C-List Ghosts of the Real Ghostbusters:
Mr. Sandman, Dream me a Dream
One of the earliest and most well-liked episodes, the titular spirit decides to bring about a peaceful new age by
putting all mankind to sleep, populating the planet with walking, living dreams.
The Real Ghostbusters is copyright 1984 Columbia Pictures
The very first such dream-being we encounter is an image from a science fiction magazine, a great way to
feature an obvious "space invader" in a show about spirits. I love the whole esthetic of goopy body,
egg-shaped tentacle suit.
Ghosts or not, the Sandman attempts to stop the Ghostbusters with a horde of nightmares. The trash can and
the flat, yellow worm are pretty cool, though my favorite is the bug-eyed purple thing that walks on its flab. I
also like the flying clown head. It's as cute and goofy as the "dreams" we've already seen, but apparently
somebody's nightmare!
Since the dream characters are projected by the minds of sleepers, they technically aren't ghosts, and only
disintegrate when zapped by a proton stream. They really took advantage of this premise to feature a lot of
really silly stuff. I love the mop-topped snail, the garbage can periscope (dionaga?) and the whole weird little
troop following the Sandman around.
Ray Stanz has a hard time blasting one of these nightmares, even when it threatens to smash the Ecto-1.
When we're actually shown the comic for a moment, it's delightfully absurd. Is the monster screaming
"MOMMEE HEP ME HEP ME?" That sure is an intense "GOSH!," too.