The twentieth volume of The Adventures of Tintin comic series by cartoonist Hergé was inspired by dreams involving being chased by a skeleton in distressing white environments. In order to be rid of the nightmares that plagued him, the artist decides to try and defeat the world of his nightmares by living vicariously through his characters, as such the cartoonist takes a more literal approach to depicting his dream and shifts his existing Tintin comic into a dark horror story.
The beloved children’s novel Stuart Little was written by E. B. White for his nieces and nephews after he dreamt of a boy who acted rather like a rat. Inspired by this boy, White creates a tabletop role-playing game to play with his nieces and nephews in which they take the role of rats trying to survive in various situations. This illustration serves as the box cover art for this game.
The chemical structure of Benzene was discovered by scientist Friedrich August Kekulé after he had a dream of a group of snakes swallowing their tails. Upon seeing the snakes resembling the ouroboros symbol, Kekulé decides to devote his intellect into studying the idea immortality going so far as to engineer the world’s first immortal snake.
The modern lockstitch sewing machine was invented by Elias Howe Jr. after he dreamt about having to build a sewing machine for a savage king in 24 hours or be punished by death. The dream also featured warriors holding spears that were pierced near the head inspiring his design of the sewing machine needle. Through interacting with this new group of people with innovative technologies and unusual customs, Howe becomes inspired to develop a story taking place in this fantastical country and turns it into a stage play.
The Returned is a novel by author Jason Mott inspired by a vivid dream where he was able to converse with his deceased mother. The writer becomes obsessed with the idea of being able to communicate with the dead through dreams and as a result compulsively tries various techniques to try and control his dreams
Devil’s Trill Sonata is a violin solo piece written by Giuseppe Tartini inspired by a dream in which he made a pact with the devil and upon giving the devil a violin to assess its playing, heard it play in a way he had never could’ve imagined. Upon waking, Tartini is reminded of a group of devilish kids in his neighborhood and attempts to teach them music in hopes that one of them turns out to be a prodigy
Doze Off Inspiration
“Doze Off Inspiration” imagines alternative reactions that could’ve occurred after experiencing the dreams that inspired famous works and discoveries to explore the mysterious role of dreaming in the human experience
