Lincoln: "Did everyone have a nightmare?"
Lori: "What are the odds, right?"
The Nightmare House
(also found here) is a spooky fanfiction of The Loud House from the author of Peeking Through the Fourth Wall and Sunday Skivvies, about the nightmares of all eleven of the Loud children.
The nightmares are listed in descending age order, with the exception of Lincoln, whose nightmare comes last, and they generally have the setup of the dreamer in a situation that is normal (such as Lori being left in charge for the night), good (such as Luna being honoured on TV), or only minorly annoying (such as Lucy having trouble writing due to loud music downstairs).
Then, things take a turn that is somewhat bad (such as in Luan's case where she is at the Chortle Portal only to find no one laughs at her jokes) or weird (like Lincoln noticing that his sisters are pampering him for no apparent reason), then it turns into full-blown horror (continuing from the Lincoln example, he finds his sisters have been replaced by demon-like creatures), and then eventually the sibling wakes up. Occasionally, however, instead of going from bad to worse, it takes a left turn into bad (e.g. in Luna's case, Mick Swagger just suddenly does an about-face.)
The story as a whole has a theme of how nightmares are terrifying, but they can't last forever and are only in your mind.
The Nightmare House provides examples of
- Abuse Mistake: The Sister Snatchers believe Lincoln's sisters abuse him with their teasing.
- Accidental Murder: Lynn's nightmare is about accidentally decapitating Lincoln in a boxing match.
- Acid Reflux Nightmare: While this is likely averted with the Louds' nightmares as Lori and Lincoln imply that it was just an odd coincidence they all had nightmares, the narrator says that if the reader wants to avoid having a nightmare, they shouldn't eat Hawaiian deep dish pizza.
- Afraid of Doctors: Lana finds going to the doctor creepy because it's talked up to be a very cheerful place when it actually isn't.
- Ambiguously Evil: It's left unclear if the judge in Lola's nightmare deliberately took her face, or if her face just happened to fall off after she insulted it.
- Ambiguously Human: The dancers in Lucy's nightmare. They have creepy, colour-changing, pupil-less eyes, and they chant, "Join us". They could be demons, or humans playing a prank, or possessed humans.
- And I Must Scream: Lana's nightmare has her being shoved into a machine that transforms her into a stereotypical girly-girl. She retains her memories of her prior self after the transformation is complete, but finds that she no longer had any control over her body or even her voice. She is unable to move or even speak independently, her limbs and mouth on autopilot while her brain can only scream in anguish, trying to no avail to regain any control at all.
- Animate Inanimate Object: In Luan's nightmare, Mr. Coconuts can talk.
- Lisa's nightmare has a sentient teddy bear that treats her like a baby.
- Arc Words: "X was the last thing (sibling's name) saw/heard/felt before s/he woke up." Combined with Every Episode Ending.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever:
- Subverted. It appears as though Lucy in Lori's nightmare is growing, but actually Lori is shrinking.
- Played straight in Leni's nightmare, where some spiders are given a potion that enlarges them.
- Baby Talk: The teddy bear asks Lisa if she wants to drink her "milkies" and crawl around in her "diapee". Then, he says, "What if you make a wetsy, or what if you go boom-boom and fall on your tushy-wushy?"
- Bears Are Bad News: In Lisa's nightmare, there is a sentient, evil teddy bear who spanks Lisa and treats her like a baby.
- "Be Quiet!" Nudge: Not-Lori elbows Not-Leni in the ribs after the latter accidentally gives away where Lincoln's real sisters are hidden.
- Big "NO!": Lincoln bellows one when the Sister Snatchers say that they're his sisters now.
- Big "OMG!": Leni does this when she first notices the leg warmers in her nightmare.
- Big "SHUT UP!":
- In Luna's nightmare, she yells, "SHUT UP!" and slaps the taunting old woman.
- In Luan's nightmare, she yells to Mr. Coconuts, "SHUT UP! SHUT UP AND GO AWAY!".
- The Blank: In Lola's nightmare her face ends up gone.
- Blob Monster: Lily has a nightmare about a sentient blob of mud and purple goo named "Mor-Gaj", who is based on her limited understanding of what a mortgage is.
- Body Horror: A few of the nightmares involve scary biological things:
- Leni's nightmare involves her legs being crushed by leg warmers and spiders coming out of her teacher's throat.
- In Luna's nightmare, an old woman's fingers crumble into dust.
- In Lynn's nightmare, Lincoln's disembodied head can talk.
- In Lucy's nightmare, the dancers have no pupils and their eyes can change colour.
- In Lola's nightmare, her facial features fall off, and she somehow can survive without breathing.
- Brainy Baby: Discussed when the teddy bear in Lisa's nightmare thinks she is a baby using inappropriately big words.
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: The spiders suggest enslaving Leni, eating her, or enslaving and then eating her.
- Break the Haughty: In Lola's nightmare, she is confident, almost cocky, that she will win the pageant and takes pride in her appearance, but then her face falls off.
- Bring My Brown Pants: In Lynn's nightmare, the scared Lincoln is described as looking like he's about to empty his bladder.
- Captain Obvious: When the nurse says, "Lana Loud?", Rita says to Lana, "That's you." The narration then lampshades it by saying Lana could've figured that out herself.
- Cheshire Cat Grin: Not-Lisa and the rest of the Sister Snatchers sport these when Lincoln catches onto them in his nightmare.
- Corporal Punishment: The teddy bear in Lisa's nightmare spanks her for being difficult.
- Creepy Monotone: In Lori's nightmare, when her siblings (except Lucy) say, "We don't need you", they all say it in a monotonous, Lucy-like voice.
- Damsel in Distress: In Leni's nightmare, she ends up immobilised and being dragged off by spiders.
- Dark Fic: Downplayed. There is lots of horror imagery, but because they're just nightmare sequences, everyone is fine.
- Deadly Sparring: Lynn's nightmare has her engage in a boxing match with Lincoln in her homemade boxing ring. She punches him too hard and cleanly decapitates him, much to her horror. When interviewed, Lincoln's disembodied head comes to life to say how Lynn only cares about winning, which makes her wake up.
- Death Glare:
- The dancers in Lucy's nightmare give her intense glares for dancing "wrong".
- Lincoln gives "Lori" a glare when confronting her about Bobby's full name in his nightmare.
- Department of Redundancy Department: The "song" in Lucy's nightmare is just "Join us, Lucy", "Join us now", and her own name sung over and over.
- The Diaper Change: Lily's nightmare begins with her having her diaper changed.
- Didn't Think This Through: Played for Laughs. In Leni's nightmare, a swarm of talking spiders have captured her and discuss what to do with her; they variously suggest eating her, enslaving her, or enslaving her first and then eating her. A fourth one suggests eating her first and then enslaving her later, and then immediately acknowledges that didn't really make sense.
- Disproportionate Retribution: In Lucy's nightmare, the dancers puke on her for dancing incorrectly.
- The Ditz: "Not-Leni" is just as dumb as Leni, accidentally giving away the sisters' location.
- Dream People: Some original characters appear in the nightmares:
- Leni has some giant spiders.
- Luna has an elderly rocker (who Mick Swagger suggests is a future version of her, but it's left somewhat ambiguous).
- Luan has a living version of Mr. Coconuts.
- Lucy has a possessed-seeming group of dancers and an equally possessed-seeming DJ.
- Lana has an evil doctor named Dr. Mitchell.
- Lola has a critical pageant judge who either makes her face fall off or insults it and then it coincidentally falls off.
- Lisa has an evil teddy bear.
- Lily has a blob monster named "Mor-Gaj", who is based on her limited understanding of mortgages.
- Lincoln has the "Sister Snatchers", who replace sisters they perceive as bad.
- Eaten Alive:
- The giant spiders from Leni's nightmare consider eating her.
- "Mor-Gaj" from Lily's nightmare tries to eat her.
- "Not-Lana" from Lincoln's nightmare tries to take a bite out of him.
- Eats Babies: Lily's nightmare ends with a monster preparing to eat her.
- Evil Smells Bad: "Mor-Gaj", the evil creature from Lily's nightmare, is described as having an "overbearing stench".
- Extreme Omnivore: "Mor-Gaj", the creature from Lily's nightmare, eats money, Rita's wallet, and is about to eat Lily before she wakes up.
- Eye Scream: Lisa apparently once nearly got acid in Darcy's eye.
- Fright-Induced Bunkmate: When Lori wakes up, she finds that Luna, Lucy, Lola and Lana all climbed in bed with her, while the remaining sisters all climbed into Leni's bed.
- From Bad to Worse: Sometimes, the nightmares start off mildly bad before getting worse:
- Leni's starts with being laughed at for wearing leg warmers, then ends with giant talking spiders who consider eating or enslaving her after her legs are crushed by said leg warmers.
- Luan's starts with her telling jokes at the Chortle Portal and being met with a Tough Room, only to find out that her audience is actually made up of inanimate statues.
- Lynn's has her start losing to Lincoln during a boxing match, which goes horribly wrong after she punches his head off.
- Lucy's starts with being annoyed at the loud EDM music playing in the school gymnasium and ends with her being vomited on.
- Lisa's starts with her bored at a parent-teacher conference, and ends with her being spanked by an evil teddy bear at a daycare.
- Giant Spider: Invoked in Leni's nightmare where the spiders are fed a potion that makes them grow really huge.
- Goo Goo Getup: In Lisa's nightmare, she ends up going back to daycare and wearing a diaper.
- Go-to-Sleep Ending: The fanfic ends with everybody falling back asleep.
- Groin Attack: In Lana's nightmare, she wants to kick Dr. Mitchell in the groin.
- Hypocrite:
- In Luna's nightmare, Mick Swagger, a rocker, disses rock.
- In Lisa's nightmare, the evil teddy bear seems concerned about her falling on her butt, but then spanks her.
- Incompatible Orientation: The evil old lady tells Luna that Sam "prefers blokes".
- Incredible Shrinking Man: Or rather, girl. Lori's nightmare ends with her being shrunk and put in a jar.
- Irritation Nightmare: While the story never plays this straight, it does play with it on occasion:
- Leni's nightmare starts with her wearing leg warmers which she hates, but then it becomes a legitimately terrifying nightmare involving her being immobilised and fed to spiders.
- Luan's nightmare starts out with her just having a Tough Room at the Chortle Portal, but then it takes a left turn into horror when she discovers that the audience is all statues.
- Lynn's nightmare starts as a good dream about boxing with Lincoln, then turns into an irritation nightmare when she has starts losing to him, then turns into a more serious nightmare when she accidentally decapitates him.
- Lucy's nightmare is another subversion: it begins with her being simply annoyed by loud music, but then the dancers appear possessed, and start yelling at her and puking on her for not dancing the way they want.
- And finally Lana's nightmare is a downplay. It's mainly a fear-induced nightmare stemming from the fact that she's Afraid of Doctors, but the doctor doesn't just torture her like a normal Mad Doctor. Instead, he forces her to wear clothes she hates.
- It's Quiet… Too Quiet: In Lincoln's nightmare, the first sign things are off is that the Loud house is no longer loud.
- I Want My Mommy!: Lisa's nightmare ends with her calling out, "MOMMY!" while being spanked by the teddy bear.
- Jaw Drop: Luna's mouth drops open when Mick Swagger in her nightmare says he's "totally taking the piss".
- "Join Us" Drone: The dancers in Lucy's nightmare chant, "Join us, Lucy, join us now."
- Labcoat of Science and Medicine: In Lana's nightmare, the doctor wears a lab coat.
- Lame Pun Reaction: Discussed when Luan is wondering why her jokes don't at least provoke a groan.
- Lightbulb Joke: Luan makes a joke about how it only takes one psychiatrist to change a lightbulb, but it has to want to change.
- Living Toys: Lisa's nightmare features a sentient, talking, evil teddy bear with claws.
- Losing Your Head: In Lynn's nightmare, Lincoln talks after being beheaded.
- Mad Doctor: Dr. Mitchell is a paediatrician who uses mind control to make Lana a more stereotypical little girl.
- Mistaken Age: The teddy bear in Lisa's nightmare thinks she's a baby.
- Mocking Sing-Song: Mr. Coconuts mocks Luan by singing, "Luan isn't fun-ny!".
- Mondegreen Gag: Lucy initially mishears the chant of "Join us, Lucy, join us now" for "Moist and juicy. Moistened mound," and her own name as "Juicy mound".
- My God, What Have I Done?: Lynn feels extremely guilty about accidentally killing Lincoln in her nightmare.
- Nightmare Sequence: The whole fanfic is about the nightmares of the Loud children.
- No Inner Fourth Wall: Mick Swagger in Luna's nightmare somehow knows she is trying to turn the TV off and is able to summon the old lady.
- Noodle Implements: Lisa, at least according to nightmare Ms. Shrivinas, once used a pickle to carry electricity.
- The Nose Knows: Mor-Gaj, the monster in Lily's nightmare, can smell her.
- Off with His Head!: In Lynn's nightmare, she accidentally punches Lincoln's head off.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Occasionally, the first sign in the nightmares that something isn't right is when someone behaves oddly:
- In Lori's nightmare, the first sign something is amiss is when Rita doesn't remind the kids that Lori is in charge and when Lori tries to do it herself, her siblings just look confused.
- In Lincoln's nightmare, the first sign his sisters aren't what they seem is when they pamper him for no reason, "Lucy" smiles, and they claim to like his Ace Savvy suit.
- Pain to the Ass: Discussed when the teddy bear wonders what to do if Lisa falls on her "tushy-wushy", though the teddy bear also ends up spanking her.
- Performance Anxiety: Discussed when the narrator says that most little girls are scared of going onstage in front of haughty adults, but not Lola.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Dr. Mitchell uses mind control on a little girl because he thinks girls shouldn't have her hobbies.
- Prayer Is a Last Resort: In Lily's nightmare, when she can't climb up the stairs, she sits down and prays.
- Precision F-Strike: Lincoln lets out a rather mild "hell" during his nightmare.
- Properly Paranoid: In Lana's nightmare, she's scared of going to the doctor, who turns out to be evil.
- Pun:
- Luan makes jokes about mummies liking "wrap" music, sticks being "sticky", getting "a flat miner" when you drop a piano down a mine shaft, and seagulls being "bagels" if they flew over the bay in her nightmare.
- Mr. Coconuts in Luan's nightmare makes a "dummy" joke, plus jokes about the statues being "bored stiff" and "stone-faced".
- "Not-Luan" calls Lincoln's Ace Savvy costume "ace".
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!:
- When the old woman in Luna's nightmare brings up Sam, Luna says, "Leave. Her. Out of this."
- When "Not-Luna" from Lincoln's nightmare tells him the Sister Snatchers would never fight with him over money, tease him, scare him into doing chores, or kick him out of somewhere, he replies, "I. Don't. CARE!".
- Red Eyes, Take Warning:
- The dancers' eyes turn red in Lucy's nightmare when they're angry.
- "Mor-Gaj" from Lily's nightmare is an evil red-eyed monster.
- Saying Sound Effects Out Loud: Lynn says, "Ding ding" in her nightmare boxing match.
- Scary Teeth: The Sister Snatchers have these, especially Not-Lana when she decides to have Lincoln as a snack before he wakes up.
- Scratchy-Voiced Senior: The old woman who Luna dreams about is described as "croaking" her words.
- Shout-Out:
- Lola's eyes are described as Bambi-like.
- "Not-Lisa"'s smile is described as being reminiscent of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland.
- Sickening "Crunch!": Leni's legs make crunching noises when being crushed by her leg warmers in her nightmare.
- Spiders Are Scary: Leni, an aracnophobe, has a nightmare about being fed to giant, talking spiders and the narration frequently describes the spiders as looking terrifying, especially their eyes.
- Spotting the Thread: While naturally unsettled by his suddenly cheerful "sisters'" doting on him in his nightmare, Lincoln is almost convinced to let it go; almost being the key word, then "Lola" messes up. "Lola" suggests that Lincoln come play with her and Lola to relax, unaware that she is Lola. "Lola" tries to pass it off as mixing up the names, but Lincoln remains suspicious and, after asking questions only his real sisters would know, discovers that his "sisters" are all imposters.
- The Stoic: Subverted for the audience in Luan's nightmare, who appear to be not expressing emotion, but then turn out to be statues.
- Stock Shtick: Luan, in her nightmare, tries the old "boy are my arms tired" bit.
- Stylistic Suck: Luan in her nightmare tries to deliberately make her jokes bad to at least get a reaction, even if it's negative.
- Take That, Audience!: Luan, in her nightmare, insults the audience at her comedy gig to try to get them to respond.
- That Liar Lies: When Lori's siblings in her nightmare tell her she isn't in charge, she initially accuses them of lying.
- Third-Person Person: "Mor-Gaj" from Lily's nightmare speaks in the third person.
- Title Drop: After the prologue, it says, in bold, "Welcome.... to the Nightmare House".
- Tongue Trauma: In Lily's nightmare, Mor-Gaj's tongue has some sort of infection, judging by how it has pus coming from it.
It also wraps around Lily's head. - Tough Room: Subverted in Luan's nightmare where it seems as though no one is laughing at her jokes, but that turns out to be because they're statues.
- Unconventional Food Usage: Lisa has a nightmare in which someone mentions that she used a pickle to make a crude light.
- Would Hit a Girl:
- The giant spiders consider enslaving or eating Leni.
- The dancers in Lucy's nightmare puke black slime on her for dancing "wrong".
- Dr. Mitchell forcibly converts Lana into a stereotypical "good girl".
- The "hit" part is taken literally in Lisa's nightmare where the evil teddy bear spanks her.
- "Mor-Gaj" from Lily's nightmare tries to eat her.
- Would Hurt a Child:
- Dr. Mitchell numbs and mind-controls a six-year-old, namely Lana.
- In Lisa's nightmare, the teddy bear spanks her. Bonus evil points because he thinks she's a baby.
- "Mor-Gaj" from Lily's nightmare tries to eat her.
- The Sister Snatchers do something to the real sisters leaving them emaciated, pale, and tired-seeming, including the younger ones.
- Would Rather Suffer: Lincoln, in his nightmare, says he would rather spend a decade locked in a glass cage with his real sisters than spend another minute with the Sister Snatchers.
- Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: The Sister Snatchers from Lincoln's nightmare have these.
- You No Take Candle: "Mor-Gaj" from Lily's nightmare speaks in primitive grammar such as "Mor-Gaj starving".
