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Quiz about Disturbing Dreams
Quiz about Disturbing Dreams

Disturbing Dreams Trivia Quiz


It was a dark and stormy night when I settled down to read some of my favourite pieces of literature. I then fell fast asleep, only to experience some startling dreams related to my reading. Can you match each dream with the correct literary text?

A multiple-choice quiz by poshprice. Estimated time: 8 mins.
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Author
poshprice
Time
8 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
327,863
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
646
Awards
Top 35% Quiz
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Question 1 of 10
1. Just as I dropped off to sleep in my chair, my mind focused clearly on the plight of the characters I had been reading about. Suddenly, lo and behold, the skies outside my window began to darken, and a storm began to brew. This, coupled with my reading, conjured up a pretty turbulent dream, which involved a shipwreck and a great deal of anger and magic. "A strange fish" was also present, a most "ignorant monster", who had attempted to attack a young maiden, and was thus made a slave as punishment. Indeed this was not a pleasant desert island dream, but rather a nightmarish glimpse of an isolated hell. What well-known play was it that weighed so heavily on my dreaming mind? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. As the remnants of my first dream slowly evaporated, the heavens opened and claps of thunder ripped through the atmosphere, while incandescent flashes of lightning illuminated the night sky. I continued to sleep peacefully, oblivious to it all, at least until the hubbub outside prompted me to dream about the most peculiar crowd of people. Indeed my dream seemed to take me back in time, to the age of knights, squires and yeomen. As I observed the scene, people from all walks of life appeared to be congregating together, in order to partake in the art of story telling. Bemused by the scene, I chuckled quietly in my sleep. But can you help me to remember the name of the text in which these people can be found? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. As the thunder outside subsided, I slept fitfully on. Indeed no dream brewed in my brain until a flash of lightning lit up the room. This, coupled with a steady trickle of rain, whisked my sleeping mind away to explore a most enigmatic and mysterious legend. I found myself shrouded in darkness, sharing a space with two others, whose faces were grim and determined. As I watched with growing horror, unable to change the scene in front of me, they removed a heavy gravestone, to reveal a decaying body, with "sallow skin" and "unnaturally red lips". "An ooze of blood filled the lines of one side of his neck and made a scarlet estuary on his soiled collar." As I struggled to control my fear, my dream began to slip away, and all that remained imprinted on my memory was the name: Professor Rossi. Which bone-chilling best seller does this smidgen of my dream come from? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. As the terror of my previous dream disappeared, the thunder outside returned, rolling threateningly, and increasing in volume. Already tense and fearful, my uneasy mind plunged straight into another disturbing moment. Echoing the scene outside my window, thunder and lightning reigned supreme, and devils entered "with covered dishes". Here one man's magic proved to have truly charmed his "soul to hell", thus ensuring he had "no hope of heaven". Indeed he was torn apart for his sins by "damned fiends", until only his "mangled limbs" remained. Which devilish Renaissance drama inspired my dream? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. With the weather calming down, the groaning of the wind washed over me, unexpectedly taking me back to remember a very special seasonal novel. The "shadows of the things that have been" floated before my very eyes, and memories, both wonderful, and terrible, quickly flashed by. I was suddenly conscious of two figures standing beside me - the real connections to the scene. The face of one was etched with avarice, and his eyes "showed the passion that had taken root". I shivered uneasily, before remembering the positive outcome of this particular novel. But what was its name? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. The unsettling rumble of thunder outside led my unconscious mind to conjure up one of the very few novels to ever have truly raised the hairs on the back of my neck. As I tossed and turned in my armchair, a book on my lap, a gloomy and desolate moor swam before my eyes. There in front of me stood a diabolical sight - but not one "that mortal eyes have ever seen". "Fire burst from its open mouth," and its "eyes glowed with a smouldering glare". Its dark and savage form rose up before me, and then I knew no more. Which of the following novels contained this hideous creature? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. The peace and quiet that had settled over the house since my previous dream had me slumbering serenely. However this was soon shattered by the boisterous babble of a group of women enjoying a girls' night out. As a result, their chatter triggered my next dream of the night. But this time, no vision appeared, only some grey mist. A faceless narrator spoke from somewhere, remarking confidently, "Alcohol units 0, cigarettes 0, Instants 12 (v. v. bad, but have not weighed self or thought about dieting all day; v. g.)." What 1996 British novel could this possibly be? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. An unexpected downpour of rain inspired my next dream, and simultaneously stopped the people outside in their tracks. As the heavens opened, the disembodied voices of various individuals drifted in through my window, washing over me as I slept. I began to dream, and a bustling little village rose up before me, whose occupants gossiped gleefully as they went about their daily business. Snippets of their conversations overlapped and the more secretive members of the town crept furtively around the gossips, trying in vain to avoid attention. Amidst the bustle, a lonely old seafaring Captain droned on and on in the background, all the while keeping up a running commentary. In which play would you find this particular scene? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. I don't know whether it was the effect of the wind and rain hammering against my window pane, or simply a coincidence, but this next dream bore an eerie resemblance to my all time favourite novel. I was transported to an old-fashioned chamber, with only a dim candle for light. Through the gloom I made out the shape of a man, lying on a bed near the window. I'm sure my dream would have ended there if the man had not suddenly reached violently towards the window, breaking the glass, as if attempting to grab something from outside it. But no sooner had he done so, then his face grew white, and he seemed to try desperately to pull his hand back in, but to no avail. Despite being oddly transfixed by the bizarre scene in front me, my unconscious mind drifted away, leaving it unfinished. But what novel did my dream remind you of? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. As the rain finally eased off to just a "low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton", my final dream began to develop in my unconscious mind. A shadowy figure, clutching a lantern, stood motionless in the darkness, seemingly hypnotised by a sleeping figure in front of him. He undid his "lantern cautiously--oh, so cautiously--cautiously (for the hinges creaked)", so that "a single thin ray fell upon" the sleeping man's face. My last memory of this man was of him standing there, cloaked in darkness, listening contentedly to the steady breathing of the sleeping figure. I woke suddenly, bathed in the moon's light, and shivered involuntarily. What well-known short story was it which infiltrated my dream? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Just as I dropped off to sleep in my chair, my mind focused clearly on the plight of the characters I had been reading about. Suddenly, lo and behold, the skies outside my window began to darken, and a storm began to brew. This, coupled with my reading, conjured up a pretty turbulent dream, which involved a shipwreck and a great deal of anger and magic. "A strange fish" was also present, a most "ignorant monster", who had attempted to attack a young maiden, and was thus made a slave as punishment. Indeed this was not a pleasant desert island dream, but rather a nightmarish glimpse of an isolated hell. What well-known play was it that weighed so heavily on my dreaming mind?

Answer: William Shakespeare's "The Tempest"

"The Tempest" is a Renaissance drama, written by William Shakespeare around 1610. The plot of the play revolves around Prospero and his daughter, Miranda, who had been pushed into a tiny boat and sent away to an isolated island, after the former's position as the Duke of Milan was usurped by his brother, Antonio.

While on the island, Prospero perfects the art of magic, and makes Caliban, one of the original inhabitants of the island, his slave, after he tries to rape Prospero's daughter, Miranda. Prospero also makes a spirit named Ariel his servant, forcing him to do his bidding, while promising him eventual freedom. During the course of the play, Prospero gets the opportunity to exact his revenge, and causes a tempest to shipwreck a ship carrying Antonio, and a number of other characters.

He torments these characters while they are on the island, but does eventually forgive them, and he and Miranda return to Naples with the rest of the ship's inhabitants.
2. As the remnants of my first dream slowly evaporated, the heavens opened and claps of thunder ripped through the atmosphere, while incandescent flashes of lightning illuminated the night sky. I continued to sleep peacefully, oblivious to it all, at least until the hubbub outside prompted me to dream about the most peculiar crowd of people. Indeed my dream seemed to take me back in time, to the age of knights, squires and yeomen. As I observed the scene, people from all walks of life appeared to be congregating together, in order to partake in the art of story telling. Bemused by the scene, I chuckled quietly in my sleep. But can you help me to remember the name of the text in which these people can be found?

Answer: Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales"

"The Canterbury Tales" is a collection of stories, (written mainly in verse), told by a variety of pilgrims, as they make their way to Canterbury, to visit the shrine of Thomas Becket. Written by Geoffrey Chaucer around the end of the fourteenth century, "The Canterbury Tales" is believed to be incomplete, due to the fact that the number of tales told are fewer than the number of pilgrims on the pilgrimage. "The Canterbury Tales" was one of Chaucer's last works, and similarly to Dickens and "The Mystery of Edwin Drood", (during the nineteenth-century), Chaucer seems to have died before he could finish it.
3. As the thunder outside subsided, I slept fitfully on. Indeed no dream brewed in my brain until a flash of lightning lit up the room. This, coupled with a steady trickle of rain, whisked my sleeping mind away to explore a most enigmatic and mysterious legend. I found myself shrouded in darkness, sharing a space with two others, whose faces were grim and determined. As I watched with growing horror, unable to change the scene in front of me, they removed a heavy gravestone, to reveal a decaying body, with "sallow skin" and "unnaturally red lips". "An ooze of blood filled the lines of one side of his neck and made a scarlet estuary on his soiled collar." As I struggled to control my fear, my dream began to slip away, and all that remained imprinted on my memory was the name: Professor Rossi. Which bone-chilling best seller does this smidgen of my dream come from?

Answer: Elizabeth Kostova's "The Historian"

"The Historian" is a 2005 novel written by Elizabeth Kostova. A blend of history and folklore, the plot of "The Historian" revolves around the legend of Dracula, and various individuals' attempts to track down the Count himself. It also combines a variety of different genres, such as the Gothic and the adventure novel.

Moreover it is also, in part, an epistolary novel, and like classic novels such as Emily Brontė's "Wuthering Heights", moves between the past and the present, in order to explain its events.
4. As the terror of my previous dream disappeared, the thunder outside returned, rolling threateningly, and increasing in volume. Already tense and fearful, my uneasy mind plunged straight into another disturbing moment. Echoing the scene outside my window, thunder and lightning reigned supreme, and devils entered "with covered dishes". Here one man's magic proved to have truly charmed his "soul to hell", thus ensuring he had "no hope of heaven". Indeed he was torn apart for his sins by "damned fiends", until only his "mangled limbs" remained. Which devilish Renaissance drama inspired my dream?

Answer: Christopher Marlowe's "Doctor Faustus"

"Doctor Faustus" is a macabre Renaissance drama written by Christopher Marlowe in 1604. The plot of the play is based on the story of Faust, and revolves around Faustus himself, who is given wealth and knowledge in return for selling his soul to the devil. At the end of the play, the devil comes to collect his payment, and kills Faustus in a violent and grisly manner.
5. With the weather calming down, the groaning of the wind washed over me, unexpectedly taking me back to remember a very special seasonal novel. The "shadows of the things that have been" floated before my very eyes, and memories, both wonderful, and terrible, quickly flashed by. I was suddenly conscious of two figures standing beside me - the real connections to the scene. The face of one was etched with avarice, and his eyes "showed the passion that had taken root". I shivered uneasily, before remembering the positive outcome of this particular novel. But what was its name?

Answer: Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"

"A Christmas Carol" is a nineteenth-century novel written by Charles Dickens. Published in 1843, the plot of the novel revolves around the avaricious Ebenezer Scrooge, whose miserly ways are transformed following a visit from three ghosts - the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come. Well known around the world, this Dickens classic has been adapted to many different media, countless numbers of times.
6. The unsettling rumble of thunder outside led my unconscious mind to conjure up one of the very few novels to ever have truly raised the hairs on the back of my neck. As I tossed and turned in my armchair, a book on my lap, a gloomy and desolate moor swam before my eyes. There in front of me stood a diabolical sight - but not one "that mortal eyes have ever seen". "Fire burst from its open mouth," and its "eyes glowed with a smouldering glare". Its dark and savage form rose up before me, and then I knew no more. Which of the following novels contained this hideous creature?

Answer: Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Hound of the Baskervilles"

Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Hound of the Baskervilles" is a crime novel published at the turn of the twentieth-century. Originally published in the "Strand", the plot of the novel revolves around the Baskerville curse, which is claimed to exist solely in order to avenge a woman who was kidnapped by, and later died because of, the actions of Hugo Baskerville.

The monstrous image depicted above is that of the hound itself, whose appearance usually coincides with the death of a member of the Baskerville family.
7. The peace and quiet that had settled over the house since my previous dream had me slumbering serenely. However this was soon shattered by the boisterous babble of a group of women enjoying a girls' night out. As a result, their chatter triggered my next dream of the night. But this time, no vision appeared, only some grey mist. A faceless narrator spoke from somewhere, remarking confidently, "Alcohol units 0, cigarettes 0, Instants 12 (v. v. bad, but have not weighed self or thought about dieting all day; v. g.)." What 1996 British novel could this possibly be?

Answer: Helen Fielding's "Bridget Jones's Diary"

"Bridget Jones's Diary" is a twentieth-century novel written by Helen Fielding. Written in the form of a diary, "Bridget Jones's Diary" revolves around Bridget herself, who is a single, thirty something woman looking for love. Her diary is often humorous, detailing her annoyance at "smug marrieds", who she feels look down on "singletons" like herself.

She is perpetually on a diet, or trying to cut down on the amount of cigarettes she smokes, while also hunting around for the love of her life.
8. An unexpected downpour of rain inspired my next dream, and simultaneously stopped the people outside in their tracks. As the heavens opened, the disembodied voices of various individuals drifted in through my window, washing over me as I slept. I began to dream, and a bustling little village rose up before me, whose occupants gossiped gleefully as they went about their daily business. Snippets of their conversations overlapped and the more secretive members of the town crept furtively around the gossips, trying in vain to avoid attention. Amidst the bustle, a lonely old seafaring Captain droned on and on in the background, all the while keeping up a running commentary. In which play would you find this particular scene?

Answer: Dylan Thomas' "Under Milk Wood"

"Under Milk Wood" is a twentieth-century radio play written by Welsh playwright and poet, Dylan Thomas. Subtitled, "a play for voices", the plot of "Under Milk Wood" revolves around one day in the fictional Welsh village of Llareggub. One of the most striking features of the play is its sheer number of characters, who all contribute something to the play's busy, gossipy community-oriented atmosphere and environment. Even though individual characters, (for the most part), seldom speak at length, readers and listeners build up a full picture of each one of them, by piecing together what other people have said about them.
9. I don't know whether it was the effect of the wind and rain hammering against my window pane, or simply a coincidence, but this next dream bore an eerie resemblance to my all time favourite novel. I was transported to an old-fashioned chamber, with only a dim candle for light. Through the gloom I made out the shape of a man, lying on a bed near the window. I'm sure my dream would have ended there if the man had not suddenly reached violently towards the window, breaking the glass, as if attempting to grab something from outside it. But no sooner had he done so, then his face grew white, and he seemed to try desperately to pull his hand back in, but to no avail. Despite being oddly transfixed by the bizarre scene in front me, my unconscious mind drifted away, leaving it unfinished. But what novel did my dream remind you of?

Answer: Emily Brontė's "Wuthering Heights"

"Wuthering Heights" is a nineteenth-century Gothic novel written by Emily Brontė. The plot of the novel revolves around a love story between Catherine and Heathcliff, which although passionate, is sadly thwarted by the latter's low birth. When Catherine dies shortly after giving birth to another man's child, Heathcliff becomes vengeful and cruel, ruining everything and everyone around him.

The scene summarised above depicts one of the novel's narrators, Lockwood, dreaming about Catherine's ghost.

He imagines that it is her hand, and not a tree branch that is tapping against the window of his chamber.
10. As the rain finally eased off to just a "low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton", my final dream began to develop in my unconscious mind. A shadowy figure, clutching a lantern, stood motionless in the darkness, seemingly hypnotised by a sleeping figure in front of him. He undid his "lantern cautiously--oh, so cautiously--cautiously (for the hinges creaked)", so that "a single thin ray fell upon" the sleeping man's face. My last memory of this man was of him standing there, cloaked in darkness, listening contentedly to the steady breathing of the sleeping figure. I woke suddenly, bathed in the moon's light, and shivered involuntarily. What well-known short story was it which infiltrated my dream?

Answer: Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart"

"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a nineteenth-century short story written by Edgar Allan Poe. Published in 1843, the plot of the story revolves around its mentally unstable narrator, who murders the old man he is living with, after developing an unhealthy obsession with one of his eyes. Hailed as a classic example of Gothic literature, "The Tell-Tale Heart" is one of Poe's most well-known short stories.
Source: Author poshprice

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