Help wanted with a painful dream

Hi all. I often have dreams where I wake up in horror but the one I had the other night was real in every sense.
I can't remember it all except that I was in either a hotel or a boarding school. I remember lots of rooms and other people and trying to warn them of a man who wanted to kill someone.
The dream ended when I entered the room where he was and I knew there was no escape. I knew I would die and I knew it had something to do with nails.
I expected something terrible however the guy looked at me and appeared to cradle my head then I realised he had placed a large nail at the back of my skull and then hammered it in with one big blow. I looked at his face and literally felt the pain in my skull and my brain shutting down like switching off a lightbulb that is slow to turn go out.
The horror of it woke me up and it has haunted me for the last few days.
I am 50 I feel scared of my age. I have a 6yr old son and true to say my life isn't the happiest at the moment as my husband is always at work and I feel like a single Mom. I've tried to interpret the dream but nothing fits. The main bit for me though is how I felt at the point of death. How would I know that feeling?
Any ideas?
Thank you. :)

Dying in dreams does not mean you're about to die. I have died in multiple dreams. The first one I remember was when I was 7 years old. Perhaps you are dreaming of dying because you are scared of your age and you're facing your own mortality. Death in dreams is also often symbolic of change. Symbolically the old "dies" to make way for the new.

As for the pain, our brains are amazing imagination powerhouses. Dreams are bizarre constructs of a bunch of things we've never experienced, pain and death are no exception. For instance, I've dreamed of being a man even though I have no idea what that's like. People have dreamed of talking to giants, fighting dragons, and flying to outer space even though none of them have ever experienced those things before. The brain uses what it knows to guesstimate the most plausible scenarios and sensations.

It's normal to have nightmares and it doesn't necessarily mean anything significant. I recommend doing some soul searching about any changes you're experiencing, have recently experienced, or are wanting to experience in your life and in your own psyche. I think it might also be good to address your fear of death and aging. What are you scared of? How has the media, culture, and your own family influenced your fears and negative beliefs about your age/the process of aging? What can you do to overcome those limiting beliefs and enjoy your life to the fullest?

I agree with lunagoddess. I have had many dreams where I have died. And felt death overtake me in specific ways that seemed so real, I too wondered how? But, I also know the brain is an amazing thing. We can all imagine what a certain experience might be like, its no different in our dreams. Our brain fills in the blanks without us even knowing it.
You say your not very happy right now...maybe the nightmare is a manifestation of your own fear of losing yourself. So many of us become consumed with taking care of others that we forget ourselves. Your happiness matters too, and its never too late for anything.:)