I was just wondering how realistic people’s tactile perceptions in dreams are. I’ve heard that some people don’t even dream in color, but am skeptical of that claim. My perceptions are usually quite vivid. What really got me wondering about this was a dream I had last night in which I was bitten by a snake and felt the bitten finger grow hot, swollen, and stiff as the venom began to circulate. I looked down and saw that it had turned red, and then my whole body started to tingle both internally and externally as my joints grew stiff. I thought, “So this is what it’s like to feel the body shut down…” After a few minutes, the sensations passed and my dream logic concluded that I had somehow beaten the poison. Although my dreams don't often involve pain and sensation-intense situations, when they do, those tactile perceptions are of about the same realism as those experienced in last night's snake-bite dream.

So, what’s the level of realism for other people in normal (non-lucid) dreams as compared to waking life? Are they comparable, more vivid, less vivid?