Throughout the years, Gary Larson’s comicThe Far Sideincluded some memorable jokes about nightmares. Certainly, many more featured nightmare-scenarios, and some even qualify as nightmare-fuel, butLarson’s cartoons about characters suffering actual bad dreams stand out, even if they weren’t the most proliferaterecurring element in the strip’s history.
From orchestral conductors and dancers dreaming about their careers hitting rock bottom,to medieval knights having anxiety dreams about showing up unprepared for battle, to a typicallyFar Sidekind of explanation for where nightmares actually come from, Gary Larson’s bad dream jokes offera panoramic view of his comedic style.
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Artistically, Larson’s nightmare panels offered opportunities to work with two contrasting images, something he did particularly effectively in the examples below.That is what makes it somewhat surprising, however, that he didn’t return to this particular comedic well more often.
10The Far Side’s Nightmare Panels Represented The Comedy Of Anxiety
First Published: July 21, 2025
The Far Side’sfirst nightmarepanel established the formulathat most – though given Gary Larson’s tendency to subvert expectations, certainly not all – subsequent incarnations would follow. In the panel, a conductor with a big performance loomingdreams that his musicians are totally unprepared, and in fact outright incompetent, as they are depicted as unable to play, or even handle their instruments.
Here, Larson begins with the premise that nightmares are a manifestation of anxiety; from there, he derives humor from a very real anxiety by a form of mitigation.That is, he actually undercuts the anxiety with the silliness of the nightmare imagery itself. This is the first thing that will make a reader chuckle, but that chuckle can be parlayed into a laugh by the comedy that comes from the clash between the dreamer’s distress and the nightmare’s inanity.
9Gary Larson Finds The Most Absurd Variation On A Classic Nightmare
First Published: June 08, 2025
In this panel, a medieval knight experiences a common nightmare, as hedreams that he showed up for battle without his armor, leading him to charge into battle with a shield and wooden sword, and nothing else. The more common variant of this bad dream involves showing up for school, or work, without clothes – and in patented Gart Larson fashion, thisFar Sidecartoon takes that familiar trope and pushes it to a particularly ridiculous place.
Once again, the root of the joke here is the knight’s anxiety about being unprepared for combat, yet in this caseit is Larson’s art that elevates the panelfrom amusing to outright funny.In too manyFar Sidecomics to count, so much of the humor rests on the way Gary Larson illustrates the eyes of his characters; that is very much the case here, as the naked knight charges forward, eyes wide with equal parts terror and embarrassment.
8This Unforgettable Far Side Nightmare Panel Combines Two Of Gary Larson’s Biggest Obsessions
First Published: June 04, 2025
ThisFar Sidenightmare panel also ranks amongGary Larson’s funniest elephant cartoons, and it also earns a place of prominence amonghis comics about musicians. That is because it operates flawlessly on multiple levels of humor, in precisely the way that everyFar Sideinstallment aspired to, but didn’t necessarily always achieve.
Captioned “the elephant’s nightmare,” the panel depicts a pachyderm staring– again, note the eyes –down in disbelief at the keys of piano, as it sits on stage in front of a packed house, while thinking,“I can’t play this thing, I’m a flutist!“Here, Larson’s words and imagery work in perfect concert, allowing the cartoon to reach a crescendo of comedy that makes this an all-time-greatFar Side.
7Gary Larson’s Twisted Interpretation Of What Gives Kids Nightmares
First Published: July 02, 2025
Up to this point,The Far Side’snightmare cartoons have operated from the same premise, but here, Gary Larson takes one of his characteristic flights of fancy, as hedepicts “the nightmare makers” as black-hatted elfish figures, sitting at a large control board and personally deciding what scary dream a young boy is going to have that night.
Another laugh-out-loudFar Sidecartoonas a result of its high-level visual execution of a highly amusing premise,this one derives its humor from actively subverting the premise of the previous comics, by suggesting that rather than arising from anxiety, or some other internal trigger, nightmares are actually inflicted upon sufferers by some external force, for reasons unexplained.
The Far Side Complete Collection
Fans of the far side can’t pass up this master collection of Gary Larson’s finest work. Originally published in hardcover in 2003, this paperback set comes complete with a newly designed slipcase that will look great on any shelf. The Complete Far Side contains every Far Side cartoon ever published, which amounts to over 4,000, plus more than 1,100 that have never before appeared in a book and even some made after Larson retired.
First Published: July 20, 2025
In another twist onThe Far Side’sstandard nightmare jokes, this one features a man waking up following a bad dream –except he’s waking up in hell, after he was seemingly having a nightmare in which he wasn’t. The punchline here almost certainly left many readers perplexed, at least at first. The key to the joke is its inversion; while most people would wake in a panic after dreaming of being in hell, this man dose the opposite.
Hell was a frequentFar Sidesetting, and the “formula” for most of Gary Larson’s netherworld jokes involved subverting the inherent horror of the location, which he does here.It is also notable that the caption places an emphasis on “are,“an example of how even the stress ona single syllable could make or break aFar Side’seffectiveness.
5In This Far Side Nightmare Panel, A Famous Dancer Dreams Of His Low Point
First Published: June 10, 2025
ThisFar Sidebad dream cartoon revisits the premise of the very first one, except it does so with an increased level of specificity, which serves the raise the effectiveness of the punchline to another level. In this case,Gary Larson references a real person, the famous dancer and choreographer Mikhail Baryshnikov,imagining him being reduced from the upper echelons of the fine art world to fiddling at a country hoedown.
The clash between the image of Baryshnikov in bed, and of him at what for him is his lowest point, works particularly well because it so adeptly encapsulates the larger disparity – between forms of dance that is considered cultured, and that which has a less prestigious reputation – at the crux of the joke.
4The Far Side Reveal’s The Matador’s Nightmare: Making Too Good Of A Target
First Published: July 03, 2025
Captioned “the matador’s nightmare,” thisFar Sidebad dream cartoon features a bullfighter trapped in a world where he is physically far larger than he is in reality,while he has been stuck with an extremely small red cape – making him a perfect target for his opponent, the bull.
What makes thisrelatively straightforwardFar Sidepanelfunnier, upon closer inspection, is that the dream is shown from the bull’s POV. Of course, this is born out of necessity, as the focus of the bullfighter’s dream is the bullfighter himself; yet it has the unintentional added benefit of a layer of subtext, in whichthe bullfighter recognizes, deep down, that his worst nightmare is the bull’s greatest dream come true.
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3An Absurd Twist On Horror Movies' Iconic Dream Killer
First Published: July 07, 2025
To be fair, this is not strictly a nightmare panel in the “traditional” sense – butThe Far Side’ssuccess was born out of eschewing tradition, and throwing curveballs at the reader. So, in that spirit, this cartoon featuresGary Larson’s absurdist reference toA Nightmare on Elm Street, whichbecomes “Nightmare on Oak Street” – as a party full of anthropomorphic oak trees shout in horror as a chainsaw-wielding man bursts through the front door.
Without a doubt, this isThe Far Sideat its most ridiculous, but also at its most hilarious. Again, it is the eyes and facial expressions of the characters –the trees, but also the man with the chainsaw– that do crucial work to take what could be an eye-rolling premise and turn it into a laugh-out-loud cartoon.
2The Far Side Reveals The Horrifying Truth: The Test To Get Into Heaven Has A Math Section
First Published: August 01, 2025
Admittedly, the true “nightmare” status of this panel could be question, as there is no illustration of a sleeping character to ground the joke in some kind of “reality.” Nevertheless, this cartoon, captioned “math phobic’s nightmare,” proceeds from the same root premise as the more familiarFar Sidebad dream panels,as the near-universal anxiety about death and the afterlife manifests as a man being forced to take a math test at the Pearly Gates.
Like the earlier “naked knight” panel, or the “elephant at the piano,“the joke in this heavenlyFar Sidepanelderives from the premise of being unprepared.This is extrapolated both to an extreme of stakes – the “math phobic’s” immortal soul is on the line– and of silliness, as the character’s entry into heaven rests not on some kind of moral calculus, but on actual calculus.
1Gary Larson Depicts A Famous Comedian’s Worst Nightmare: Performing In Funny Clothes
First Published: August 18, 2025
This is another example of aFar Sidecartoon in which specificity is key. In this case, Gary Larson references real comedian Aresenio Hall,with the caption explaining that he regularly has bad dreams about watching “himself walk on stage wearing golf clothes.”
In order for this punchline to land, the reader must have some context for Aresenio Hall and his style; as a comedian and a late-night talk show host, Hall was known for being well-dressed. Here, Larson is projecting hypothetical embarrassment onto the comedian,extrapolating a potential anxiety Hall might feel from his public persona. This is indeed pretty funny, though if readers aren’t familiar with Arsenio Hall, this comic has a high potential to leave themasking “What-the?” rather than laughing.
Key Background
The Far Side
The Far Side is a humorous comic series developed by Gary Larson. The series has been in production since 1979 and features a wide array of comic collections, calendars, art, and other miscellaneous items.
