(Spoiler Alert: you might not want to read this if you haven’t read Lies and Deception yet!)

Personally, I’m not fond of Halloween and don’t really want to do anything to promote it. But I wanted to post about Night Terrors at some point in time and Halloween seems to be a good day to do it, because it is a rather spooky story.

In my first book Lies and Deception, my main character Aidan has grown up in poverty and abuse, which has left her with a lot of anxiety and fear in her life. Fear is actually one of the first servants of Dark Prince Bal’Davarius who comes to live with her. She is a beautiful woman who has over a hundred children, each of them a specific fear, such as Fear of Being Hurt and Fear of Losing Someone You Love.

Aidan soon realizes Fear and her children have actually all been with her for as long as she can remember. She is trapped and paralyzed by her fears.

In Chapter 8, Aidan meets Night Terrors, another servant of Dark Prince Bal’Davarius. I envisioned him like a magician — a huge man with luminous green eyes dressed in a formal black suit, white ascot, and top hat. He spreads his silken black cape over Aidan to bring her the paralyzing nightmares she has suffered frequently since early childhood.

One of the most sinister characters in the book, Night Terrors seems to delight in terrifying Aidan. Like all her other guests, he is doing the work his Master has given him to do in her life. She wonders why he would hate a small child so much that he would be so cruel to want to frighten her. This makes her wonder about Prince Bal’Davarius. Is he also cruel? Does he hate her too?

My husband Richard and oldest son Jared were very kind to listen to me read the manuscripts of my books out loud. Jared was extremely disturbed by Chapter 8. He felt that Night Terrors was really too evil and I should take him out of the book.

But this servant of the Dark Prince is in the story for a reason. All of Aidan’s guests are fictional characters I invented, but Night Terrors was inspired by a real spirit I was personally acquainted with for many years. The dreams he brings Aidan are ones I have actually experienced.

I found out his name from a Christian radio program many years ago where someone described the exact dreams I had and said they were caused by a spirit called Night Terrors. This led me to believe that others have had experiences with this guy too.

The dreams always began with a tingling sensation at the back of my neck that developed into full paralysis. I would hear a sound like rushing wind and feel like I was floating in the air. Unable to move or speak, in my mind I would rebuke the enemy over and over again in the Name of Jesus. After a moment or two the dream would end as the tingling left and I could move and speak again. I would wake up afraid (but never screaming, as Aidan does) and wondering why I was having these dreams.

Eventually God brought me through a season of deliverance, which I have talked about earlier in this blog. My deliverance from Night Terrors came one night when, for the first time, I woke up before the dream was over.

As I opened my eyes, I distinctly felt something gather itself from inside my body and leave me through my chest with an audible whooshing sound. I stared up at the ceiling in the dark and I could see glowing images, pulsing nightmarish pictures like you see everywhere at Halloween time. After a moment they faded and Night Terrors was gone. I’ve never had an encounter with him since.

I suffered from those dreams for more than twenty years after I became a Christian. I have no idea why I had them for so long, but God chose the time when I should be delivered. The only thing that matters to me now is that I don’t have them anymore. In His power and mercy, Jesus set me free from Night Terrors.

I have heard teachings for many years saying that if you are saved and following the Lord, you can’t have demonic oppression in your life. But I know from experience that you can, depending on the circumstances from before your salvation. Night Terrors oppressed me because I had invited Satan into my life as a curious teen involved in witchcraft and the occult.

So I deliberately wrote Night Terrors into my book hoping that others who have had his dreams will recognize who is behind them and find out they too can be set free.

I will end with this. I love personal testimonies because they are non-negotiable. There are so many conflicting views of theology and religion, and we could argue forever about such things. But no one can argue with what actually happened to me. I have no reason to lie about this. It’s my story and I am telling the truth.