The Dweller in recurring childhood dream

I just finished reading the Astral Dynamics book and was struck with this description of "The Dweller" as exactly matching this character that terrorized my childhood dreams. But the book only said it appears to test people trying to do an OBE so I was wondering if anyone ever saw it in a normal dream? Any ideas why it triggered when I was a kid? Has anyone else seen it like that?

Dream description:
I'd be dreaming in the backyard with an overcast sky. I turned and the monster was under the clothesline and staring at me. It was humanoid and the darkest black, but looked like it was melting. It had these glowing, red eyes and as it looked at me I felt like the purest evil had "got me" and I would never get away and that "blood running cold" feeling deep through me. I'd always turn and run for the gate out of the yard and time would go in slo-mo, the yard would stretch longer as I ran so I'd never reach the gate to get out. Then a grid of rectangular pits would appear in the ground, making it even harder to step. If I looked back it was just still as a statue though, it never moved or did anything no matter how far the yard stretched. Eventually dream would fade away as I woke up.

It recurred several times when I was a kid, but not commonly, probably spaced out by months or a couple of years, as I grew older, it stopped happening. It wasn't a lucid dream or anything, just an unusually vivid nightmare. I'm very glad for this book as now I know what it's called, but also kind of wish it had stayed forgotten.