She then related her perceptions of the "little white thing" that invaded our apartment in the Village. What it was we will probably never know, and I cannot even guess its purpose.

On listening, to the tape of her hypnosis, Anne felt that something seemed to be missing, and found it odd that she had remembered so little about the crucial periods of time-or so she thought. It appears, on careful analysis, that she remembered a great deal.

There was another reference to "the voice of a woman." She also admits that it was not Annie Gottlieb's voice, although not by saying so directly. "It was deeper. [Annie] has kind of a highish voice."

There is another possible explanation for Anne's testimony. It could be an expression of faith for a man she deeply loves and de sires to protect even from the toils of madness by a subtle act of confirmation, really a hidden communion, an indirect sharing — of an experience she did not have enough information about to confirm in convincing detail.

One night in April she talked in her sleep. I had thought to call this book Body Terror because of the extreme physical sensation of fear I had felt on December 26. Suddenly she said in a strange basso profundo voice: "The book must not frighten people. You should call it Communion, because that's what it's about." I looked over at her intending to say why I thought my title was better, and saw that she was totally asleep. Then I realized where I have heard that voice before.

I went to my wife and looked down at her sleeping form, my mind full of question and wonder.

Our Son

We have been careful to preserve our child from the faintest suggestion that he might be dealing with something outside of normal experience. We have told him that he has had some scary dreams. Oddly enough, he seems to take this notion to be a sort of adult fantasy. His own descriptions of what he remembers are completely straightforward, and he doesn't characterize them as scary.

While he is more than willing to call them dreams if we want him to, he seems equally comfortable with the idea that they are memories. This exactly parallels my own perception: The material has the taste of real memory, and yet it is so strange that it also seems like a dream.

I have asked my son to describe any strange dreams he recalls. He has never been hypnotized and he won't be until he can decide for himself if he wishes to do it. No matter what the source, this material can be very disturbing indeed under hypnosis and it is certainly not the business of a parent to assault a child's mind by such experimentation.

Here are some of my son's dreams, in his own words.