Whimsical Nightmare Illustrations

Daniel Zender's 'Light Terrors' series focuses on the dark side of our subconscious.

We've all been there: you wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, gasping for a breath as you assure yourself that it was only "just a dream." Maybe you were being chased by a masked maniac, or perhaps you showed up to class completely naked. Regardless of the subject matter, I think it's safe to say that all nightmares are generally unpleasant. However, they're also an effective way of communicating or expressing feelings of anxiety and stress to ourselves. In fact, engaging with our dreams can give us a lot of insight into our latent desires and innermost thoughts (horrifying as they may be).

Zender depicts many common nighttime frights, from losing teeth to being haunted by the supernatural. Though the subject matter may be scary, the images are not. Zender's graphic shapes and colorful palette undermine any potential horror, making browsing through the images considerably more fun.