I've been having a ton of strange dreams lately, in which I feel quite intense emotions - far more intense than I really ever feel them when awake. This is one I had last night / early this morning. This one was kind of a roller-coaster. At first, everything was going very well, and then things took a very sudden turn. It had the feel of an Asian horror film - a little bit slow moving, things falling into place gradually and a bit of dread followed by a brief sigh of relief which is wrenched from you horribly and abruptly and the underlying issue is revealed.

It was night time, and I was out on a date. Everything was lovely, I was comfortable and we were walking along a street talking, laughing and holding hands. We were just kind of wandering idly and chatting and we decide to turn down another street, which is lined by trees. To get to the pathway, we walk down a short flight of stairs and on my side of the stairs, there's a tunnel. It's lit by a line of overhead lights, and to get to the tunnel floor, one would have to walk down another short flight of stairs. The lamps lighting the tunnel were just above my eye level and there was a rod across the top of the entrance with a sign I couldn't read and a few rolls of paper towels. I was extremely drawn to this tunnel that I just stood there and stared down it and it seemed to stretch out farther and a couple of the lights flickered and everything else in the world melted away. It was just me and the tunnel and the feeling that I was being pulled into it until I felt a tug on my hand and my date asked me if everything was ok. I shook my head and smiled and said "I'm fine, I just... thought I saw something... Never mind that, though, do go on." and we continued along talking and walking. A few steps away I glanced back and didn't notice anything strange.

The date progressed on, more talking, more walking, more laughing, most of it was spent on a bench in the park looking over the water, and the time came to pass the tunnel again on the way home. This time, the pull was extreme. I was standing there staring and beginning off in the far side of the tunnel, the lamps started going out but I was fixed to the ground and entranced. I managed to start moving again and just as I start to put my foot above the first step into the tunnel my date puts his arm around my waist and pulls me away from it saying "Are you crazy? That tunnel's been condemned for years!" and when I look again, there's caution tape and it's blocked off, no lights on, "Do Not Enter" signs, the whole nine. None of which had been there before. I stumbled and my date caught me. It was at this point I noticed he didn't have a face, but I just shook it off and said I was fine but had a headache and he walked me home.

In this dream I lived in an apartment building and on the way to it, there was an entrance to what I think might've been the same tunnel or one connected to it, and though the pull wasn't as strong, I did feel a pull but I heard crying coming from it as we approached. When we passed it (I didn't stop this time) we sped up a little bit and I made a point to try not to look at it. For a second I wondered why I was the only one who seemed to notice how magnetic this tunnel was, but brushed it off thinking maybe I was losing my mind.

The next day I was on my way to work, I'd gotten up early to go out to breakfast before I had to go in. As I passed the tunnel entrance, I heard my name and stopped. I resisted the urge to look and forced myself to keep walking. Out of the corner of my eye I could see it was empty and continued walking. I was the only person on the street, so when I heard shuffling behind me, I turned and saw a mangled figure trying to crawl out of the tunnel and I took off running.

That night after work, I was heading home and there was a road-block on the way. The walking detour was (you guessed it!) walking through the tunnel, while the driving traffic was directed another way. I considered going the long way with all the driving traffic when it started pouring down rain.

I was standing there with my coat over my head trying to decide what to do and saw a mist forming at the mouth of the tunnel. Right before whatever it was fully materialized I woke up.


Ideas what it could mean?