How much stock do you put into inrepretation of dreams?

I have a lot of vivid and bizarre dreams.  Actually most of the dreams I have are bizarre.  So much so that I have started keeping a journal of my dreams.  If I wake from a particularly vivid and bizarre dream that I can remember, I immediately write it down.  In going through my journal recently, I found that I had the same dream over the span three months.  The dream was about an old house in Dogpatch, Arkansas that my great aunt had lived in.  I haven't been to that house in over 30 years.  Because I had the same dream repeatedly, I decided to search for answers myself.  So this summer at a family reunion in Branson, MO, my mom and I took a day to travel across the state line into Arkansas in search of the house.  We did not find it.  We think it must be gone because we were fairly certain we were in the right place.  Now I'm even more confused as to why I would have such a dream.

So now I'm curious about dreams.  Do they have meaning or are they just random thoughts that mean nothing?  My reason for asking is last night I had another bizarre dream that I wrote down.  This one was about a demon that was following me.  Not possessing me, but just following me and bothering me.  I can hear viscious snarling and growling and I feel terrified.  Other people would fight the demon for me and exile the demon to a chamber in a house I didn't recognize.  But still part of the demon is with me.  In my dream, an African-American lady approaches me and says to me that demon will never leave me alone unless I face it and help defeat.  That I can't hide while everyone else fights the demon for me.  Then I wake up.

So obviously this dream was disturbing and I'm wondering what it could mean.  Maybe it's just my own insanity, but I'm bothered by the idea of a "demon" following me.  Any layperson interpretations anyone care to share?