The Disembodied Hand

When I was very little I had a horrible nightmare about a disembodied hand. I think it was actualy one of the first nightmares I ever remember having. Although it might sound little silly now, sometimes just the memory of it still gives me chills...

I found myself sitting on a bed in a strange dim bedroom. I had never been in before, but it still seemed eerily familiar. All of the walls were paneled with an oppressive dark wood and covered with crowded bookshelves. The entire place was cluttered and it was very still and very silent. 

Suddenly, I heard a slight rustling sound coming from the shelf against the wall behind me. When I looked, there appeared a disembodied hand coming through the bookshelf and straining to reach past stacks of paper and books. 

I tried to scream and run from the room, but as is always the case in these disturbing dreams, I could do neither.

Lately these disembodied Victorian hands seem to be everywhere. Have you noticed? I was reading a fascinating piece on the fetishization of the female hand in Victorian times the other night, but I cant seem to track it down again. Is anyone familiar this idea or any others pertaining to the disembodied hand?

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