(sidenote before I begin: Its my 100th post )
I have thought of this idea for a while and dont think of it as necessarily true but rather a possible explanation as to why we have some of the dreams that we do.

I think when we enter a dream state we are suceptible to energies that for the most part we are unable to feel/see when in the waking state. Once we enter the dream state we can play host to these energies and depending on our personal experience/ability we have the ability to block out certain negative energies and let positive ones in. Just as in this reality I would think positive and negative energies exist in this astral/dream one.

First off, the emotions we generate in the dream state I would think anyone would consider very real. Sometimes we wake up afraid, sad, guilty, happy, etc...

My proposal is: What if these energies somehow feed off of emotions we generate in our dreams; fear, confusion, anger, sadness, love, happiness? Or friendly/intelligent energies without an appetite are just trying to give us a warning, knowledge, or truth through dreams? Just as one here in the physical plane would prefer; beef to chicken, rice to potatoes, vegetables to fruit, or if one isnt hungry: maybe want to help out someone in need. I have experienced on multiple occasions that when I have weird dreams and I reach lucidity most of the DC's get either angry or try relentlessly to convince me of it not being a dream, which leads me to think- 'Was this initial dream really generated from me or was I used as a tool in order to simulate/create something?'. As a dog would get angry if it were interupted during its meal, these dream characters also sometimes get irritated at the fact I now have control over my emotions and am no longer generating the emotion the original dream was initially created for: thus cutting off their potential food source (whatever that emotion was). I think, we all know some 'emotional vampires' in the real world who prey off of others emotions. Who is to say they dont exist in the astral/dream world? Whether it was a horror dream trying to elicit fear/confusion, or a wonderful dream trying to show me some sort of happiness/love- all of the DC's personas change once lucidity is obtained. I generally tire of them, ignore them and practice my lucid task, fight them if they turn agressive, change the dream entirely to what I want (my patented: scenery curtain pull), or try and see what their intent is and whether they know its a dream or not, which they always utterly deny no matter what evidence I show them to the contrary (Flying, Energy balls, etc).

I haven't fully reached a conclusion as to what makes a dream it could all just be in our heads, but I am open to what anyone thinks, any thoughts?