She shoved her arms in the robe. “I don’t remember.”
“I can see that, and in your place I’d hate it as much as you.
It was an hour or so after we’d parted ways for the night,
you came knocking on my door.
Not quite awake,
not quite asleep—
you understand what I mean.”
Stars of Fortune
_____________________________
John Everett Millais [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
In the silent film "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,"
a deranged hypnotist controls a sleepwalker, using him to commit crimes.
Obviously, this 1920 film isn't an accurate depiction of somnambulism, but even
a century after the film's release, this sleep disorder still isn't
particularly well understood. We don't even know what causes it.
Indeed, there's probably more fiction than fact surrounding
sleepwalking, and knowing so little about it only adds to the disorder's
mystique.
Still, there are things we do know, and that knowledge can
help to dispel some of the mystery around sleepwalking.
