The dream begins with an establishing shot of a nice suburban home on a nice street, dark out, early evening. Trees out front, porch light shining from behind the foliage - this is a fairly new, modern-looking 1-story home with a front yard.
More Detail Than Necessary.
Okay, the establishing shot at first seems like a normal establishing shot, then suddenly you realize it is in fact a POV-shot of something moving towards the house.
Now we cut to the inside of the house, the living room, where a small dinner party or gathering is at the hors d'oeurves stage - cocktails and small plates of mixed dainties. There is conversation; normal, human conversation with attempts at wit that mostly succeed at least half-way, and plenty of smiles of sincere warmth. These people all seem like pretty much nice people, dressed comfortably-well off. I myself am nowhere to be seen in this dream.
Suddenly **BANG!!** The front door shakes with an impact! All eyes turn towards, all conversation stops. The knob turns slowly - then the door suddenly thrusts open drawing the door chain taut with a stretched, dischordant, tinny chime of strained metal links! But the chain holds. The door is only open a little way. A frightening head slowly...with an almost gliding motion...comes through the narrow opening, with eyes glaring.
It's me! That's my head glaring! I am in the dream after all.
The head looks around at the entire room, transfixing each person in turn with that hideous stare. Then it looks up and around at the room itself, the furnishings. Then in a low, booming moan of a voice, it declares:
"WRONG HOUSE."
Actually, the first word is really drawn out, like Frankenstein was trying to say it:
"WRRRRROOOOOOOONNNNGGG HOUSE."
Then the head withdraws, leaving the door ajar.
The people are immediately thrown into a panic, this little incident seems like the crack of doom to them for some reason. There's nothing else scary in the entire dream, it just sort of peters out with these people screaming at each other and making frantic ad hoc preparations for whatever awful thing is to come next.
Their precious illusion has been shattered.
More Detail Than Necessary.
Okay, the establishing shot at first seems like a normal establishing shot, then suddenly you realize it is in fact a POV-shot of something moving towards the house.
Now we cut to the inside of the house, the living room, where a small dinner party or gathering is at the hors d'oeurves stage - cocktails and small plates of mixed dainties. There is conversation; normal, human conversation with attempts at wit that mostly succeed at least half-way, and plenty of smiles of sincere warmth. These people all seem like pretty much nice people, dressed comfortably-well off. I myself am nowhere to be seen in this dream.
Suddenly **BANG!!** The front door shakes with an impact! All eyes turn towards, all conversation stops. The knob turns slowly - then the door suddenly thrusts open drawing the door chain taut with a stretched, dischordant, tinny chime of strained metal links! But the chain holds. The door is only open a little way. A frightening head slowly...with an almost gliding motion...comes through the narrow opening, with eyes glaring.
It's me! That's my head glaring! I am in the dream after all.
The head looks around at the entire room, transfixing each person in turn with that hideous stare. Then it looks up and around at the room itself, the furnishings. Then in a low, booming moan of a voice, it declares:
"WRONG HOUSE."
Actually, the first word is really drawn out, like Frankenstein was trying to say it:
"WRRRRROOOOOOOONNNNGGG HOUSE."
Then the head withdraws, leaving the door ajar.
The people are immediately thrown into a panic, this little incident seems like the crack of doom to them for some reason. There's nothing else scary in the entire dream, it just sort of peters out with these people screaming at each other and making frantic ad hoc preparations for whatever awful thing is to come next.
Their precious illusion has been shattered.
Comments
You don't invite one of those in.
When I said "WRONG HOUSE," it was not taken as someone merely trying to get into the wrong house by accident, but as a grim harbinger of doom crashing the scene, raking the proceedings with its hideous glare, taking in the whole essence and compass of the the event and then pronouncing the entire house (and its contents and occupants) WRONG. In some ineffable but impossible-to-defend-against way.
I think the chain might have been...who knows, maybe everyone invited had already shown up? Maybe they were planning something somehow...illicit.
I can speculate no further. That house was WRONG.
Nor would I. Speculation on what happened outside of what was specifically depicted in a dream strikes me as a kind of futile, considering that even what was depicted didn't actually happen.