Does anyone else have this? I am aware of a nightmare when I have them, and I usually get out of them before it gets too freaky. The most recent one was of a spider with a kitten head, I only saw the kitty head but when it turned around I woke myself so I didn't see it. I've had nightmare where I know that soon enough sometimes bad is coming so might as well dash before it gets going. Do note that I do not have regular lucid dreams, only nightmares. And I lucid dream in every nightmare that I've had.
I only had a lucid nightmare once and I was actually lucid dreaming at first. At first I was just dreaming, flying over a lake, before I suddenly regained consciousness and started going into the lucid state. At this point I tried to look at my reflection in the water which generally isn't a very good thing to do. I was dead in my reflection and crashed into the water where I was grabbed by multitudes of moving corpses. It was terrible. Never try to consciously look at your reflection in a dream. Stuff can really go off the rails.
I never do the flying and destruction others due, what I do is get out as fast as possible since I am about to be scared out of my undergarments.
I used to dream about being chased by velociraptors at night in a jungle. I knew I was dreaming, but I would wake up sweating. It's too dang scary at night thinking that right above your bed's headboard is a giant dinosaur just waiting for you to move before it goes in for the kill... Of course lucid dreaming/nightmaring would mean that you can control your dreams/nightmares, so can't you just turn the kitten-headed spider into a regular kitten?
Though to be honest, on the list of best ways to die "eaten by dinosaur" have to be up there. Imagine coming to the afterlife, hanging with the other dead guys when you're asked how you kicked the bucket and you say "oh you know, nothing special. I just got eaten by a fucking dinosaur." Anyways, lucid dreams can veer out of your control for a number of reasons, one of them being looking at your own reflection which can sometimes cause a series of contradictions in your brain that makes it think you're dead and then everything just fucking goes. At this point you're not in control, you're just going along for a terrible ride.
I think then that lucid nightmare-ing might be the wrong label. I know when I am having a nightmare, I know I am dreaming, but instead of changing things I tend to just end it.
Not a psychologist, but I think that we can't manipulate nightmares. I think that we can just understand that we're dreaming, and go along for the ride. Thing is...I never see the raptor. I just randomly know that it's a velociraptor, not a Trex or Spino or anything...