Dream within a Dream...

The Makura-gaeshi (”pillow-mover”) is a soul-stealing prankster known for moving pillows around while people sleep. The creature is invisible to adults and can only be seen by children. Anatomical features include an organ for storing souls stolen from children, another for converting the souls to energy and supplying it to the rest of the body, and a pouch containing magical sand that puts people to sleep when it gets in the eyes. In addition, the monster has two brains — one for devising pranks, and one for creating rainbow-colored light that it emits through its eyes.

More 'Anatomy of Japanese Monsters' at above link!

-BACKGROUND: The Norwegian Mare is a shapeshifting demon, predominantly female, who haunts people while they sleep. Creeping like smoke, the Mare can sneak through keyholes or under doorways, as well as slither through locked windows or cracks in the floorboard. She can appear as beautiful or ugly, as a dwarf or a giant, but most commonly comes in the guise of a horse. Once in her victim’s bedroom, she mounts their chest and steals their breath, causing great heart pains, troubled breathing, and horrible dreams. In Germany she is known as the ‘Mahr’, in Danish, ‘Mare’, and in the Western world she took on the title of ‘Nightmare’. While the Norwegian version is considered one of the oldest versions of this lore, the Anglo Saxon and Old Norse ‘Mara’ probably predates her counterpart by a few centuries. In Germany, the demon directly associated with bad dreams is known as an ‘Alp’, a direct cousin to the popular ‘Elf’.

-MYTHS FROM THE VAULT- continued at my LJ page.