Occasionally, yes, both humans and non-humans.
Sometimes I remember during the dream that they’re dead (though that may wake me up, or else maybe I’m likely to do that while waking); sometimes I don’t remember till after I wake up, and may then lie there trying to get back into the dream (which doesn’t usually work.) They’re usually comforting dreams.
No. Most of the dreams I remember have to do with the Navy, or occasionally the store where I worked post-Navy. (Some even combine the two!)
I’ll occasionally have dreams where my mother is alive, and the premise of the dream is generally that she simply didn’t die and her presence is entirely normal. Usually the dream involves her being angry at me (as she usually was in reality) so it is generally a relief to wake up and realize it was just a dream.
I have occasional dreams where my late wife and/or a close friend who had died five years ago appear. Oddly enough, the context of most of these dreams have been at science fiction conventions.
I don’t recall any dead people showing up in my dreams, but then again my parents and sibling are all still alive. But I have occasionally had childhood pets appear in my dreams.
And while it’s not a living thing, the 1979 Toyota Corolla my dad had when I was a kid frequently shows up in my dreams. Usually within the dreams now I’m the one driving it, and/or I want to preserve it as a vintage car.
My parents have appeared. Sometimes it’s as if they had never died, other times I seem to be aware that they’ve resurrected but I don’t seem to be all that astonished by it. It’s always something like “of course you’ve come back alive because of [totally ridiculous nonsense that seemed completely logical and rational within my dream].”
I dream about my parents a few times a year. Usually we’re just hanging around, Dad is making jokes like he always did. Sometimes we’re having a family reunion in the house I grew up in, which has somehow become available to us; often the kitchen has had a strange, futuristic makeover.
In a couple of family dreams one or both of them are back because my sister has figured out they were buried by mistake and we had them exhumed, much to everyone’s delight. Gail was always the smart kid.
I never dream about anyone until I have known them for at least 5-10 years, often 50, and of course, some have died in that interval. They don’t act a bit surprised that I am dreaming about them.
My father died nearly three years and he has appeared twice in a dream. Nothing very dramatic, no messages or anything.
While I was at school one of my classmates died in his sleep, maybe of an asthmatic attack. For some reason he has appeared around three times in my dreams over the years, but not recently.
Dead pets? No.
A decade or two ago I had a frightful dream in which I had a terrible sense of loss and foreboding, of endless grief, and I had a sense that it involved my brother. He died two years ago. Perhaps I grieved for him in advance? The dream was most unsettling.
Overall, it is rare that real people appear in my dreams. The odd thing is that I often have dreams that I am back in Japan.
I seldom remember dreams. I have had dreams of my pets, I usually wake up crying.
I have had dreams where my mom appears, and it’s usually to be a bitch like she was in real life.
Yes, and they dream feels wonderful, until I wake up.
Then I start crying.
My cat, Perry, the one who will always be THE cat for me, sometimes appears in my dreams when they’ve got bad and I need comfort. Best cat ever,even after death.
Too often, especially the ones I’ve had to put down (animals, of course) and the pets (2 dogs and a bunny) I left with my ex- when I left him. And my horses, I dream I forgot to break the ice off their water before I went to school in the morning. Hate those dreams.
Yes for both people and animals. When one of my childhood dogs appears I end up thinking, “wouldn’t you be close to 50 now?”
Sure, all the time. In fact, I dreamt about a few of said pets last night, I believe.
My father is in my dreams sometimes. It’s always completely unremarkable. We’re both in the middle of something, nod or say hi then keep doing what we’re each occupied with.
SAME. I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one who has these dreams. I go down to a basement and realize that they’ve been there all along and I’ve just sort of forgotten about them and now they’re either in really rough shape or have starved to death. Those are horrible.
I do sometimes have happier or more mundane dreams with deceased pets or human loved ones. Often, I’ll be happy/surprised to see them, but I can’t quite place why or why I feel like my grasp on them is so tenuous. It’s never been anything where I felt like they were really visiting me or speaking to me or anything.
Last night was a twist. I was visiting someone who needed help shooting a trailer for…something, and somehow both my dad (deceased) and ferret Claudia (deceased for 18 years) were there, too. So, while I and the person who needed the trailer were trying to figure out where to drop off someone who couldn’t go near a balloon store for religious reasons, my dad kept trying to get my attention. I finally wandered over and he started telling me that Claudia was lonely, and that I should really get her a friend because she missed Fang (also deceased ferret), and it was mean not to give her a companion because she probably would only live another 3 years. I felt bad but woke up before I caved.
First time I ever had a dead loved one guilt me over a dead pet.
When my grandmother or grandfather appear in my dreams, my thought process is usually something along the lines of “Huh, I thought they were dead, but fortunately I must have been mistaken.”.
Whenever my father appears in my dreams, my thought process is usually something like “What are you doing here? You’re dead, you’re not supposed to still be in this world.”.
Just last night I dreamt about a deceased coworker from several decades ago. We had sex on Maui.