Wake-Induced Nightmares?

I'm not comfortable posting something so negative with such a low vibration here in the forums, so I'll try to keep this short.

Is it necessary to know how to control your thoughts before learning how to Lucid Dream? Is there a such thing as a Wake-Induced Nightmare? I've heard of losing lucidity and a dream turning into a nightmare but I haven't heard of falling asleep into one.

This hasn't happened to me, but I've been afraid it would and I haven't had any lucid dreams since my first one. I'm asking cause I remembered during a sleep-paralysis that it's a prime time to attempt lucidity. But just moments into it, I began having these negative thoughts and frightened myself out of it.

This is all kind of embarrassing because the only reason I'm even afraid of dreams now is because I watched those Insidious movies. I liked them, but I didn't expect them to affect me the way they have. I'm 25 years old and movies have never bothered me, but those ruined lucid dreaming and astral projection for me. I haven't practiced either in over a year, maybe 2 years.

I would very much like to get back into it though, my first WILD was quite the experience. I remember the vividness and linearness of it all. I hope to do it again sometime soon.

Dreams and HH during transition into WILD can be influenced by our expectations. Out of many hundreds of WILDs and WILD attempts, I never had a bad experience. Even if some would classify few of my experiences as scary. I believe that my state of mind helps me in having nice transition and LDs.

1. Have nice and happy thoughts when attempting a WILD.
Make a plan for what you want to do in a lucid. Write it down, practice it. Look at some nice pictures reminding you of your goal. Then think of that during your attempt.

2. Just go with it.
Know, that it's all only in your head and you are safe in your bed. No matter what happens in transition, it will last only few seconds and after that you are in a lucid dream.

3. Once in a LD, project love and acceptance towards anything that's "bad" or "scary".
Expecting the "bad" to change into something good. For example saying "Oh look at that cute bunny" will make it morph into cute little bunny.

4. You can recite some affirmations or "protection" for OBEs, if you wish.
This is from Karen659: "Only entities with my and above my level of development can be here and participate". If you are religious, you can ask your god for protection.

The main thing is to do anything that will put you at ease and make you feel safe.

This is what works for me, but you can find your own way of doing this.

Not having had a LD properly since childhood, and never having successfully initiated one intentionally I'm not sure how much merit my little peice of advice might carry.

I remember as a child when I started having natural Lucids that I started out because of nightmares, after a while I found I had developed a form of discipline while lucid dreaming and without even realy trying anything negative would be turned positive with a subconscious thought such as "you can't be here because I don't like you. You aren't friendly." If it didn't simply disappear it would become something harmless, this inturn would help stabilize my dream, especially if I felt comfortable enough to go up and interact with ot afterward.

I can't wait to get back into it but having not done it for so long I seem to have almost forgotten the skill, if skill was ever truly involved, the only thing I have trouble with is getting Lucid.