Hearing about other people’s dreams is often described as tedious. “No one wants to hear about your dreams,” you may have heard your friends, family and colleagues cry as you tell yet another long-winded tale of your nighttime adventures. Well I may be biased, but I’m here to say that as someone who suffers with parasomnias – otherwise known as sleep disorders – people are interested when I tell them about my sleep. And Alice Vernon, a creative writing lecturer and fellow sleep-sufferer, has had similarly crazy experiences. Night Terrors covers five of the most common parasomnias: night terrors (obviously), sleepwalking, hallucinations, sleep paralysis and lucid dreaming. Alongside scientific explanations of these phenomena, Vernon shares her personal experiences and analyses how each sleep disorder has been represented in literature. This book is at once academic and accessible, and if you’re interested in learning more about troubled sleep, it’s a great place to start. MG

Published by Icon Books