Think I've had four or five of these in the past year. In two of them the elevator shot up like a rocket, in the others it went into a terrifying free fall. The overwhelming sensation when it happens, apart from the extreme g-forces I feel as I'm plummeting or ascending, is a very vivid thought that "oh my god, I can't believe this is happening to me now, I'm actually going to perish in a few seconds." They're almost lucid in their realism. There's always other people in the elevator and they start panicking too. That feeling of utter horror stays with me for hours after I wake. And what makes it worse is that in my job I'm up and down in elevators all day, sometimes up to the 60th/70th floor. Some of them rattle like crazy, some of them scrape against the sides at certain points of the ride, and after having one of these dreams I'm on edge every time the door closes and the car starts up. Hope I'm not going to end up with an elevator phobia like my friend who always has to use the stairs. 
 
I'm not sure I believe all the baloney written about dream interpretation. I looked this one up online and sure enough, the predictable stuff about how subconsciously, I feel that my life is spiraling out of control etc. Could they be more predictable? I don't think I feel like that at all, even subconsciously. 
 
Secretly though, I love all dreams even when they're terrifying. I've dreamed full scale action movies with "plots" and everything. It just fascinates me how my brain comes up with this stuff when I'm asleep. I even used to enjoy the nuclear war dreams I had as a kid. 
 
 

I could tell you exactly what it means, but I don't want to scare the crap out of ya. 
 

craigb
I could tell you exactly what it means, but I don't want to scare the crap out of ya. 
 

You're all fur coat and no knickers!

sharke

craigb
I could tell you exactly what it means, but I don't want to scare the crap out of ya. 
 

You're all fur coat and no knickers!

You say that like it's a bad thing! 

I'm all duffle coat and no sock garters!
 

I don't buy into a universal key to dreams and symbols. The same image often conveys completely different emotions for different people, depending on tons of factors. There's also a lot more to dreams than only symbols - the same image may be trying to convey different things depending on the place it occupies in your dream.
 
More often than not, we are tempted to read our dreams in the most flattering ways, to find in them something which speaks to our pride, whereas more often than not, our dreams are there to bring into light the exact opposite side of us, the one we don't want to acknowledge. Too easy an interpretation is likely to be questionable.
 
My own recurring dreams involve planes and flying objects, hanging menacingly heavy above my head, or coming to crash on me. They're often combined w/ other means of transport - a plane that crashes on my boat, a plane that crashes on a train I'm in, a plane that crashes on a plane I'm in...
 
Did I mention hate planes?

I even wrote a song called "planes keep on crashing on my head" at one point, which, incidentally, helped me get rid of the dreams for years. 
 
 

For the record, there is NO universal key to dreams.  Some guidelines, but those only make sense when compared with the entire experience of the person having the dream!
 
That said, you should still try to figure 'em out 'cause it's your subconscious mind trying to tell you something using the only language it knows.

In my expert opinion, the elevator shaft represents the female genitalia and the fact that you are inside of the elevator suggests you are a woman trapped in a man’s body.

Rain

I even wrote a song called "planes keep on crashing on my head" at one point, which, incidentally, helped me get rid of the dreams for years. 
 
 

Didn't B. J. Thomas have a hit on that one????
 

quantumeffect
In my expert opinion, the elevator shaft represents the female genitalia and the fact that you are inside of the elevator suggests you are a woman trapped in a man’s body.

LOL!!

 
Another Dr. Ruth in the making??