Guides · 2 min read
Audio to fall back asleep after a nightmare
It is the middle of the night and your heart is still going. A calm voice, a small warm place, and nothing that asks much of you.
After a nightmare, the most useful audio is one calm male voice, a steady sound underneath, and a story where nothing bad happens. Start with Last Train: rain on the windows of a stopped train, and a tired voice asking if you are cold. It is free in full and plays in your browser, with no account.
Why silence makes it harder
You know the dream was not real, but the feeling of it has not left yet. The room is quiet, nobody is there to say it was only a dream, and your mind keeps going back to look at it. A voice gives your attention somewhere else to go. You do not have to fall asleep. You only have to listen to someone who is in no hurry.
Before you press play
- Turn on a small lamp if the dark feels like too much. Nobody is checking.
- Sit up for a minute and have some water, so the room feels like your room again.
- Open only the story. Do not look up what the dream means, and leave messages and news for the morning.
What to look for tonight
- One voice, low and unhurried.
- A small, warm place: a train carriage, a fire, a narrow bunk.
- No danger, no jealousy, nothing that needs solving.
Stories to try
Last Train. He asks how tired you are, and if you say barely awake, the story gets slower and quieter. Free in full.
Sick Day. A daytime story with a sleepy heart: a boyfriend, a blanket and a pot of soup. It is the easiest one to drift off to, because every question passes if you say nothing, and if you stop answering near the end he stays in the chair beside you. Free in full.
The Keeper. It starts out in the cold, on the rocks after a storm, so it is a little more awake for the first minute. Then he carries you up to his fire, and the rest is a crackling hearth and a lonely man who talks too much. Free in full.
Night Crossing. An overnight ferry and a stranger with a spare bunk. It opens on a windy deck and ends somewhere very quiet: engine hum through the walls, tea by your head, and him asking if you would rather talk or sleep. The opening is free.
Save the stories with a threat in them for daylight. A castle with wolves outside is fun at nine in the evening and less fun at three in the morning.
If you still cannot sleep
Play the same story again instead of looking for another. If you are wide awake after that, get up for a little while and come back when you feel drowsy. If nightmares keep coming back or stay with you during the day, talk to a doctor.
Moonvale is for listeners 18 and over. These stories are warm and intimate, and never explicit.
Questions
What can I listen to after a nightmare?
Something small and calm: one low voice, a steady background sound and no danger in the story. Last Train and Sick Day are both free in full on Moonvale.
Do I have to answer him in the middle of the night?
Not in Sick Day: every question passes if you say nothing. In some other stories a question waits for one tap, and no answer is a wrong one.
Can audio stop nightmares?
No. These are stories, meant to keep you company while you settle. If nightmares keep coming back, talk to a doctor.