Nightmareland

Travels at the Borders of Sleep, Dreams, and Wakefulness

By: Lex Lonehood Nover

Narrated by: Neil Hellegers

Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

From a Coast to Coast AM insider, a mind-expanding exploration of sleep disorders and unusual dream states - the scientific explanations and the paranormal possibilities.

The sleeping mind is a mysterious backdrop that science is just beginning to shed light on. It was only some 60 years ago that researchers discovered REM, the rapid-eye-movement cycle that's associated with dreams. In Nightmareland, Lex "Lonehood" Nover travels into the eerie borderlands where the unconscious, dreams, and strange entities intermingle under the cover of night, revealing wider and hidden aspects of ourselves, from the savage and frightening to the astounding and sublime.

Encompassing accepted medical phenomena such as sleep paralysis, parasomnias, and Ambien "zombies", and the true-crime casebook of those who kill while sleepwalking, to supernatural elements such as the incubus, alien abduction, and psychic attacks, Nover brings listeners on an extraordinary journey through history, folklore, and science, to help us understand what happens when we sleep.

©2019 Lex Lonehood Nover (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“This engrossing look at the stranger aspects of sleep - a state of being that the average person spends a third of their lives in - runs the gamut from night terrors to UFOs. Nover, Web producer for overnight radio show Coast to Coast AM, shares firsthand experience with sleep paralysis, during which one is fully aware of one’s surroundings but unable to move, often perceiving a threatening creature lurking in the room. Other sleep phenomena recounted here include delusional behavior among the chronically sleep-deprived; sightings of the 'black dog' as a portent of approaching involuntary sleep, as described by long-haul truckers; and reports of nocturnal alien abductions, which, Nover observes, often resemble medieval accounts of demonic incubi. Filled with documented and fascinating stories of slumber gone awry and explanations of the science behind sleep issues, Nover’s book will be received by readers as a riveting invitation to sleep at one’s own risk.” (Publishers Weekly)

“Check the doors, lock the windows, and keep the lights on - after reading Lex ‘Lonehood’ Nover’s Nightmareland, you will never feel the same way about sleep again. Writing with verve, wit, and reportorial acumen, Lex considers everything from sleep paralysis and dangerous sleepwalking to somnambulant murders and sleep-deprived hallucinations, and beyond. You’ll pray for daylight.” (Mitch Horowitz, PEN Award-winning author of Occult America)

“Nightmareland is the ultimate guide to the netherworlds of the mind, taking us on a wild ride from the dark recesses of the unconscious, to phantasms on the highway glowing in the light of oncoming trucks, to our bedroom sanctuaries, invaded by incubuses and aliens. A resourceful author, researcher, and storyteller, Lex is at ease whether diving into the subreddit boards of 2019 or pulling out rare nuggets from 19th-century tomes to scare, entertain, or illuminate us. Seasoned by his many years at Coast to Coast AM, his exploration of the mysterious states that intersect with dreams and sleep has yielded a mind-bending page-turner.” (George Noory, host of Coast to Coast AM)

Fascinating

One of the most fascinating books I have ever listened to or read.
Enjoyed it very much!

scary treat

very informative. helped me understand my own sleep problems while being entertaining like a great horror story. narrator added to the fun. his voice was excellent.

it's okay but repetitive...

It's an interesting topic but all the stories seemed to blend into one another. I got this thinking it would really explore sleep paralysis (a phenomenon that's happened to me) but it's only briefly touched on. For dream aficionados only. Fantastic narration however.