Absolutely Terrified

Just today I had my first Lucid dream and I'm terrified. In the morning I woke up at 4 so I was naturally tired, I took a shower, ate breakfast, and got dressed. I went on the couch and some how fell back to sleep, this is when my dream came. I was standing in my school courtyard but there were no people. I remember thinking this can't be right. I looked at my hands and my pinkie was blurry and bending sideways(this made me uncomfortable). I was speechless that this was my first time being lucid, Naturally, I tried to fly, Im afraid of heights so that held me back and I just fell back down. I decided to start small and jump. I ended up jumping 3 yards into the air and landing down safe with no pain. Yesterday was halloween so I still had scary thoughts in my head. People with masks and knives started slowly walking towards me. I was terrified and I wanted to wake up. I shut my eyes hard then opened them, nothing. They were getting closer. I repeated the eye shutting multiple times then found myself on my couch sweating. After that I never want to dream again but I want to experience more lucid scenarios. Can someone please help me get over this?

Remember: you are always in control, even if you think you aren't. It's your lucid, and your turf, and YOU set the rules. The odds it'll happen again really depend on how much you dwell on it, and therefore unintentionally incubate it. Dream incubation is a double-edged sword.

Last time I had a scary undead version of myself think it was going to chase me, I turned it into paper and ripped it to shreds. Maybe that'll work for you. Just sit down and brainstorm all of the things you can do in that scenario. It'll turn from scary to fun and hilarious pretty quickly.

A few of my personal favorites:
1. Turn them to paper and rip them to shreds
2. Rain of fire
3. Summon an army of clones of yourself to attack them
4. Orbiting death ray
5. Sonic wave attack... make 'em explode
6. Turn them into something funny (stuffed animals)
7. Just tell them to "*@$% off", flip them off, maybe laugh at them
8. Turn into a dragon and eat them... you may find out that they taste exactly like chocolate.

Dream manipulation can be tricky, but think of these scenarios as a chance to practice it. Take a look at some of the dream manipulation threads if you need some ideas. The reason waking yourself up seems to "fail" sometimes is because you're fighting the inertia of sleep paralysis during REM - which can be scary, but it's actually beneficial because it keeps you from physically acting out your dreams. Your body is fast asleep and it wants to stay asleep. I've had some frustrating series of false-awakenings before I finally managed to wake up. It's harmless, and nothing's going to hurt you.

Regarding flying, my technique is to jump into the air and bounce off a cushion of air to send myself soaring. After that, I can glide. There are lots of different ways to fly. You'll find one that works for you.

you can work on changing the scenario. dreams tend to change based on your expectations and desires for the experience. or....remember that you ARE going to wake up without harm and face your fear..fight and beat the **** out of your enemies! i think the 2nd choice will help you feel more empowered.