An autistic woman plagued by horrifying nightmares says the most frightening image of all is of the people she knows finding out what fanfiction she reads.

Ima Onwugbenu, 23, has recently been suffering from uneasy dreams, but the one that haunts her most in the waking world involves her Archive Of Our Own history being broadcast to her family, friends and acquaintances, despite her refusal to read the stories outside of a private browser, with her VPN on, just in case the government finds out and puts her on some sort of watchlist for freaks.

Onwugbenu said: “Nobody is allowed to discover that I read slash fiction in the privacy of my own home as an outlet for the thoughts and feelings society wants to shame me for. Nobody can know that, as a woman, fictional characters are often safer targets for my desire than actual people. I’d probably go to prison.”

“But I can’t live like this,” she conceded. “I have to take my life back. Whoever’s putting these nightmares in my head, I have to confront them once and for all. Dig out that one 20,000 word smutfest I’m too embarrassed to bookmark or search for by title, and make them read it. I bet they won’t even get past the tags.”

Freddy Krueger, the vengeful spirit who has been chasing Onwugbenu through her dreams, said in reply, “You know what? It’s my fault for intruding. Have a great night,” before retreating to the nearest bathroom to scrub his eyeballs clean.

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