Nightmare Obscura: A Dream Engineer's Guide Through the Sleeping Mind -- Michelle Carr, Hardcover

A leading sleep expert reveals the latest science behind the dreaming brain and why we have nightmares--offering key insights into how harnessing dreams can improve your sleep and health.

To most, dreams are things that slip away when you reemerge into the waking world, their remnants jumbled up and only half recalled. At their best, they are populated by pleasant recollections and surreal experiences. But at their worst, they can be traumatizing and prevent us from receiving the necessary benefits of sleep.

So why do we dream at all? What makes a person prone to nightmares? How do our bodies interface with our brains when we're not awake? And how can we harness our sleeping minds to improve our waking lives?

In Nightmare Obscura, dream researcher Michelle Carr unlocks the science behind the sleeping body, exploring the relationship between dreams and mental health, with a deep dive into the neuroscience behind some of the most interesting aspects of dreaming: nightmares, lucid dreams, and the cutting-edge field of dream engineering.

Author: Michelle Carr
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
Published: 11/18/2025
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 9.25h x 6.12w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9781250342720

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 08/01/2025 pg. 84

About the Author
Dr. Michelle Carr is the director of the Dream Engineering Laboratory in the Centre for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, Assistant Professor at the University of Montreal and former president of the International Association for the Study of Dreams. Alongside her research and work as a dream engineer, she has published numerous scientific papers, a popular Psychology Today blog, and articles for New Scientist, Aeon, and Scientific American.