The Grotesque

The Grotesque is the Fear of sleep and dreams. Hardly anything about it is known at all save for the gruesome, macabre impact its presence has on the sentient. It has never been physically spotted, but its effect has reportedly been preceded by a sudden and markedly noticeable, suffocating sensation during slumber.
Known symptoms of contact with the Grotesque have been documented as an immediate onset of insomnia with little to no precursory indication of such. Following a markedly increased level of irritability and rather morbid thought processes, those suffering under the Grotesque's influence have been known to demonstrate an inhumane and unbearably heightened sense of paranoia; arbitrarily turning on family and friends around them, doing everything possible to avoid interaction and/or observation. Eventually casualties begin to speak only in hushed whispers if at all for days on end before devolving into savage, involuntary shrieking. With rare exception, victims end their own lives very shortly after this.
The only known case of the Grotesque having taken "servants" was during a sleep deprivation experiment conducted in Russia during the late 1940s on WWII political prisoners. The testing involved a gaseous stimulant to maintain alertness and lasted for over fifteen days. Afterward the subjects were seen to have degraded into complete and utter madness. Most of their flesh had been ripped off and eaten, including one unfortunate victim who'd been seemingly torn apart; his viscera having been used to clog drains and smear over cameras and microphones. Although their rations had been untouched, the examinees were shown to have begun self-cannibalising, going so far as to eviscerate themselves; digging through flesh with bone exposed fingers to tear out their own abdominal organs. They claimed they no longer desired to be released and fought violently against any attempts to be restrained or anesthetised so as to receive medical attention; one having ruptured his spleen in the process and bleeding out almost immediately. The remaining two with functional vocal chords ceaselessly begged for the stimulant to be turned back on, and when confronted insisted that they must remain awake. All testing subjects were registered as deceased the following week.
Category:Fears
Category:Beings
Category:Incorporeal beings
Category:Characters