In this later version of The Nightmare, Fuseli heightens the sense of the uncanny through a tall composition and a washed-out, pale palette. A young blonde woman lies asleep on a narrow, low bed, her head and arms bent back over the edge, her pallor echoing the off-white of her thin negligee and the sheet. A spectral horse, ghostly and unreal, thrusts its head through the drapery above her, while a monkey or cat-like figure perches on her chest, which, according to legend, torments her and makes the nightmare to enter her dreams. The mirror and dressing table on the right echo the same pale tones, reinforcing the ethereal atmosphere. Though rich in visual references, the painting resists a single literary source, instead manifesting Fuseli’s preoccupation with dreams and creating a vision that unsettled his contemporaries.