Historical dream account · English · published source text
The Unseen Presence and the Knock on the Wall
Horace G. Hutchinson
Dreams and Their Meanings (1901) · 1901 edition, chapter IV, printed pp.140–141; PDF pages 152–153; original scan leaves 156–157
Dreamer identified by the source: Unnamed correspondent
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"I become suddenly aware, in my sleep, of some unseen presence in my bedroom, being at the same time conscious of the geography and details of the room. It is mostly a living presence I suspect, but the terror of the supernatural is suggested. The object of my terror always remains invisible, either hidden by cupboard door, hanging drapery or by remaining below the level of my vision as I lie in bed. Indignation, coupled with a strange childish fear, compels me to shout words of adjuration, remonstrance or threat ; but enunciation is difficult in sleep, as the tongue refuses to act " (this be it observed, is by no means always the case) "and the unformed words seem to come from the throat, making sounds most horrible, as I am told. All the time I know it is a dream, and I have tried occasionally, but always in vain, to make some movement of the body so as to wake myself up." (It is not a little curious, the will thus helping itself, as it were, by an action that itself suggests. It is an experience that is common with people who strive to wake themselves from a horrid dream.) " However, I have been so often awoken by my daughter rapping on the wall of an adjoining room, whenever she hears me, that I find myself, during the process of the dream, formulating the wish, ' Oh, when is she going to rap, that I may awake ' ? " (again a very curious and yet typical experience) ! " Immediately I hear the rapping I awake and I usually find that I have both arms across my chest, or else that I am lying neither on my side nor my back, but midway between both."
Source & context
A published personal recollection sent to, or personally recorded by, Horace G. Hutchinson and printed in his 1901 edition. Recurrent personal accounts are counted once, not once per occurrence. Where Hutchinson interrupts a quotation, his original reporting phrases remain in the excerpt. The correspondent explicitly calls this a dream. Difficulty moving and speaking is retained as reported experience, not assigned a modern diagnosis. This is a personally recalled recurring scene with specific actions, not a generic list of dream types.
Unnamed correspondent, reported in Horace G. Hutchinson, Dreams and Their Meanings (London, New York and Bombay: Longmans, Green and Co., 1901), 1901 edition, chapter IV, printed pp.140–141; PDF pages 152–153; original scan leaves 156–157. Primary witness: original 1901 edition at Internet Archive. The compiler, dreamer, and separately credited earlier recorder are distinguished. Editorial title and navigation themes added; no generated narrative or new translation.
The publication year is not the dream date. No exact dream date or present-day person location is inferred. Dates printed in the narrative remain source wording.
Public domain in the United States (1901 edition) ↗
The original English 1901 edition is public domain in the United States by expired publication term; Archive metadata reports NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT. No new Archive license or Public Domain Mark grant is asserted. The linked NoC-US statement describes the US-only rights basis; blanket worldwide clearance is not asserted. Hutchinson’s own writing and named or unidentified contributors are distinguished; no contributor is assigned the compiler’s death date. Unnamed original correspondent/friend; no modern contributor identity or permission is invented..
Source locator and text provenance
1901 edition, chapter IV, printed pp.140–141; PDF pages 152–153; original scan leaves 156–157
The original text and redactions are preserved. The page title is an editorial navigation label.
Whitespace/linewrap normalization, witnessed end-of-line dehyphenation, and listed scan-verified OCR repairs only. No dream narrative, person, event, translation or stylistic rewrite added.
- Account text SHA-256
- 4eb77abf4d911a5eb7f809eb4f17827d60893f1077434c6db5e86ebec772ab2d
- Source file SHA-256
- 40a41bb112104c3680401c260e060fde498bfe84e41f4394ee28e47f7e827b5f
Content notes
- Nightmare
- Difficulty moving in dream
Connections in the Loom
Titles, theme labels, illustrations and map connections are editorial navigation aids. They are separate from the account’s words and do not establish connections between real people.