The Witherer



Everyone at some point has a dream that leaves an impact. Perhaps it was the source material, how it flowed, or maybe just the vividness of it. Either way, most people occasionally find themselves saying: “I had a strange dream last night…”

There have been some fascinating reports on dreams over the decades. Many pairs of identical twins have claimed to occasionally share dreams on the exact same nights, and there is even a story in which thousands of people throughout the world purportedly saw a certain man in their dreams whom they have never met in their waking life. According to psychiatrist Nikki Winters, a new phenomenon has “plagued” the subconscious of two of her patients as well as dozens of others across the state of Maryland. When asked why she used such a word, she replied: “After my two patients told me about the dream, they began to act strangely. They would enter my office looking stressed, and their eyes were ringed in red, as if they hadn’t gotten any sleep.”

Many other psychiatrists began telling similar stories. Their clients would give the description of the image from their dreams—the “demon” as they referred to it—and there were some shocking similarities. The general description was of a man in his mid- to late-twenties. He had a long, jet-black Mohawk that reached down to his thighs, and he had no arms. At first glance they look amputated, as most people say, but up close the stubs contain a series of horrifically jagged scars, as if they had been sloppily sawed off. He wore nothing but a pair of old jeans, and he was very lean, sometimes appearing to people as half-starved or even severely emaciated. But what people remember most about this creature is his face. He had no eyes, and his sockets were completely black—they are often described as two infinitely deep craters that are difficult to stare directly into. His cheeks were both sliced all the way through from the corner of his mouth to his ear, and they were held back together with thick surgery staples. Due to his often poor condition and frightening appearance, he has since become known as The Witherer.

Listed below is an assortment of stories regarding people’s encounters with The Witherer:

''“I dreamt that I woke up in the middle of the night feeling thirsty. I hate having to get up in the middle of the night because I’m afraid of the dark, but turning on some lights sort of helped. However, I went to switch on my lamp and it wouldn’t turn on. I somehow remembered something about a power outage from earlier in the day, so I decided that searching for light was fruitless. As I made my way to the bathroom, everything was eerily quiet. I didn’t hear the hum of the AC or any noises from outside; I only heard the pattering of my own footsteps. I filled a cup of water and drank it when a sudden noise violently pierced the darkness. I jumped at the noise, which was nothing more than a music box, but it was so sudden and relatively loud against the dead silence. I followed the tinkling music to my living room, and that was when I saw him. The Witherer was sitting on my couch, cranking a music box on the floor with his toes. With the curiosity of my dreaming self, I reached out and tried to touch him. But just as I got within an inch of his severed arm, he snapped his head to look at me. I stumbled backwards and woke up screaming.” ''

 

''“I dreamed that I was walking into my kitchen to bake snickerdoodles when I saw The Witherer sitting in the corner behind the dinner table. I became scared and grabbed a broom, then started jabbing him like a stray cat, trying to get him to leave. He lunged forward and grabbed the broom with his teeth, and a tug-of-war ensued as I tried to get him to let go of it. Just as I managed to pull the broom away from him, the staples on his cheeks came undone. His jaw fell off and blood poured out of it like a waterfall. I could see his dangling tongue and his torn muscles so vividly that the image has stuck with me ever since.” ''

 

''“I was looking in the bathroom mirror, and instead of my reflection The Witherer was staring back at me. He didn’t move, but around me I noticed that everything was melting. The shower head drooped, the toilet craned to one side, and the bathtub flattened. When I looked back at the mirror, The Witherer still stood unmoving, but his abdomen had popped open and his entrails were hanging out.” ''

 

''“In my dream, it was the middle of the night, and I had ventured downstairs into the kitchen for a midnight snack. When I turned on the light, The Witherer sat crouched on my kitchen floor. He was naked and appeared to be urinating, but it was kind of hard to tell by the angle at which I saw him. The puddle that grew around him had a darker, more orange tinge, and it soaked the tips of his hair which touched the floor. I became scared and ran back up the stairs to wake my husband, but just as I reached the top, I slipped and tumbled back down. I bounced down the stairs like rubber and splattered blood on each stair in which I landed. Just before I hit the floor at the bottom, I sprang awake.” ''

Although each individual who claims to have seen The Witherer has had a different dream, the effects of having seen him are eerily similar. Most dreams described by the individuals were not only extremely vivid and graphic in nature, but also followed them in their waking life ever since. The victims would appear troubled and frightened, sometimes reluctant to talk about the dream, and functioned on little to no sleep. Despite the fact that none of the victims have had more than one dream about The Witherer, they always fear returning to sleep, anticipating another grueling nightmare. Some individuals have been admitted to mental institutions for irrational behavior while others committed suicide, as the burden of the dreams have become too much for them to bear.

The origins of The Witherer are still shrouded in mystery. There have been theories as to what causes the dreams, from the use of black magic by one unknown individual to a mere image created by the irrationality of the mind. Anyone who dreams of The Witherer is advised to seek professional help immediately. Many victims have already been saved, but no one knows who could be next.