--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have terrible nightmares, you know…" description: "\"I have terrible nightmares, you know. Every night when I come home from a long day’s dying, I take off my skin and lay it nicely on my armoire. I take ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a3/catherynne-m-valente-375_agree_i-have-terrible-nightmares-you-know-ever_797754.jpg" --- # I have terrible nightmares, you know. Every night when I… ![“I have terrible nightmares, you know. Every night when I come home from a long day’s dying, I take off my skin and lay it nicely on my armoire. I take off my bones and hang them up on the hatstand. I set my scythe to washing on the old stove. I eat a nice supper of mouse-and-myrrh soup. Some…” quote by Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a3/catherynne-m-valente-375_agree_i-have-terrible-nightmares-you-know-ever_797754.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a3/catherynne-m-valente-375_agree_i-have-terrible-nightmares-you-know-ever_797754.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a3/catherynne-m-valente-375_agree_i-have-terrible-nightmares-you-know-ever_797754.jpg) > “I have terrible nightmares, you know. Every night when I come home from a long day’s dying, I take off my skin and lay it nicely on my armoire. I take off my bones and hang them up on the hatstand. I set my scythe to washing on the old stove. I eat a nice supper of mouse-and-myrrh soup. Some nights I drink off a nice red wine. White does not agree with me. I lay myself down on a bed of lilies and still, I cannot sleep.” [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A surreal lament of insomnia and existential dread expressed through grotesque imagery of self‑disassembly and ritualistic comforts. **In simple terms:** Nightmares and sleeplessness felt as self‑destruction and strange comforts. Key Takeaway Accept the absurd, seek help for sleep. Themes insomnia existential dread surrealism ritual self‑disassembly Mood uneasy dark reflective Type literary surreal When to use this quote - night shift workers - creative artists - people coping with trauma - those experiencing vivid nightmares Key Concepts psychology mythic symbolism catharsis Questions to Reflect On - What personal rituals help you calm your mind? - How does absurd imagery reflect inner turmoil? A Different Perspective The vivid metaphor may obscure practical advice for sleep health. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Coming home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coming-home/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Every night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/every-night/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Lilies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lilies/) [Long day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-day/) [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) [Nightmare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightmare/) [Nightmares](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightmares/) [Nights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nights/) [Red](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/red/) [Red wine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/red-wine/) [Scythes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scythes/) [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/) [Wine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wine/) ## Related quotes > [No, not like this, when I have not seen you without your skin on, when I know nothing, when I am not safe. Not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/no-not-like-this-when-i-have-not-seen-you-without-your-skin-on-when-i/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Summer nights with a drink in your hand is so chill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/summer-nights-with-a-drink-in-your-hand-is-so-chill/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Some nights you drink tea, some nights you drink whisky.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atticus-poetry/some-nights-you-drink-tea-some-nights-you-drink-whisky/) [Atticus Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atticus-poetry/) > [I know whats sadness, I know how it is to be hurt, I know all of the most worst nightmares, I know so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-know-whats-sadness-i-know-how-it-is-to-be-hurt-i-know-all-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I no longer have the terrible nightmares that I used to have. Mao had just died in 1976, and China began to open up.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jung-chang/i-no-longer-have-the-terrible-nightmares-that-i-used-to-have-mao-had/) [Jung Chang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jung-chang/) > [The greater your dreams, the more terrible your nightmares.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/the-greater-your-dreams-the-more-terrible-your-nightmares/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“IT was the most horrible, the most repellent thing she had ever seen, far more nauseating then anything she had ever imagined with her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/it-was-the-most-horrible-the-most-repellent-thing-she-had-ever-seen/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [“Children must find not only their happiest fantasies, but their most violent and terrible nightmares. They must face their demons and laugh at them.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-jensen/children-must-find-not-only-their-happiest-fantasies-but-their-most/) [Lisa Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-jensen/) > [One day, Just one day, I want to awake from my terrible nightmares and see it was just a bad dream, because love, You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becka-miller/one-day-just-one-day-i-want-to-awake-from-my-terrible-nightmares-and/) [Becka Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becka-miller/) > [Genius scorns the power of gold: it is wrong. Gold is the war-scythe on its chariot, which mows down the millions of its foes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/genius-scorns-the-power-of-gold-it-is-wrong-gold-is-the-war-scythe-on/) [Ouida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/) > [So what does Tod look like? Whitewashed skeleton skulking around in a black cape and hood? Carrying a scythe? 'Cause I'm thinking that would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-vincent/so-what-does-tod-look-like-whitewashed-skeleton-skulking-around-in-a/) [Rachel Vincent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-vincent/) > [Whatever shall we do in that remote spot? Well, we will write our memoirs. Work is the scythe of time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/whatever-shall-we-do-in-that-remote-spot-well-we-will-write-our/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [Some things are fairly obvious when it's a seven-foot skeleton with a scythe telling you them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/some-things-are-fairly-obvious-when-it-s-a-seven-foot-skeleton-with-a/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [I have been taunting the Reaper into taking a free scythe in my direction and have now succumbed to something so predictable and banal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/i-have-been-taunting-the-reaper-into-taking-a-free-scythe-in-my/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth The freckled cowslip, burnet, and green clover, Wanting the scythe, all uncorrected, rank, Conceives by idleness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/the-even-mead-that-erst-brought-sweetly-forth-the-freckled-cowslip/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) ## More by Catherynne M. Valente > [When I saw him I thought I could curl up inside him and go to sleep and never wake up." "Men are no good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/when-i-saw-him-i-thought-i-could-curl-up-inside-him-and-go-to-sleep/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [We all just keep moving, September. We keep moving until we stop.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/we-all-just-keep-moving-september-we-keep-moving-until-we-stop/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“You couldn't ever really fix a sad story. You could only make another. And another. And another, until you found the right one at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/you-couldn-t-ever-really-fix-a-sad-story-you-could-only-make-another/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“He considers it for a moment and spits out the seeds, which sprout, quickly, into tiny junkblossoms sizzling with recursive algorithms. The algorithms wriggle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/he-considers-it-for-a-moment-and-spits-out-the-seeds-which-sprout/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“Truly, Mallow yearned to know everything. Curiosity was part of her, like her short blond hair and bitten fingernails.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/truly-mallow-yearned-to-know-everything-curiosity-was-part-of-her/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“The cicada lies in the earth for seventeen years. It is warm and dark there, it is soft and wet. Its little legs curl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/the-cicada-lies-in-the-earth-for-seventeen-years-it-is-warm-and-dark/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [We all live inside the terrible engine of authority, and it grinds and shrieks and burns so that no one will say: lines on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/we-all-live-inside-the-terrible-engine-of-authority-and-it-grinds-and/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Her heart was bruised by the kiss, smashed and surprised and unsettled by it. September thought kisses were all nice, sweet things asked for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/her-heart-was-bruised-by-the-kiss-smashed-and-surprised-and-unsettled/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“September put her hand on the grip of the Rivet Gun. She’d only just gotten it, and she’d promised to take copious notes for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/september-put-her-hand-on-the-grip-of-the-rivet-gun-she-d-only-just/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Just tell yourself a story that'll satisfy you and pretend he told it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/just-tell-yourself-a-story-that-ll-satisfy-you-and-pretend-he-told-it/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“You see, the future is a kind of stew, a soup, a vichyssoise of the present and the past. That's how you get the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/you-see-the-future-is-a-kind-of-stew-a-soup-a-vichyssoise-of-the/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Fairy tales have always been about getting through the worst of everything, the darkest and the deepest and the bloodiest of events. They are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/fairy-tales-have-always-been-about-getting-through-the-worst-of/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“There is a place, September, oh, very far from Pandemonium. A place where it is always autumn, where there is always cider and pumpkin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/there-is-a-place-september-oh-very-far-from-pandemonium-a-place-where/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“I was happy, the sun was high. I had enough.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/i-was-happy-the-sun-was-high-i-had-enough/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Who are you?" "I am Death," said the creature. "I thought that was obvious." "But you're so small!" "Only because you are small. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/who-are-you-i-am-death-said-the-creature-i-thought-that-was-obvious/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) [Explore all 621 Catherynne M. Valente quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) ## More Agree quotes > [Any comprehensive doctrine, religious or secular, can be introduced into any political argument at any time, but I argue that people who do this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-rawls/any-comprehensive-doctrine-religious-or-secular-can-be-introduced/) [John Rawls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-rawls/) > [Islam never differentiates between men and women as regards political rights and puts them on an equal footing. 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