What if I told you that scary movies aren’t the real culprits behind your nightmares?
The Mare, a shapeshifter of dreams, embodies terror by assuming the guise of the thing you fear most…aka your worst nightmare. Her appearance varies widely across various narratives and folklores; in some, she emerges as a demon horse, while in others she makes her appearance in the form of a haggard crone, or a beautiful maiden.
The Mare targets her victims by sitting on their chests as they sleep, inducing terrifying nightmares. With her weight, she presses down upon the sleeping individual, suffocating them into a stage of sleep paralysis where they feel so panicked they are unable to move at all.
In Snorri Sturlson’s Ynglinga Saga, the Mare emerges as a particularly malevolent force, tormenting the King with horrific night terrors that leave him in agony. Before killing the King, the demon shatters both of his legs as his guards attempt to protect his upper half.
Because of the Mare’s association with horses, some stories depict her riding them through the night, relentlessly urging the poor creatures until the first light of dawn.
MARE IN SLAVIC MYTHOLOGY
In Polish folklore, Mare is often associated with Mara, the dark goddess of death and winter. These creatures, Mara’s servants, were believed to come by people’s beds to curse their dreams, bringing terror no amount of sleep could escape. Alternatively, they may have been the tormented souls of women who had suffered wrongs or damned themselves in life with sin. Mistakes made in prayer may have made one vulnerable to the transition into a Mare.
In some stories, if a woman who had promised herself to a man abandoned him for another, then the man’s grief and shame would be so unbearable the curse of the Mare would claim him, and he would find himself transformed during the darkest hours of the night.
In Croatian folkore, the Mare acts as a succubus, appearing as a seductive woman who visits lovesick men in their dreams, torturing them with insatiable desire until even death feels kinder.
THE KIKIMORA
The Kikimora, closely associated with the Mare in folklore, is described as a spirit that takes residence in a house, behaving like a parasite and refusing to leave. This entity is often blamed for strange occurrences at night, particularly stolen food, loud noises and, above all, sleep paralysis.
The Kikimora does not appear as a beautiful woman but rather as an old hag or crone. Like the Mare, she too is responsible for the manifestations of night terrors, but also possesses the ability to enter homes through keyholes.
PROTECTION AGAINST THE MARE
Protecting one’s home against a visit from the Mare is a tricky business, but there were various methods people may have used. Commonly, the easiest way to deter her presence was to sleep on your stomach, simply because this way the Mare was not able to attach herself to your chest.
In other folktales, protective measures ranged from being as simple as stuffing a bed with hay to deceive the Mare, to smearing feces on the door as a repellent. Additionally, mirrors may have been hung in stables to startle the Mare with her own reflection.
REFERENCES
Mare Norse Mythology: Nightmares And Supernatural Steeds – Vikings War Room
The Old Norse Mythology of Mare: The Demon Of Evil Nightmares (scarystudies.com)
Ethereal Chronicles 
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