Last night was a very strange experience. When I first went into bed, I closed my eyes and mentally said, "1, I am dreaming. 2, I am dreaming, etc...".
Soon thereafter, I could feel REM. It was hard for me to keep my eyes open and my heart was beating very fast and I saw light and felt like I was moving a thousand miles per hour through space. It was incredible. Then, I heard a gunshot. The REM stopped, and everything went black. It must have scared me, because I could woke up in my bed, did a reality check, and laid back down.
Then I felt REM AGAIN! Except this time I heard vibrations and laser sounds. My body felt incredibly stiff, and I was pretty scared. I kept imagining a beach, and telling myself I would have an LD and that I was going to be on a beach, but everything went black again, and woke up.

Then, I just went and had a normal dream about a haunted strip mall. Some notable characters were there.

Then I woke up at 5 in the morning and tried to WILD, but I never felt REM.
I also never felt SP anywhere through the night.

Feedback? Where did I go wrong?

P.S.: I posted this in my dream journal as well but I figured I would get more hits here.