I started lucid dreaming a few years ago and then gave it up abruptly after a frightening experience. Almost from the first I could control the dreams but in one dream I was walking from the house that I had created to a barn outside on the property. As I approached the huge barn doors I made a conscious decision to "be surprised" by what I found inside. Without going into tremendous detail, as first the experience and the imagery I encountered was very rich and interesting but quickly took on a rather sinister quality. I realize in hind sight that at that point I should have resumed control but I panicked and abruptly woke myself up. Since then I have been afraid to try lucid dreaming again because I'm not sure what happened. I would like to know what mechanism comes into play when one releases control in a lucid dream? Is it simply the subconscious that takes back over control as it does in a regular non-lucid dream?

I appreciate any insight you can provide.