Do dreams come true?

The latest More Uncanny article on www.uncannyuk.co.uk outlines two fascinating stories I uncovered in a rather obscure Victorian journal. In each case a man had a dream so vivid that it convinced them to take action - with the result that a stranger to them was saved from imminent death. (You'll have to become a 'Registered Reader' to access this story, but all you need to do is fill in your email address and choose a password).

Writing on this subject prompted me to flick back through my dream diary for the year. Dreams can be fascinating. Usually they are entertainingly inexplicable but can sometimes offer insights into one's state of mind, fears or hopes. At least that's what I've found.

I was rather surprised to discover that a dream I had in January appeared to foretell events that occurred last month. In this dream I see a local indie band who broke up in 1992 performing on television. Naturally, I'm rather surprised, especially since all the members of the band are still my friends and I might have expected to have been told they were still going. A bigger surprise though is that the band, who wrote and performed pretty decent Charlatans-type stuff, are here covering Queen's 'Don't Stop Me Now'.

The final odd detail is that singer Daniel Johnson has grown an inappropriate big brown beard. When I wrote down what I could remember of the dream the following morning, I noted that this was probably just a clue that this was an older band, ie that the dream was set in the present day, not the 1990s. Anyway, having watched the band on telly, the dream morphs into a scene in which I am at Daniel's parents' house with his two brothers and various other friends of mine, enjoying some good fellowship. And that was it.

In November, Dan's brother Matthew made an honest woman of his long time girlfriend Emma and I am invited to the wedding. Dan, of course, is a guest and guess what? In the three years since I last saw him, he has grown a big brown beard. He DJs at the reception and among the admittedly very many tunes he spins, one of them is 'Don't Stop Me Now' by Queen. The next day I am invited up to the Johnsons' home, where I have spent many happy afternoons, but not for several years, and enjoy a pleasant time among old friends, including all three Johnson brothers.

OK, not exactly earth-shattering and I'm sure a cynic could easily point out that any disparate strands from my life might be brought together for a coincidence like this. Nevertheless, I had completely forgotten the details of this dream and they did cause me to raise an eyebrow. The picture (taken by Richard Owen) shows bridegroom Matthew with Daniel sporting that beard the night before the wedding).

Readers of Uncanny UK are welcome to send me examples of inexplicable experiences in their own lives and may email me at editor@uncannyuk.co.uk

The Johnsons, incidentally, also feature in a recented Haunted Wales blog at http://hauntedwales.blogspot.com Are they the spookiest family from Wales? Answers on a post card please to...