The Dark Side of Dreams and Dreaming. Fear and anxiety provoke the subconscious in mysterious ways, leading to terrifying night-time visions that can unsettle us even after we wake . Dream expert Stase Michaels provides a look at the mechanisms that lead to our worst nightmares, applying her signature out-of-the-box perspective on the symbolism, trajectory and unspoken logic behind the dreams that shake us out of sleep and may mirror our real-life worries.