I have read a lot of posts about nightmares and would like to know if they are really that common. I have always had very good dream recall and I can probably count on one hand all of the nightmares that I can remember having. I can remember having had them as a child but none that I can remember in the past 10 years (I'm 21). I guess I've never really thought about them too much, but now the whole idea of a nightmare is kind of foreign to me. Being really scared or in some kind of danger just never happens in my dreams. Am I a freak or some kind of exception? What causes or affects nightmares?