great response to Marsha's Dream prompt.
Debbie from debs-world.com
What good lists - I think what you hit on is we humans are fascinated with dreams and dream states - probably because they're still a bit unknown and uncontrollable....
Wow, what a thorough post. I feel like I must have lived under a rock because many of these titles are unfamiliar to me. Except for the songs. I recognized almost all of those. Love Daydream Believer and Sweet Dreams, especially. Glad to see mention of Oklahoma and Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. Dreams are an interesting subject. You sure did a great job researching dreams across so many forms of media!!
Sally, is there no end to the ways in which you impress me? I'm not only impressed by the length and breadth of your lists but also by your in-depth knowledge of so many of them. I had no idea you were a lover of Poe, too! I'm so glad you included Annie Lennox and "Sweet Dreams." I have a special affinity for her as she helped me stay sane with three little ones in the house. I could just turn on MTV and dream away. I don't know if you know but my Jack's full name is Jack Skellington Banks because he was born on Christmas Day. And, we always use such imaginative first names (our other Westie…