What's the scariest thing that's ever woken you up during the middle of the night?

I was having a nightmare where my AP English teacher was throwing lightning bolts at me and trying to smite me. It was fitting because the teacher looked a lot like Zeus. I woke up in a panic and felt instant relief when I realized it was all some kind of stress dream. Then there was a bright flash of lightning and a MASSIVE clap of thunder, so loud it shook books and ornaments off of the bookcase in my bed room.

I fell out of my bed into a heap on the floor.

There was a thunderstorm passing over our house and I had apparently worked the sounds into my dream. The lightning was striking so close that the fan in my parents room was beeping and reversing direction.

/r/AskReddit Thread