“We thought we had a ghost living in the bathroom.” Inspired by The Diary of Anne Frank, Neutral Milk Hotel's 1998 album In The Aeroplane Over The Sea was acclaimed as one of the '90s finest records. Then its creator disappeared

“We thought we had a ghost living in the bathroom.” Inspired by The Diary of Anne Frank, Neutral Milk Hotel's 1998 album In The Aeroplane Over The Sea was acclaimed as one of the '90s finest records. Then its creator disappeared

As a child, Jeff Mangum experienced recurring lucid dreams – nightmares, really – of a bomb hurtling towards him. He’d always manage to wake himself up right before it hit, but in the morning light his hands felt huge and the bed seemed as hard as concrete. In others, he’d see spirits moving through walls or giant bugs crawling on the floor. One time, in a hotel in Amarillo, Texas, he realised he’d been sleepwalking and came to while standing on…