I’ve got the waking up halfway through your sleep cycle thing down pat as I have to take me g/f to work in the mornings and I work nights. 
Anywho, whenever I get Lucid, I find that some freaky stuff starts to happen. I’ve had my girlfriends face melt, somebody whisper my name clear as a bell, and sometimes I can see through my eyes, but still be lucid and can feel me moving my arms but I can’t see them moving. 
This leads me to a state of being freaked out, adrenalin pumpin, and my natural response to freaky dreams is to wake myself up. 
Any tips on getting that freaky factor down a notch or two? It’s all so real. 
Im new to lucid dreaming, but if you just try to remind yourself that it’s a dream and you are in control so nothing can harm you, it should help you to relax in the dream; and if you realise you’re about to wake up and don’t want to, the spinning thing really does work.
That’s exactly right Josephine. Reminding yourself that you are dreaming can help you stay calm and lucid. I also like to anchor my dreams by using the prolonging techniques ( rubbing your hands together, spinning, looking at the ground etc. ) as soon as I become lucid.
Also, being lucid in a dream can take some time to get used to. Don’t worry you will improve as you have more lucid dreams.
Happy dreaming
I guess maybe im a weirdo, but I like that feeling and go with it. Fear in dreams is so different, its hard to explain. Like sometimes when I have an OBE not meaning to, the sense of fear and body tingling lets me know im dreaming and its ok, so i go with it.