Can creatures trigger distressing memories?

So fantasy creatures or characters from films, computer games, books, etc.

It is true that you cannot sleep well after seeing certain creatures, for example from computer games.

There are also many creatures and characters that you don't have any problems with.

Could psychologically stressful experiences be the cause?

Example scenario:

• Person XY plays an RPG
• Person XY does the same dungeon for days to level up
• Dungeon XY also has a boss

• For example, the flaming pudding that person XY is always fighting against.
• Until now, person XY was always able to sleep well afterwards when it was just before going to sleep.
• On the 10th day, person XY has a stressful experience, which is not good for person XY and also fights against the flame pudding that day, but not directly before going to sleep and the last fight was hours before
• The next day or sometime later, person XY fights against the flame pudding before going to bed
• Person XY cannot sleep because the stressful experience in question is triggered, even if the flaming pudding itself has nothing to do with it.

What do you think? What are your experiences? This could also happen with completely harmless enemies, for example, ones that don't look scary at all.

Do you have something like that, where you can't sleep or have nightmares when you do something specific in a computer game that triggers a certain experience that you also had that day.