Sleep Paralysis Stories: Demons Or Hallucinations?

image of a classical painting representing sleep paralysis

Sleep paralysis stories typically involve unusual and frightening experiences. Perhaps you have one or two of these disturbing tales of your own to tell.

If not, I’ll first share one of mine to give you an understanding of what it can be like.

Then we’ll take a closer look at whether sleep paralysis demons or ghosts really exist. Or if science can provide a logical and comforting explanation.

My sleep paralysis experience

Imagine the following scenario: it’s been a long day, you go to bed later than usual and fall asleep quickly through sheer exhaustion.

But instead of waking up peacefully in the morning, you half wake in the middle of the night. And in the darkness of your bedroom, it slowly dawns on you that you can’t move your body…and that someone, or something, is watching you.

A weight pushing on your chest

You feel a weight on your chest, pressing you down and preventing you from sitting up. And not only is your whole body paralyzed, but you can’t so much as move your lips to call out for help.

You’re not sure who or what is pushing on your chest. Even though you seem to be able to move your eyes just a little, it’s too dark to see anyway. Regardless, you just feel that there’s a presence there. Something strange. Something frightening.

This happened to me last year and was a very unsettling experience. Fortunately, there was no demon, ghost or burglar in my bedroom.

After a minute’s panic, the feeling passed. And I was then able to stumble to the bathroom to make sure my face wasn’t decorated with demonic symbols. It was a classic case of sleep paralysis.

What is sleep paralysis?

Recurrent isolated sleep paralysis is classified as a parasomnia, which is a group of sleep disorders involving unwanted behaviors that accompany sleep.

The main symptom is being awake and unable to move your body. It might also be accompanied by hallucinations or dreams/nightmares whilst still awake.

It typically lasts from a few seconds to a few minutes before movement is regained. And although it may feel like it at the time, it’s not believed by medical organizations to be harmful.

What causes it?

The exact reason for why it happens to some people and only on some nights isn’t known. However, scientists do have a theory about what goes on during sleep paralysis.

During the night, you cycle through different sleep stages. When you enter the REM stage of sleep, your brain stops your muscles from moving – known as REM atonia. One explanation for this atonia is that it prevents injury from acting out your dreams in bed.

During sleep paralysis, the atonia starts, or continues, while you’re awake. And during this time, you might also experience what’s known as sleep hallucinations, or dreams while you’re awake.

So your body and brain are temporarily out of sync while transitioning between sleep stages, potentially creating a frightening experience.

As Dr. Michael J. Breus neatly explains:

Sleep scientists believe that sleep paralysis may occur when the transitions in and out of REM sleep and other sleep stages don’t go smoothly.

How many people experience sleep paralysis?

Sleep paralysis stories like mine are surprisingly common. In 2011, researchers aggregated 35 sleep paralysis studies to find out how many people had experienced it at least once in the past year, finding:

  • 7.6% of the general population
  • 28.3% of students
  • 31.9% of psychiatric patients

And according to the handbook of sleep disorders, it will happen at least once in a lifetime of 40% to 50% of normal subjects, but is “far less common as a chronic complaint”.

Who is more at risk of having sleep paralysis?

Scientists might not know the precise reason only some people have sleep paralysis yet, but there are a growing number of risk factors becoming apparent.

For example, researchers who analyzed 42 studies found several risk factors and associated conditions:

  • Sleep problems, changing sleep patterns and shift work.
  • Sleep disorders such as narcolepsy, obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia and nocturnal leg cramps.
  • Stress.
  • Some psychiatric groups, particularly those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety and panic disorders.
  • Substance and medication use.
  • Physical illness.
  • Personality and anomalous beliefs.

Is there a genetic component to sleep paralysis?

In 2015, British researchers published a study of 862 twins and siblings aged between 22 and 32. They did find some evidence of a genetic role, but only a small one:

In this sample of young adults, sleep paralysis was moderately heritable

Interestingly, they also found other independent risk factors, including:

  • Disrupted sleep cycles
  • General sleep quality
  • Anxiety symptoms
  • Exposure to threatening events

Polls – readers’ experience of sleep paralysis

I polled readers of this article for a year to find out what kind of sleep paralysis episodes they had.

Note that it’s likely that many people who search online about it will have had the more frightening episodes, skewing the results.

But they still provide a fascinating insight into what people experience and how they cope.

Poll 1

In poll 1, the most common episode was thinking there was a demon or other being in the room.

chart showing the results of my poll about the type of sleep paralysis experiences people have

Poll 2

Poll 2 shows that many readers find sleep paralysis terrifying. Again, those who search online for it are likely to have found it particularly disturbing.

chart of poll results for how scared people are during sleep paralysis

Poll 3

Poll 3 shows that many readers first experienced sleep paralysis during adolescence.

chart with poll results about the age people first have sleep paralysis

Poll 4

Poll 4 shows that most readers don’t experience sleep paralysis on a regular basis. 

chart showing poll results about how often people have sleep paralysis

Poll 5

Poll 5 shows some of the ways readers deal with episodes. You’ll find more coping mechanisms below.

chart showing the results of the poll about techniques for stopping sleep paralysis

The not so scientific explanations for sleep paralysis

image of a woman floating above the bed

Since first writing this article several years ago, there has been an extraordinary number of comments. And the comments show that not everyone accepts the scientific explanation.

Interestingly, some people struggle to accept it even though they consider themselves to be scientifically minded generally. I think these cases highlight just how realistic the experience of sleep paralysis can be; how it can linger in your memory and makes you question what happened for a long time afterward.

The possibility of demons, ghosts, spiritual beings, and aliens all crop up from time to time in the comments too. And while many people accept their experiences as hallucinations or dreams, some people choose to believe another explanation – that those entities are real.

Despite these beliefs, there’s one clear theme: nothing bad ever actually happens, other than being frightened and perhaps losing some sleep after an episode.

Around the world

Cultural beliefs also appear to play a role in how sleep paralysis is perceived by some people.

In Fiji, for example, the demon is sometimes seen as a deceased relative coming back to discuss an important or unfinished matter.

In Chinese folklore, it’s also seen as a ghost rather than a demon or intruder.

Some people in Iran and Pakistan interpret it as demons or spirits taking over your body. This could be due to black magic performed by an enemy.

The common theme is that the entity is usually something to be feared. I’m yet to find a culture which believes it’s a friendly creature!

Sleep paralysis treatment

When to see a doctor

Fortunately, most people don’t experience sleep paralysis very often, and no treatment is usually required.

However, if the following apply to you, it’s a good idea to speak to your doctor:

  • It happens regularly.
  • You’re anxious about sleep paralysis and going to sleep.
  • You don’t get enough sleep.
  • You feel very sleepy during the day, sometimes fall asleep suddenly or lose control of your muscles.

What medical treatment is available?

If you see a doctor, they might take the following action:

  • Refer you to a sleep specialist to assess if you have another sleep disorder, like narcolepsy.
  • Treat any underlying psychiatric condition.
  • Discuss any medication or substance use that might be a factor.
  • Explain the biological processes involved in sleep paralysis to reassure you.
  • Talk to you about developing good sleep habits. This is thought to help reduce the frequency of sleep paralysis.

Readers’ techniques for coping with sleep paralysis

Over the years, many readers have described how they cope with sleep paralysis, and I’ve created a list of the most frequent ideas below.

The first seven in the list are also suggested by sleep experts. The rest are a mix of personal opinions. Please bear in mind that none are guaranteed to work:

  • Don’t let yourself become too sleep-deprived.
  • Stick to a regular sleep schedule.
  • Try to reduce stress and anxiety in your life.
  • Try to vigorously flutter your eyelids or move your eyes, as this tends to be an area of the body that’s less affected by the paralysis.
  • Focus on wiggling just one finger or a toe.
  • Don’t take recreational drugs or drink alcohol in the evening.
  • Don’t sleep on your back.
  • Stay calm.
  • Tell yourself that you’re in control. You can order the experience to stop.
  • If you feel a weight on your chest, imagine there’s something friendly causing it.
  • Film yourself sleeping so you can see there was nothing in the room.
  • Don’t think about what it could be. Your imagination will probably make up something scary in the darkness.
  • Organize your bedroom in a way that makes you feel safe and secure.
  • Don’t hang dressing gowns, coats, or hats in places that make them look like figures in the dark.
  • Sleep with a night light, music, or radio on.
  • Remind yourself that nothing bad will happen.
  • Imagine your body rolling from side to side in your mind and count each roll. Focus on this and try to grow the capacity for movement from there.
  • Count numbers to focus your mind on something else.
  • Don’t sleep with a high pillow.
  • Keep your eyes shut and try to clear your mind.
  • Squeeze your eyes tightly shut if you can control the muscles.
  • Keep well hydrated – drink water before going to bed.
  • Talk about it to family or friends – they may have experienced it too.
  • If you have it once, get out of bed for a while to reset the brain.
  • Many people say prayer helps. Some also say that calling on their religious beliefs and commanding what they see to leave helps them.
  • Check if any sleeping pills or herbal remedies you’re taking are causing it.
  • Use sleep paralysis to lucid dream by relaxing and going with the experience instead of fighting it.
  • Once the episode has passed, tell yourself that you overcame it, are not afraid and will always overcome it.

How I recently stopped an episode of sleep paralysis

I successfully used two of the above techniques to stop a recent episode of sleep paralysis.

I woke to find myself in a strange position with my arms crossed on top of my body. And I could literally feel strong hands pinning my wrists to my chest.

I have to admit I was immediately petrified. The whole event was blurry, and I think I was having some dream overlap, but can’t remember exactly what now.

Stay calm and wiggle a finger

Two things sprung to mind after a moment of panic: stay calm and try to wiggle a finger.

The calmness I only managed with moderate success. But I did manage to focus my efforts on moving a finger. It felt quite odd – like my fingers were wiggling in different directions!

Eventually, I felt my arms loosen as well, and soon afterward I was able to shake the whole sensation away as I regained full control.

I then spent a few minutes doing some breathing exercises to ground myself and calm down, and then fell asleep again.

I think just knowing about the finger wiggling technique was enough for me to remember it when the sleep paralysis occurred.

Share your story of sleep paralysis

Have you had sleep paralysis? What happened, and do you have any suggestions to help others deal with it?

Please feel free to share your experience in the comments below.

3,365 Comments

  1. I have been dealing with this for years. Usually, I just see a black figure moving towards me or on my chest… I managed it for years… BUT last night was way too real. I am very disturbed. I felt my bed move like someone was getting into it. Then I saw like a werewolf creature with red eyes (I have never seen a face before). I felt the whiskers on my face…I said in my mind ” I am not scared of you.” It replied ” You should be”.
    I am terrified.

  2. I have hypnagogic wHere I hear or see things before I fall asleep, sometimes its random pictures or chatter, voices I don’t know in conversation. It doesn’t happen every night it can come and go. Last night 11/11/19 as I was falling asleep this voice started talking saying sentences but I couldn’t quite hear them but the voice was really horrible sounded evil and nasty and whatever it was saying I didn’t want to hear then I fell asleep. When I fell asleep I was cuddling a hoodie as I recently broke up with my ex I woke suddenly in the middle of the night and felt like I was being strangled and the arm of his hoodie was resting across my throat.
    I can’t remember anything that I was dreaming about but that has really spooked me.

    • I’ve suffered from sleep paralysis. I’ve had some really dark things that happened to me. But I’ve become stronger as a person and Pray. I still suffer from it but not in the same way. I feel myself drifting off and not really having control. I feel things right next to me in the bed and hear things walking around in the room. But I don’t fear and I don’t care. I know I will get out of it. This usually happens to me on my days off. When I nap. I dream too And they’re not scary dreams, but they’re very vivid dreams. I can still hear everything that’s going on in the room at the same time. Pray and read the book of Ephesians! DO NOT drink alcohol, smoke, take meds etc… they weaken our spirt.

  3. I had one earlier this morning prior to waking up. I felt like a presence was holding me down by my hair in the bed. I couldn’t move and that’s when I starting shouting ” JESUS”. At 1st no sound came from my mouth. Until I could hear myself the grip on my head loosen. I woke yelling Jesus repeatedly!! It freaked me out so bad.

      • I get them very frequently. About twice a night a few days a week. I’ve learned to control the moving process and snap out of it in seconds. But it’s still an unsettling occurrence, even tho I know it’s not harming me physically.

  4. I have had this from a very young age, maybe as young as 5 and it has always been teamed with bad dreams and hallucinations. Until I was about 22 (6 years ago) , since then I for a while had gotten it much more often and really stopped going to sleep I was so terrified, sometimes being sleeping for as little as a few minutes after being up for hours and getting quite bad episodes. I noticed after meeting my new partner and I became much happier in my life they calmed so much that I almost lost them completely. My best advice is to make sure to manage stress and mental illness, go to sleep with meditation music, or whatever you find calming and go to sleep not on your back with something like a stress ball in your hand that you can use to move your fingers and eventually your whole body. The reason I chose to write this today is I have had a stressful week and feeling anxious teamed with alcohol. It meant this morning after a few mins of going back to sleep, after 30 mins of being awake, I had quite an experience of being wrapped up and dragged out my bed and through the hallway and woke out it shouting, however learning to cope better the feeling of fear left very quickly.

  5. Im 42 today and never knew what sleep paralysis was until recently. I’ve had this terror in my teens at its worst at 17-19 years of age. After some research it probably has a lot to do with all the stress I’ve gone through due to my parents’ divorce, mom always yelling, family drama, etc. Sleep apnea if it is was extremely frightening. Where most people looked forward to going to bed it was the opposite. The scariest part of my episodes were when I was asleep my conscious mind would awaken me to let me know I’m going to get attacked soon so I would lay on my bed curled up just waiting and praying to God. I literally feel its presence slowly taking over my body attacking for a good minute. Then as it slowly came through it slowly exits. I during my episode I cannot move a single muscle; hear; talk; murmur a single sound. I was always paralyzed until it was ready to leave. I don’t know what the hell that was really but it’s comforting to know that I wasn’t the only one that went through this terror attack. And I thank God that I no longer have to deal with them. If you are going through this embrace God, say a prayer and I promise you will be okay.

    • Yep!! The only thing we can do is work to master the fear and start to control the experience. Easier said than done but I believe fear IS our worst enemy here. Meditation and working with ayahuasca has completely altered these experiences for me though they still happen I am now an active participant rather than a passive victim and still working on it!

      • Prayer has been my only relief during the feeling of terror and that something evil is holding me down. I’ve noticed I only have these paralysis moments after a night of binge drinking.
        Hope this helps.

  6. I am just facing this situation right now, and since I’m a bit scared to go back to sleep I just start using my mobile to research this.

    Around 2 am I had a dream like somebody is holding my hands close to my chest very tightly where I could not even move, I normally believe it’s a ghost so I’m trying to call out my parents, my lips are moving but there is no sound coming out. Finally after a minute I was back to normal and everything seems to be fine.

    I am experiencing this for the 3rd time, normally I used to go to bed before 11 pm but last night I slept by 12:30am, so such kind of experience is only because of sleep timing????

    • To Vicram on Nov 4th
      Hey, I would say that sorting a more regular sleep pattern will help you, but try avoid lying on your back for the reason of the ‘pinning’ feeling. I noticed that even now the automatic response is to try try and shout out however I have felt that just concentrating on moving a finger or toe will help move a limb and then the body becomes loose again much quicker. Like in the movie Kill Bill “wiggle your big toe”

      • I’m so glad to be reading all your comments, my first time Googling this & surprised me I’m not alone with this.
        I’ve just woke up from one this morning, probably my most scariest one yet, it always happens on a morning when I’ve been awake then go back to sleep afterwards, I firstly feel like someone has sat at the end of the bed then I feel them more up the bed next to me, I feel the pressure of them moving on the bed alongside me it’s terrifying, my body freezes & I feel like I’m shouting but no sound coming out, but this one I felt the Thing pass through my body which I’ve not experienced until this morning, I could feel my body was so tight & tensed & heart racing, then I slowly woke up with actually hearing my voice groan with fear. I couldn’t go back to sleep after that. I’ve never told anyone these, as it does sound weird, & I then I think omg was it a ghost. I do hate getting these dreams, you can never tell which morning it will come.

        • I just had an experience more similar to yours than anyone else’s I’ve read so far. I woke up bc I felt something crawl into my bed and basically hold my left shoulder down, and while this happened I opened my right eye slowly and I saw a figure sitting at the end of my bed looking at me as I’m almost entirely immovable. I was able to kick my right foot around and I realized my kicks were going through the figure. This was my first sleep paralysis experience and it seems to be way more intense than the majority of the ones I’ve read.

          • Lately, i have these weird dreams but they are so real like if i am awake, i feel something is on the bed cause of the pressure on the mattress, followed by being grabbed violently and sometimes strangled with my own arms that are wrapped around my neck by force. I got out of it by biting “it” and scream like a little baby, i am a 55 year old male but after reading all these comments here i don’t feel ashamed anymore.

  7. I haven’t had a full terror/paralysis episode in a few years.
    Had them on and off since I was a child.
    Since then, I have practiced lucid dreaming and managed to direct my dreams or fight the menace.
    In my dreams, I protect my house with magic spells and conjuring.
    I also sometimes fight what is threatening with weapons or magic.
    It varies. It is my dream so I can use whatever tools will work.
    The other night, I dreamed I had driven away, something that was attacking me and was checking the house afterward.
    I reached out to check to make sure the lock on the bedroom door was
    secure and as I grabbed the knob, it shook violently and I knew that something evil had hold of the doorknob from the other side.
    I half-woke in my dark bedroom and couldn’t move and I could still hear the knob on the door shaking.
    It took what seemed like hours before I could open my eyes fully and though I couldn’t hear the doorknob shaking any longer, I could still feel an evil presence.
    I finally was able to move and sat up in bed with my heart pounding and sweating profusely.
    I quickly turned on the light and tried to snap out of the fear.
    I then thought, what if someone has broken into the house and that caused me to wake up and hear the knob rattling?
    So I grabbed my Glock (I was a Law Enforcement Officer for years) and proceeded to clear the house and yard at 3:00AM to make sure I hadn’t really heard an actual burglary attempt.
    Everything was fine, but I was not able to sleep again until dawn as I could not shake the fear.
    As a former cop, I have never felt fear like that in my life.
    And I was in some real life-threatening situations.
    I have also been in 4 hurricanes…
    Nothing is close to the kind of terror that this generates.
    To the people posting here, don’t be ashamed to admit to the fear.
    It is quite real.

  8. I have had sleep paralysis on many occasions since the age of 12 and I’m 18 now. I remember not being able to move or make noises. Sometimes I would feel something in my room but I couldn’t see it. It would pull me very slowly and I would try so hard to open my eyes or make a noise. Somehow I managed to move my fingers or toes and I would wake up.
    On other occasions, I would float out of my body. Like I could feel my spirit leaving my body and I could see my body while I was up on the ceiling.
    The night before I turned 14 I had terrifying sleep paralysis. I couldn’t move as usual. However there was a clock in my room and I heard a voice say something like “today is the day” or “it’s gonna happen today” I can’t remember the exact words, but the point is the voice made it clear something was gonna happen on December 19. While the voice said this, the clock came into view. Except I didn’t have a clock in my room. That whole day I kept thinking about what the dream meant. As the day went by nothing happened. Then I started to think what if the voice mean a day like this, but not this year. The more I try to remember what the voice said, the more I forget. That night still scares me to this day. As I was writing my next experience I suddenly remembered what the voice said. It said “it’s gonna be okay”. But then I have second thoughts. I’m so sorry, I can’t remember.
    There was this other time when I was so tired that I decide to take a nap on the couch in the living room. It was around 12 pm and I was alone in the house. I fell asleep and I remember feeling a man standing right by the couch looking down at me. I wanted to open my eyes and look, but I was so tired I decided to let it go or I simply could look. Somehow I managed to wake up and decided to go sleep in my room. So I go to my room and lock the door( I think) and sleep. Then I felt the same presence. A figure standing by my bed. It was looking down on me. I couldn’t open my eyes but I was 99% sure it was a black figure. I could move no matter how hard I fought to open my eyes.
    There was this night where I had a “dream”. The dream was short and to the point. I was laying on this table being pushed by 2 or 4 figures. I remember feeling drowsy and I had a quick view. The setting looked like a white mini hall, which is weird because the house i lived in was a white mini hall. The light was dim( also like the one in my house). The figures had suits on like the ones that pass on movies where the people wear orange suits when dealing with unknown substances and stuff. It was very quick like a 5 second or less thing. This wasn’t like sleep paralysis because I didn’t wake up right after this but I sometimes think it’s more than a dream. Nowadays I don’t get sleep paralysis often because I have these 2 crosses in my room. And my Virgen de Guadalupe protects me( I’m Catholic)

    • I have very similar experiences with my spirit leaving my body and floating. I never really come across people with that happening to them along with the paralysis. I’ve been experiencing this for over 15 yrs now, I’m 34. I also feel a presence is around and have seen it a time or two myself. It’s very scary, and often wonder why me?! But I guess it’s just something we have to deal with. Just a quick tip that helps me (along with prayer) clenching my teeth and moving my lips usually helps me snap out of it pretty fast. I hope it helps.

      • I have had these experiences first back about 8 years ago in a house that I feel was haunted as other unexplained things happened. Then the feeling after I fell asleep was that someone was lying on top of me pressing me down. I was half awake half asleep and trying to call out to my partner in the other room but no words would come out.
        Two days ago I had the experience again. This time the entity was lifting me up and there was a mist around the floor like a ghost.
        I trying to scream but I couldn’t then eventually I must have moaned because my partner asked what was wrong.

        Next time I will try the tips and prayer.

      • This happened to me a while ago. I was taking an afternoon nap. I was lying on the right side of my body. I tried to wake up. couldn’t move. I felt my spirit leaving my body and it was floating in the air. It was so strange.

      • Same here. My spirit can see myself laying there, not able to move or communicate. I feel heavy, have never seen anything or anything holding me down. Thank goodness or I would probably freak. This website is really a blessing. Thanks for advice.

    • I’m scared and having it now. Tonight was my first experience. My sister, mother and myself were eating dinner and I saw my sister kept looking to her left so I asked her and she said she’d tell me after dinner. She told me she saw a person in a white flowy dress and saw the end of their hair was brown and curly like hers. I freaked out even though she thought it was her guardian angel I am still scared of the fact of an unknown person watching us. So tonight they went shopping and I was alone for a bit, I slept because I was scared for about 3 hours. When I went to bed at about 2 (because I was too scared and awake to sleep) I drifted off and as I started to sleep I got goosebumps and everything around me started to feel like it was spinning while a scary evil ‘women’ voice started to appear. I got a dry throat and I was laying on my side so felt no weight – even though it lasted like 4 – 6 seconds I’m terrified… please reply. I need advice

  9. I have them about twice a month my 5 year old son as well. My son has night terrors, that’s what the doctor calls them. My son sees demons and the man in a black top hat. I never have seen the man in the top hat. But from demons, people I have never seen before, my ex-wife doing weird stuff, blue looking figures that looked humanoids. Just straight up weird stuff. I have heard noises such as and old lady cackling, low voice saying you will never get rid of me, hissing noises like a snake. I have had on several occasions have seen cats in most of my sleep paralysis a recent one was of a grey cat. I wondered how it got my house but then as per the cat the growl was so low it freaks me out like out of a horror film. Some people say they can’t move, at times I am able to. But it’s so real that it gets really bad PTSD them. I don’t believe is just the sleep problem but a demonic attack. Because I would say Jesus save me and whatever it was released me from it. A therapist thinks I’m crazy half the time. My girlfriend had seen me have a seizure-like episodes. I do get scared so bad that I don’t want to sleep at night. If I hear a tv shishing like the old tube TVs when off-air I try to shake it off the best I can.

    • Hi, I get sleep paralysis all the time as well. I also believe it’s more of a paranormal thing than just having a sleep disorder. But I think what you should do is get into the practice of meditation. I don’t know what your religious beliefs are but I know that meditation is good for the body and mind. I had to get into the practice of meditation because I was getting sleep paralysis on the regular. There were months where I would get it almost every day. I would feel fatigue throughout the day. It was horrible. But another reason why sleep paralysis happens is that sometimes our energy (soul) is not at a higher vibration/frequency so it allows an entity or “demon” a doorway to wake us up or touch us while we are sleeping. Causing us to have sleep paralysis or serious nightmares or just nights where you just suddenly wake up and can’t fall back asleep. Meditation will help your soul/energy be in a higher vibration so entities won’t be able to touch you or bother you. I hope my information helped you. If you have any questions please let me know.

  10. I just experienced SP last night, hadn’t experienced it in a couple of years. I was lying on my back after waking up around 4 am and not being able to fall back asleep. I guess I had started to fall asleep and awoke to the sound of someone’s footsteps walking from the hallway into my bedroom. It was a man’s figure he was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and I couldn’t see his face it was blurry. At first, I only heard the man walking towards me because I couldn’t move my head to see him to the right of me standing next to my bed. He came so close and I kept trying to scream or say “go away” I attempted to reach for my cell on my nightstand next to my bed but couldn’t move. All I felt was dread. He started to move his arm toward me as if to touch me just with an index finger all happening slow motion and I just kept trying to say “go away” and then all of a sudden I was able to look up at it and it started backing away slowing backward into the hallways out of my bedroom. I guess that’s when I fully woke up and just stared into the darkness. After that I kept having similar dreams but somewhat altered and kept thinking in my mind no this is a dream I don’t have that bedroom furniture or this isn’t real I don’t have that color carpet.

  11. I was dreaming about a nightmare, of a man throwing himself off of a bridge. I remember in my dream that I kept looking around and to the faces of the people I took that situation. This was the phase of REM. Two seconds later, I hear this noise like a high pitch frequency increasing in hertz. Everything turned white for a split second. Later I realized I was in my room and every single muscle was frozen besides my eyes. I looked around and I tried to get up. But there was some type of force pressing on my chest. It was getting harder for me to breath so I began to panic even more. Next thing I know, I was in the episode of sleep paralysis, for sure; I was terrified. I tried to wiggle my fingers, as it was a recommendation to break from the sleep paralysis episode, but that didn’t work. I felt my phone in my hand, though. I used all my force I had to try and activate Siri which also activated a vibration. I thought this would wake my body up. And it did, surprisingly. I could finally move my body, but after that experience, I didn’t want to. I stayed in my bed, in the same position as I was in my sleep paralysis episode for about an hour. I was just completely paranoid. I was getting sleepy as I was just laying there doing nothing, but I didn’t want to sleep because I felt like I was going to have another episode. About another hour passed, and my eyes began to close slowly. The same high frequency noise and white flash simultaneously acted. I immediately shook my whole body. I was about to enter another episode, but I gladly didn’t. I switched positions so I wouldn’t be pressed on my chest because that’s the position most sleep paralysis episodes occur in. This was the worst experience I’ve ever had in my bed.

  12. Starting at about the age of 4, I started having SP. I of course had no idea what it was at that time but throughout the years researching it I have no come to realize that is what it was. Mine were always the same. I would hear this very loud sound like rushing wind in my ears and my whole body would tingle and then go numb. Before long I would be looking down at myself sleeping. I would always try to will my body to move while looking down on it but it seemed so separate from me. While hovering over myself, I would always get a feeling of fear and dread. There was always a dark figure at the door beckoning me to come out to him. No audible speaking but telepathically. He wanted me to go out the door. Of course being a small child, I was terrified and would not go. This would make it angry and it’s almost like it would send these smaller entities to attack me. Dark inky things to come diving at me. It was truly terrifying. Still above my body I would will myself to scream or yell or move. This struggle would go on for what seemed like forever. I would finally be able to move my hand or my foot and at that moment I would rush from the ceiling and slam back in my body. I would shoot straight up gasping for air, cold, clammy and sweaty. It was horrible. This continued to happen to me throughout my whole childhood and into adulthood until I was 35 years old. The last time it happened, I decided to lay down on the couch at about 7 pm and ended up falling asleep. Since I had been experiencing this my entire life, I already knew what was happening as soon as I heard the loud wind tunnel effect in my ear. I was out of my body looking down. The room looked the same as it did when I laid down except for the hideous dark figure beckoning me as usual and black inky “things” coming at me and crawling and slinking all over the walls. This time was different though. I literally came down from the ceiling and knelt beside my body. I put my hands on my thigh…weird because I could feel my thigh with my out of body hand but my physical body could not feel my hand on it. Anyway, I started to pray. It was the first time I had ever prayed during an episode. As I prayed, the black “things” on the walls started getting angry. I could literally “feel” the anger and evil emanating from them. They started moving faster and their anger got worse the more I prayed. I prayed faster and more fervently and they grew even more angry. Next thing I know I slammed back in my body with the familiar gasping for air, sweaty, shaking and cold. I sat up and looked around and all was back to normal. After I fully woke up, I actually felt at peace. For the first time. That was the last time I ever had an episode and that was 12 years ago. Hopefully I never have another one but if I do, I know what to do to make it go away. Thank you for this page. I don’t tell too many people about my experience for obvious reasons.

  13. My first sleep paralysis episode happened when I was about 6, my bed would shake and someone underneath would yell at me if i moved. I continued to have terrifying episodes until we left that house when I got a little older. I’m now 23, and just within the past 2 years have my sp episodes returned, though a bit different. The first time it happened to me I woke up(or dreamt I woke up, I cant tell. The lines are so blurred) at about 3am. Was sleeping on my back. Suddenly I feel the covers being pulled off from the end of bed and the covers getting tight around my body. I remember being frozen still (honestly didn’t try to move bc I was so scared) and this intense feeling of dread, as if my spirit knew immediately who or what I was dealing with. I could see a bit but not very much, almost as if i was watching through my eyelids. I couldn’t make out who or what was standing at the foot of my bed, or if there was actually anything there. But after a few seconds my covers released and I came to and regained control of my body, was terrified to say the least. Did not go back to sleep.
    I’ve had several other experiences after this, all different. One time it was early in the morning, I felt awake but was frozen had not yet opened my eyes. I was hearing loud banging around my room, suddenly something jumped onto my bed, I could feel it walking around my head. I woke up with tears in my eyes and thought about calling my boyfriend, but told myself it was just sp and rolled over to my side and tried to go back to sleep. Next thing I know I’m frozen AGAIN and something yanks my hair back really hard. I wake up in a panic and call my boyfriend to come over.
    The most recent was mostly auditory. It was a mid afternoon nap on a sunday, me and my boyfriend were both napping together. He wakes up before me bc he had an errand to run, he woke me up to tell me he was leaving and that I needed to meet him somewhere in about 30 mins. I said okay and fell back asleep for probably about 10 mins. I told myself I needed to get up and when I tried I couldn’t move. I suddenly could hear everything in my room but it was like someone turned the volume up. My dripping shower sounded like a waterfall, my ceiling fan sounded like a hurricane. I could hear my boyfriend in the kitchen and I cried out to him for help. I could see, but everything was blurry almost as if looking underwater. My boyfriend comes into the room, sits on the edge of the bed, and asks if I’m okay, and I said “help me, I cant move”. His figure fades a bit and I hear my dad in the distance, coming up the stairs. My first instinct was to call out for him. I start to yell his name when I hear a voice from behind me say “that’s not your dad. Do not call out for him” I snapped back into reality scared out of my mind. Nobody was there, not even my boyfriend. I often wonder who that voice was behind me. I like to think it was an angel protecting me.

    • Wow! I would rec your self sleeping! And start praying every night before sleeping and say prays during these episodes I have something once and I was one of the craziest thing in my life sad to say I was being attacked by a demon it was so real and vivid but it released me once I got my prayer out with before I did I couldn’t move or speak to Damien was making me scratch myself but when I woke up my arms or behind my back where I was Literary scratching my back.

    • The same thing happens to me. Last night I was able to wake myself up by forcing myself to move and make noise. I fell back into SP 4 more times before grabbing my black onyx crystal and putting it on my forehead which burned my fingers. Do you feel like your going down a rollercoaster when in SP? That’s how I feel.

      • Last week I had SP for the first time in forever. I felt like a demon was taking over my body and I had to tell it I was in control. I woke up screaming and crying. Never had that before

    • I have come across your story. Ty for sharing. My brother was 35 and died last week. Our parents died within the last 7 yrs. I am 37 and just a normal person. I felt something biting my finger last night. I yanked my hand up. I suddenly felt a presence. Very heavy feeling. Then turned on my back and my covers tightened for a few seconds while I heard mumbling. I was screaming but then my husband heard me. I shook all day at work like tremors. I am grieving but scared.

  14. Let’s dive in shall we. I’ve had these fun events happen for so long now that I’ve figured out my way to reduce them. Make sure the room is secure and keep a night light on. Not 100%, but I’m able to sleep “normally” now. My childhood memories are completely shot, but I do remember weird/scary dreams from about the age of 5. First full-blown paralysis was way later, maybe 22 or 23 years old. I’m 37 now. I’ve had the hand/weight on my back, the presence in the room, something sitting on the bed next to me, weight on my chest, and so forth. I’m agnostic if that does anything. Also, it started after I got back from a deployment in Iraq and in my grandmother’s house. Now my girlfriend is getting them too. First was she woke up to tapping on her shoulder, wasn’t me, now she felt something jump on her. Cat sized. Gonna our place sage cleansed soon.

  15. I’ve just had my first ever sleep paralysis. I’ve been a bit sleep deprived the last few days due to noisy new neighbors playing bass music all night to early hours.

    I finally fell asleep and had a bit of a scary dream where I was playing with some electric car track and this guy caught on fire and I had to put him out. It was really graphic. I then remember waking up from the dream because I can hear people outside my window talking and I’m thinking to myself I should draw the curtains because I’m convinced they’re looking at me (I’m on the second floor). I can’t move my body though and then I feel a presence in the room and it grabs my wrist and I can hear this horrendous laughter right in my ear. I jolt awake.

    This was such a horrendous experience, I’m kind of worried to go back to sleep now.

  16. This is the story of my first experience that happened on this day.

    I was laying down on the couch watching playoff baseball when I drifted into a sleep. When I “woke up” I was having trouble breathing and felt a presence of something behind me. When I looked to see if someone was there I couldn’t distinguish who it was but my mind told me my mom got home early from work so I decided to close my eyes and sleep longer. Again, I was having troubling breathing but this time I couldn’t breathe, move or talk. I felt the presence of something over me so I tried to tell “mom, mom” but it was like I was born without a voice box. I could still hear the baseball game on the TV. I suddenly open my eyes and am now awake and scared out of my mind. I turned back to see that my mom isn’t even home. I don’t know how long this lasted but it felt like a few minutes.

    • I had a dream that I got really drunk and was at my friends house so I sit on the couch and someone sat next to me I didn’t want them there so I tried to get up but they were holding me down and I could not get up I remember trying to move vigorously and caught a glimpse of my body lying in my bed I immediately realized what was happening and I tried to shake myself out of it I kept falling back into the dream but stopped myself so It wouldn’t keep happening I finally got out of it and realized my heart was beating like crazy.

  17. I’ve had situations where I can feel, hear, and see hallucinations in dreams thought my life. tonight was the most intense. so intense in fact that I woke up in chills and had to wake my wife up to verify she was in fact sleeping. I share this in the hopes it gives someone out there peace of mind that you are powerful and not alone. My story is below:

    Tonight I fell asleep around 11:30pm. i was a little upset with my wife over something very small when I went to sleep (as I’m sure every married person can relate to). the first portion of my sleep was filled with blackness, but then somehow I felt awake but frozen. I could see the side of the room as I was laying on my side, feel the fan pushing air against my shoulder, and I could even hear the fan turning.

    As the panic started to take over my body I realized a small picture or poster of a train with a face on it. I am pretty sure it resembled the 90’s cartoon/toy based on the commercial (mind you, never played or watched a show with character. only seen train on commercials). I haven’t seen this child character in years so immediately realized it was out of place. As the image became more clear I began to focus on the face as the eyes started to look alive. it then started shifting its focus from off to the side to directly at me.

    I immediately tried to move swinging from side to side. the whole face on the character started to move now like it was agitated. it was frowning and seemed like it was trying to yell at me. This is the first time I had a face that directed its attention on me so that initial feeling of panic progressed into full-fledged fear.

    I felt I was trying to swing my body for a long time without success, so I tried to yell for my wife to turn me. There have been past occasions where she can hear me grunt or moan like I’m trying to say something and was able to wake me. At this point, I hear her move and ask me is everything ok and feel her throw her arm around me. As I started to feel her pull me, I realized the face from the poster/metal sign start to calm down. the eyes started shifting its gaze from me to her and then back to me. I’m not sure why or how, but I felt something was off. So I started to glare at the face and yell at it.

    The face of whatever it is started to go ballistic and turn demonic. its eyes, mouth, even tongue began to show as it was shaking profusely. With the fear overcoming my body I felt It started to shift into anger! I stared at the demon intently and focused all my energy of movement to yell and attack! After this change of approach, from defensive (get away from demon) to offensive (attack! attack! attack!). My fear transformed into a war cry that I won’t be taken easily. I started to regain my cognitive thoughts that the fear robbed me of and reminded myself that my mind is the most powerful weapon I have and I am stronger than this piece of 💩.

    As the face became more aggressive I starred it down and yelled F**K YOU!!! I then woke up with the chills and rolled over to find my wife sleeping. She never woke up. She never heard me. She never had her arm around me to turn me. It was all this demon’s way of making me feel a false sense of security to keep me paralyzed.

    As I write this, I am still getting waves of uncontrolled goosebumps. I hope whoever reads this can arm themselves with their most powerful weapon during that next battle (the battle-new way I am approaching encounters). I feel and hope this thought process will limit the control of fear it has over me which will inevitably nullify the feeling of paralysis.

    I’ll keep you updated on how that goes in a few months.

  18. Hello, reader.

    I don’t entirely know why I remembered my sleep paralysis episodes, it just came to me cause I’m laying down, having an anxiety attack at this time of writing. Thought I’d get some more information about the subject, and so here I am. Here ws are. Interesting how a lot of us came to this site, I don’t feel that alone anymore. Anyway, I’ve had a lot of sleep paralysis during 2014 to 2019. During them, they are usually the same but are all in all horrific to me. I wake up, I can see all of my room, sometimes someone or something is there,

    “The Girl” The concept is a bit outdone, basic even but my brain imagines it during these episodes.

    The feminine figure, very pale, black dress with feathers on the sleeve, black hair can see her face clearly, it’s bruised and has a large stitch going around her throat. She is either just standing looking at me with a frown crying or collapses on my floor slouched over on the knees in almost a defeated manner, she enters my room through the door or closet, doesn’t walk either, just sorta slides in.

    “The slumps”, I call these episodes.

    When these happen, oh man, compared to the visits from the former paragraph, this gets to me. When I wake up I’m sweating, and shaking like I’m at the South pole, can’t stop shaking until half an hour later.

    Anyway, The slumps, I “wake up” trying to move, my rooms paintings are either discolored, different colors, or different pictures entirely. I panic enough to where my mind imagines I’m getting up cause its all I want to do, finally out of bed I go to my door open it, and within the blink of an eye, with no transition, I’m in bed again. This keeps happening and happening, until i start to frenzy, screaming and screaming, can’t even hear myself, just the fidgeting of the bed and the crackling of my fan as it goes back and forth, at the end of the slump when my brain finally wants to give back my muscles, I hear a voice from a man, spoken lightheartedly “where are you going?”

    Really though I just want to understand if it’s just what I imagine or if there is some sort of meaning to it, not really implying its paranormal or some sort of demon that drinks blood out of my nipples, haha no, anyway I’m open to ideas, thanks for reading.

    • Ever since I was little I could fly in my dreams. I think it was in middle school when I started having sleep paralysis. I have a twin sister and she gets it some times too. I never felt like I was in any danger but I would panic thinking that I would be stuck like this forever. I usually try moving my finger and my sister told me she tries moving her toe. About 4 years ago a little after my father passed away I started getting sleep paralysis and seeing a dark figure over me. Like I said before I get sleep paralysis a lot. It progressed to the point where the figure would grab my legs and drag me. It would eventually stop and I would wake up in my bed unable to tell if I was dreaming or if that really happened. On one occasion he was over me being still but staring at me and I imagined my self on fire and told him if you grab me your going to burn and kept repeating fire over and over again until I could move. After that it stoped. I still have sleep paralysis. My wife now knows to shake me when she hears me breathing really hard because this is the only way I can get her attention. Tonight was different. I felt like someone was pulling on my neck. My wife did not hear me breathing hard (and I was doing this to get her attention) until I was finally able to snap awake. I had the same dark panicky felling as I did with the previous incidents with the dark figure. Reading these posts it seems like people get this once or twice, I’m now nervous because it seems like I get sleep paralysis almost twice a month. I don’t think I will be going back to sleep because I feel scared. I told my wife about it when I was finally able to wake up and she did not believe me. Hopefully, there is some else out there that has had some experiences like mine…

      • Hi John, my name is Clint. I have had sleep paralysis only twice in my life. Once at 17yrs old and now at 37yrs old. This just happened Oct 2nd 2019. I went to sleep kinda early then usual cuz I have to get up at 4am for work. But both episodes were something evil present.The first episode was a shadowy figure flying from corner to corner and it never attacked me but I was just afraid and couldn’t move or yell. The second episode was pure evil. I can feel the evil in it and I was incomplete panic. I woke up to hearing footsteps on carpet in my room shuffling on the right side my wife sleeps on. It moved from the right to the middle of the bed and then back to the right side. I thought it was my wife getting out of bed but I knew it wasn’t her. I felt an evil presence and I started to panic now realizing I can’t move or scream. As it got into the bed I can feel it moving on the bed closer to me and I was finally able to scream help me over and over but I didn’t know if my wife could hear me. As this evil thing got on top of me it had a loud growl so deep and inhuman and it had long hair just a siluett no distinctive details. I couldn’t move still and was crying for help and felt like minutes of hell until I started to move and gain control of my body the shadow disappeared and the growl dissipated and all I could hear was our noise machine on, that we sleep with. It makes a sound of white noise that we turn on to sleep. Your not alone in this. I think mine was a spiritual attack. I have been getting closer to God since my wife passed away last year. I remarried about a week ago to my friend and best friend of my wife. She is real spiritual and got me into the word of God and it’s been helping me through my life. I think it was testing my faith and I failed cause I didn’t pray or stay calm and attack this thing. I just panicked of fear and cried for help. It opened my eyes to pray more and trust in God that he will protect me.

      • I had sleep paralysis repeatedly, so many times I can’t remember, from the ages of 9-13. It happened in this one particular house that I lived in. (I moved around a lot being a minister’s kid.) My mom told me to pray if I was ever afraid, so that is what I did and it always helped. She would say “Greater is He that is in you, that he that is in the world.” I also had some other weird things happen in that house, like a black-gloved hand reach down towards the ceiling and grab me and a dream of a witch and then I was saved by an angel. My brother and sister also saw black shadows in the house so it makes me wonder. When I was 7 (in another house), someone called my name and I remember walking through the house but no one was awake. Also, a few times as a child/preteen I had half of my body raised in a sitting position and I had no control over it. I was wide awake, or so I thought at the time. Maybe all these events were all simply scientific sleep paralysis, even though I thought I was awake when they happened. Well, I moved again for the 8th time or so when I was 14, and I since have never had another experience like those. Although, in 2 other houses that I have lived in as an adult, my husband thought he felt negative spirits in one (I had recently lost my first husband at age 23 and I spent a lot of time grieving in the house); and, another house we moved to…we were freaked out by the feeling of the upstairs and my children and some of their friends swear they saw and heard stuff throughout the house (but kids can have big imaginations. I felt but never saw anything in that house. I have had no other negative experiences in the last and current house I live in. Although, at the last house, my son said he felt something shake his bed at night and he was very afraid of his room. He was also sick for a year (but someone did die in his room…no kidding). Enough babbling. Anyway, are all these experiences in our head being caused by anxiety and stress or other disorders? Is it sleep paralysis or spirits or both? Have I had no experiences of these kinds in many years because I have closed myself off to them and I am no longer afraid? I don’t know. I only know now that I have an inner peace. Yes, I worry and stress and deal with anxiety, but inwardly I feel peace. I believe it was when I felt a true inner peace that my sleep paralysis and other bad happenings stopped. I do know that when people find an inner calm, whether it be through prayer, meditation, yoga, exercise and/or therapy, that our brains and body react accordingly, helping us to rest, relax and sleep better. I definitely recommend some type of meditation and possibly therapy. I hope you find peace and be well.

  19. let me emphasize that I was born stone deaf and I don’t hear anything while I sleep.

    However, around 4:10 AM, I was sleeping on my back with a sleep mask on. I felt a dreadful presence. It’s hard to describe it but it was standing right there at the corner talking in a strange language almost like Latin. I think it was a female. That “thing” was coming closer to me and I felt my chest squeezed and my limbs “disappeared.” I couldn’t move but I was very aware when she was only inches away from my ear. She screamed like it was louder than a trumpet, enough to wake me up. It was wondering how is it possible that I could hear it???

    I know I have apnea but it never gave me that kind of nightmare. It was all too real.

  20. I thought I had just awoken from sleep but afterward I think my mind was still in an in-between state of sleeping and waking. Heard the floor cracking and thought maybe the owner (I rent a room) is walking at the top floor in order to pee. But then the sounds come out of the closet right near me. I noticed I couldn’t really move and thought I would try to move by force. Then I heard something like ‘Floriii’, my name is Floris. I felt a lot of fear but woke up after I heard the name.

    From what I gather here is that these entities aren’t imagined. However, I also think it’s interesting, and might make for some nice exploration the next time, if I’m not scared that is.

    • It’s interesting that other people are able to relate to some of my same experiences. This has happened to me a handful of time and recently while 9 months pregnant during the time I’m having sleep issues/stress. I do believe that a dark spirt comes to you while in the rim stage of sleep. The first time it was a mans figure clear as day, I prayed him away as I laid there struggling to move so I thought I had a hold on it. Now it comes to me as my husband, we’re doing normal things or he’s coming home and then I realize what’s about to happen so I try to wake up with my eyes half way opened. Instead I can’t wake fast enough and now I’m being pinned down. This darkness way in is portraying to be my husband even tho he’s not the one pinning me down. As I pray I move my hands to fight and ask for help while my husband just stares at me. After being released, I look over, he’s sleeping like a baby.

  21. I experienced the sleep paralysis 5 times till now. I am seventeen and the first sleep paralysis I have faced when I was around 6 or 7 years old. I was sleeping and at 2 or 3 AM in the early morning one lady came with a horrible sound and try to pull my legs with both of her arms and I was unable to move my legs and arms and then suddenly I shouted and saw that there was no one out there. At that time I didn’t know what was the sleep paralysis is all about. Recently I have experienced a dream 3 times that someone is trying to press my neck and I’m unable to move, shout out , I was struggling and froze in the same position but later when I woke up I remembered all my incidents and this same incident happened with me 3 times on different days and I remembered all my incidents of the same happening.

  22. I have had this happen a number of times, when I am falling asleep and usually when I am lying on my back. When this happens, I have auditory hallucinations which almost always sound like rushing wind or a low buzzing sound, which progressively gets louder. I also feel an extreme dread, as if something evil is lurking nearby, with an intent to do me harm.
    I tried once to explain these incidents to my psychiatrist, who was baffled and could offer no explanation. It was only after exploring sites on the internet that I found some on sleep paralysis and I am convinced that it what these incidents are. When it is happening, I do tell myself that I can move my fingers and then my hand and that seems to let me come out of it. That has helped me tremendously, and I no longer fear going to sleep. I also added a small night light to my bedroom and that seems to help as well. Interestingly, when I told my mother about this phenomenon, she immediately related that she had experienced similar incidents when she was a child, but hers happened when she was waking up.

    • I’m doing night shift and sleeps at day time. Just few minutes back I was sleeping and woke up with horrible dream. There I saw a baby in my dream and she’s about to fall. We’re in home only but don’t know who and where. That baby was playing with me then I said to her “don’t lie you’re a devil, I know don’t lie”, I don’t know why I said like that. Suddenly something happened to me like something has come on me. I don’t know what was happening. With that full air sound that we can hear in Horror movies. I’m scared. And i tried to shout but I couldn’t. Then I prayed Om namha Shivay, suddenly I felt relieved. What is this?

      • I had a dream last night I was driving it was dark I looked in the rearview mirror I saw evil eyes and then something pulled my hair I woke up something really pulled my hair, I just lost my daughter three weeks ago to suicide and wondering if she was trying to tell me something the story I’m getting does not sound right I live in Nevada she lives in Arkansas Something literally pulled my hair and woke me up.

  23. I am sure this is not considered paranormal, but it does scare the hell out of me when it happens 😁.
    As far as I can remember, I don’t remember having any sleep paralysis before. Maybe it has happened, but not as bad.
    Alright, this happened to me numerous times. It happens out of the blue. Each one would happens between days, weeks, months, even years. So I can’t really tell what would trigger it.
    I remember one time, it was Sunday afternoon. I went to bed to take a nap in the middle of the afternoon. I laid down facing the window and my back was facing the door. I feel this energy again, but for some reason didn’t pay too much attention and just kind of dozed off, but not fully. I could hear my kids in the kitchen and my husband talking. Then, I don’t hear anything. All goes quiet and feel someone kneeling on the bed behind. I sensed someone and for some reason I couldn’t move, but it didn’t bother me for reason. I automatically said to myself “What is my husband trying to do?”. I seriously thought it was husband kneeling on my bed, looking over my shoulder at me. That is exactly how I felt. When I realized that I couldn’t wake up AT ALL, I panicked. I was telling myself “Wake up, wake up, wake up” “Move your hands, move your feet”. I was seriously telling myself all this so my body would eventually move. Eventually, I opened my eyes. I felt extremely tired and sleepy for some reason. I called my husband and I asked him why he was on the bed watching me. He said he was not and that he was in the living room watching TV the whole time. He looked at me funny, like I was crazy. I told him about my experiences and all he said was to stop watching scary movies with ghost and stuff.
    In another instance, similar situation to the one I just mentioned. Same feeling, same scenario, except this time I felt someone touched my nose with something cold. It took me a bit time to move and open my eyes, but not as long as before. The first thing I did was touch my nose. I thought it was a drop of water at first or maybe even myself licking my nose while I was asleep or something. I don’t know 🤔. But my nose was not wet, at all. I don’t know what touched it, but it clearly felt like something wet and cold. That was very creepy!
    Now, I noticed about this sleep paralysis when I would lay down, resting, but still awake. I would this feeling that is very hard to explain. It’s like some sort of energy that would rush through my body. It would start from my head down to my toes, literally. I would feel it and hear it. Yes, HEAR it. It would sound like when you have your ears covered and wind is blowing around you, but would only hear it for 1 second or 2. I would feel it, because it would make me feel weak, very weak. All this happens while I have my closed, but very aware of everything around. I am not fully asleep yet. It would sometimes happen as soon as I close my eyes when I lay down. I would feel this energy just passing through my body multiple times until I can’t move. Sometimes, I would make get up, walk around or just open my eyes so it won’t continue. As soon as I feel it happening, I stay awake or sit up. I noticed this stops it. Other times, it just takes over quickly. It would get so bad sometimes, that I stopped taking naps in the middle of the day. The second I feel it, I wake up and get out bed. It has been months now since it last happened. I am not sure when it will happen again and I am definitely not looking forward it.

    • I call that sound “whooshing” and it’s the weirdest thing ever. I told my doctor that I was having these experiences and the feeling and sound, and he looked at me like I was crazy. I had said I actually feel someone sitting on the bed. I can’t move, yet I know if I move or speak I’ll wake up. At the same time my perception is my eyes are open and I’m awake then I realize I’m falling asleep. I dreaded sleeping and would feel panic with each episode. I don’t sleep on my back as it happens every single time I do. When I’m getting ready to wake up I hear that whooshing sound and literally feel like I coming back from somewhere very quickly. Hence the crazy look from my doctor who has known me forever. I also have the same thing when I wake up from general anesthesia. Scared the hell out of them the first time. I went from a dead sleep to sitting up quickly and saying “ I just whooshed back in my body!” Yep. Over ten surgeries and happened each time. Maybe I am crazy. Maybe we all are! I don’t know.

    • Your story helps me so much, today I feel like I’m loosing my mind. Having these episodes make me feel like running away from my life, but where ever I got…I must sleep!!! 🤦🏽‍♀️

  24. I experience the phenomenon quite frequently, mostly at times of high stress or sleep schedule anomalies. When these get sorted everything returns to normal. The first time was absolutely terrifying for I also had acoustic hallucinations of vibrant steps on the wooden floor and a feeling of some sort of presence moving around the bed staring at me just so without me being able to recognize the type of entity it was. Very scary. After many incidents, I now sort of control it either by “talking” to the strange being or trying to yell or fight if it comes to me as a threat. The funny thing is that now is less scary and kind of feel able to control the experience when it occurs.

  25. The other night I was out at a concert late with my sister and came home… I was sad at the concert because my ex showed up with a girl trying to make me jealous… I went home and fell asleep feeling depressed. I was laying on my side and was woken up around 4am because I felt something lay on top of me it was so heavy and woke me up… my head was under my covers but I kept my eyes closed and thinking a man had broken into my apartment and was laying on me about to do God knows what I was unusually calm though thinking okay I’m going to die here I didn’t want to scream in case he got violent… then the thing on top of me I heard it growl a low deep growl and I knew it wasn’t human then but a demon… it started to growl a few words over me in another language that sounded similar to Latin… I tried to cry out for Jesus but I couldn’t speak so I started praying in my head and immediately the thing was pushed off of me and I heard what sounded like a struggle on the floor across the room. I woke up and rebuked it in the name of Jesus and prayed for forgiveness… it was terrifying.

    • Sinna, that’s happened to me as well. Whatever this is perhaps demonic as I feel. It doesn’t have any power over you or authority. Whenever this happens I call out the name of Jesus and it flees. Whether it’s out loud or in my head. I’ve talked about it to people and it happens to them as well. Same experience

  26. A few years ago late at night, I felt something like a presence in the room. I awoke and could tell there was something just darker than the darkness in my room. It was just pure black darkness in the far corner ceiling. It caught my attention and I was just frozen staring at it. it seemed to just get bigger and I just saw it getting larger and morphing and moving toward me. I was frozen solid not believing my eyes. And it just formed in this dark almost cloud-like shape and moved toward me. The face of it was inches from mine and I just stared at it and it looked at me. It was just dark and demonic and had eyes. I don’t believe in anything either but could not believe I literally saw this. I was frozen stiff scared and didn’t realize till later when I did research that I probably couldn’t move because of this. I was in a paralysis state or I woulda ran out of the house. I googled and looked for stories or pictures and the closest thing that matched was this dab tsog. The image was very similar to what I saw with my own eyes. No kidding. I even pinched myself and knew it was not a dream. So surreal but it’s the truth. I saw some crazy demon in front of me.

  27. Hi

    I am not sure if SP explains what I go through but quite often and particularly in the early hours of yesterday morning I feel like I am awake but I cannot open my eyes, I am trying to move but cannot abs feel someone is pinning me to the bed. With eyes still closed I see a dark shadowy figure on top of me, I cannot scream or shout and I feel very panicked that I cannot wake up.

    I have in the past felt like I am in a completely dark place and the world is going on around me and I have no mouth and I need to try and get help. I’m usually stood at a window with people walking below and I cannot do a thing.

    Yesterday morning going through this experience of knowing I’m in bed but feeling pinned down I felt someone in bed next to me, then all of a sudden I heard a really loud shout in my ear and I immediately opened my eyes.

    This is happening a few times a month and each time I feel more panicked.

    Is this SP?

    • Before the shout, I heard the “thing” speaking in a weird language. It was very unsettling for me and it was enough to wake me up. It definitely a SP. I’ve noticed that sleeping on the side instead of on the back improves my sleeping.

  28. I had it last night and it’s the second time it happened to me. I remembered in my dream that it happened so I started telling myself to move my arms first but nothing so I started telling myself to move my legs. I try to push myself over onto my back which I did and then I woke up, thinking oh no, it happened again.

    I suggest staying calm as you are awake but in your mind only, tell yourself it’s only a dream. It only happens to me when I have a lot going on in my life and I do have a lot of stress now.

  29. I had a first experience of the sleep paralysis around 1 hr before writing this answer. I saw that someone was standing beside me and was dancing and I tried to see his face but I couldn’t as I could not move my face and my hands were frozen. I then noticed him coming in front of me and then going back. I abused him, told him if had guts to come in front of me and show me the face. He suddenly was trying to say something in my ears and suddenly I said -Om.
    I finally gained control over my body.
    It was deeply petrifying.
    I am still awake trying to come out of it and sleep but I couldn’t. it’s 8 a.m.

  30. Hi, my name is Simprit, I experienced sleep paralysis frequently throughout high school. I’ve had a few frightening experiences, but one that I will never forget. A few years back, I remember I was sleeping in bed, & I woke up in the middle of the night. Only thing is, I came to realize I was having another one of my episodes regarding sleep paralysis. I remember hearing my fan still running, & my night light still on. But, when I was awake for a few seconds, I came to realize I couldn’t move my body at all, or call out for help. To top it off, I felt something grab my legs, & I immediately remember I started to kick whatever it was. I only found myself struggling, then eventually I was able to regain full consciousness. Found nothing there at all. Along the lines, I came to realize it was a spiritual problem I was encountering. Thanks to God I found the right resources, and it was my faith. My faith made me well, & I’m 100% cured. 3 years I’ve been able to sleep in peace.

  31. Its kinda fun tho, sometimes I would see my ‘sleep paralysis demon’ dance and jump around and it’s pretty funny, if anything I wanted to laugh but couldn’t :( Most times I feel pretty entertained. My only fear is staying that way in a prolonged state

  32. Camping in the blue mountains near Sydney.. I was wide awake as I would normally be doing the night shift, it was a windy night, about 2am..(not really sure) I’m listening to the wind pushing against my swag and also listening to my mate snoring about 2meters away. I felt a force pushing down on me, but also a bit sideways .. I was fighting against it with my arms and legs and I also could move my head/neck.. I remember that I could feel the pressure but realised that it wasn’t pressing on the swag itself. I managed to yell “get off me” but as it was restricting my breathing it wasn’t really loud… I then yelled to my mate “help me” but that was even quieter than before as I couldn’t breathe.. then it released me.. and my arms felt weightless and light for a split second… I didn’t feel scared at any stage.. and I even got out of the swag and looked around- (moonlight was bright) without a torch, even had a pee and straightened the awning poles.. all while feeling very calm.. abnormally calm.. as I’m normally a person who would look around with a bright torch to answer the call of nature in the bush.. I went back into the swag and lay there, and whenever the wind blew against the swag it was like a calming effect on me… Even to the point of when we camped the next night, 300kms away from the last spot, I felt abnormally calm going to bed again.. I have camped since I was in my early teens, I’m now over 50. Never had that happen before.

  33. This happened to me 30 minutes back and as soon I succeeded in waking up I googled and I still have a confusion of what was it. I was deeply sleeping on my bed with my brother it was exactly 2:24 when I went offline to sleep and I was sleeping then I suddenly thought that I should change my position of sleeping and when I tried to do so I couldn’t. I felt something sitting on my chest I tried to move, shout and I also tried to wake my brother and suddenly I felt that I was moving I tried to wake my brother but he was biting me, then I realized that I was still in my dream I then thought of trying to move my body several times until it moves but it did not. I tried to shout out prayers but I couldn’t, then I suddenly could move my body and I felt the relief it was the second time happening to me and I still didn’t find a solution to this but 1 think I feel that this thing happens because of my upright sleeping position. I have decided to change my sleep positio,n let’s see what will happen next.

    • I am used to sleep paralysis and I have trained my mind to accept it whenever it happens to me. I just tend to relax and accept that it isn’t harmful. The few seconds will eventually run out and I definitely know that I will regain my muscle activity shortly after. Treat it as a norm minus the element of fear and for sure it will turn out being an eerie experience.

  34. I’ve been freaked out all day because of what happened last night. I’ve had sleep paralysis a few times before, so I knew what it was, but I get really scared and it deeply affects me when it happens because it seems so real and it really feels like a demonic entity is preying on me or something along those lines, but that I don’t understand and can’t explain. I still don’t know what to think about it. I’m a scientific thinker, but it seems different than a normal bad dream to me, and stands out as deeply mysterious and possibly something…unexplainable… Anyway, I went to bed late and was listening to an audio book and fell asleep. I was dreaming a normal dream and I suddenly felt an unseen entity on top of me holding me down. I tried to wake up, my internal danger alarm was at full tilt. I needed to wake up, but I couldn’t. I tried to reach out to my husband but I couldn’t really move, I could wiggle some though and my eyes were open. I was panicking and tried to cry out because whatever was on top of me felt like it was hurting me on purpose like it was tormenting me, I felt an evil presence. I realized what was happening and that the struggling was maybe making it worse or futile at least, so I forced myself to try to relax, but I was making an awful sound and kind of wiggling, but I still tried to mentally just accept the situation, then it suddenly stopped after a few seconds and I woke up. I still felt scared after I woke up. I don’t believe in ghosts or anything, but I felt an eerie feeling like someone was in the room. I stayed up until sunrise, afraid if I fell back asleep it would happen again. It felt like something really happened to me while I was sleeping. Anyway, what the heck was that.

    • I just woke up, but I was dreaming about having sleep paralysis. My first encounter with this strange black figure in my dream I was at my job and it was dark there was this glass door that was opened so when I tried to go back and close it I couldn’t move or talk and when I looked over to the door I felt a presence of some kind getting closer so I turned back to yell and I was able to crawl and finally I yelled out close the door the people were so confused and ran towards me and another person closed the door. Then I went from another dream this time I was at a store with like 2 friends and we were buying bows but in my dream my friends suddenly disappeared but then a lady that worked at the store asked if I needed help but then her face changed and she started pointing behind me so I tried to turn but I could make a full turn but I was able to see what she was pointing at, it was a tall black figure and o got scared again but then my dream changed places and i was at my house getting ready to go to sleep I ended up falling asleep but I woke up unable to move or speak and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t until finally I was able to get up and run away I ran into my sisters room and I asked if I could sleep with her tonight but once again I was somewhere else this time I was on my own bed and i couldn’t move again but i saw the tall black figure standing right at my door looking at me so I kept trying to move and yell until finally I i actually woke up and was able to move when I woke up i jumped up and my sisters name mumbled out of my mouth cause I was trying to yell out her name. Now I’m afraid to go back to sleep because I was dreaming and having sleep paralysis in my dream but my last dream I was actually awake and every time the tall black figure got closer to me and I don’t want to know where it will be standing next if I go back to sleep cause what if it’s a lot closer this time

    • This is a very similar experience to what I had 2 years ago Sept 18th. My husband came to bed late & was talking. We both fell asleep, but I was suddenly aware of a crushing feeling. I do normally sleep in all positions but mostly on my sides. This particular night I had fallen asleep on my back facing up. So at first, I assumed my husband was laying on top of me. But he was putting all his weight on me so I began to try to wriggle for air. At this point, I started to think wait? Why would he do this to me He would never hurt me. And my awareness quickened & I started trying to cry out saying help me. I felt his hand at my side, gently rubbing my leg to let me know he was by me & I was ok. But it got 109 times scarier. As I realized that this was something else crushing me, I opened my eyes. If even it was a millisecond, I looked in the ref eyes of something black, with almost medusa looking matted hair, but a seemingly male creature, as it began sucking air out of my mouth & my chest caving in. It telepathically told me if I went after saving my brother’s soul, it would end me in sickness. I renounced this & I believe it was a demon. Mind you, I am a very scientific thinking person & have studied medicine since childhood. This was different. As I said, I completely renounced it, I called it out & bound it. But I also, unfortunately in my anger, tell it I would give my life for my brother. So it’s little coincidence that after making such an agreement & saying it could do me no harm, in vanished like a vapor.
      Here is what is more frightening. My son is a see’er & was in the room down the hall, my parents were visiting that weekend. My mom was highly irritable the entire 4 days they were here…even though it was a happy occasion.
      Anyway I called I called my son the next morning & asked him if he had seen anything or heard anything in our house the previous night. He did not know what I why, I didn’t share with him my story. He immediately said yes! I heard things downstairs & then there was a demonic figure in my room staring at me. He described its eyes as red glowing & my skin crawled. He described then drew exactly what I saw thus confirming it wasn’t just a haphazard paralysis, though I have had many in my lifetime.
      That being said, I shared it with my family including my brother who is in a professed satanic band out of Los Angeles. My mom saw the same monster 3 months later while she was staying at her brother’s house in Hawaii to get out of the CA wildfires. She stood up & confronted it. It also vanished as a vapor. So at least 3 of us have seen the same thing & similar experience. My brother knows of this now & I believe he’s getting nervous.
      The thing told me it would kill me specifically through illness. I almost died of aseptic meningitis 3 months later.
      Since then, I felt its presence try to break in. My husband who will not discuss such things & is very grounded admitted that he saw something in the corner of our room & couldn’t sleep in here. Very seldomly he does & we feel it’s gone. However I have a mix of night terrors & nightmares about all sorts of things since. Sedating myself is the only thing, besides deep prayer & praises, that gets through this.
      I believe sometimes it’s just our bodies..but I also believe there is another realm. This realm is real & it’s not a coincidence. There are parts in the Bible that state our wars are not of flesh & blood but of principalities & powers in a spiritual realm. It certainly explains more than just science. And if there is a Living God who created us in His image, and this is a real thing, that certainly explains why even people who aren’t really into a belief system such as Christianity, still pray & get relief.
      I do still occasionally get paralysis, but now it’s a giant anaconda like snake winding up me to constrict my air. I am well equipped to deal with it now.

  35. This happened to me last night. I was dreaming that I was in a new house and laying down to go to sleep (in the dream) and all of a sudden I felt a presence pushing down on my chest, stomach and legs, I struggled and it seemed to get worse, kind of like a big person laying on me, but also like many hands swirling and touching me, it felt mean because I was obviously struggling and it was scaring me. finally, I realized there was nothing I could do to stop it, I couldn’t move or speak or wake up, so I just accepted it and tried to meditate and just totally relax. It felt like a supernatural power struggle, it felt evil. It continued for another very super creepy 5 or 10 seconds then suddenly it stopped and I woke up terrified. I turned on the light and just laid there trying to figure out what happened, it seemed very real and very different from just a bad dream. I was too creeped out and scared to go back to sleep.

  36. First time I had it, I felt like a hand was violently grabbing my spine. I felt an intense sense of dread. I was pulled out of my body far above and could see myself lying on my bed. I felt like a dark energy was trying to consume me. I started praying repeatedly and screaming for help and then I felt some sort of positive energy fight off the negative until it stopped yanking on my spine.

    The second time I felt a similar intense pain sensation in my back muscles as well as the dark energy. This time I could talk with the energy. Its voice sounded otherworldly and terrifying. I asked it what it wanted. I asked it it’s name and what it was. It told me it was some word starting with S that I have never heard before and told me it wanted to be us in a way that sounded like it wanted to co exist with me. I started to panic then resorted to prayer. I am not religious. This was just before I woke about an hour ago. I can still currently feel the back pain just not as strong.

  37. So two nights ago I had the 2nd most scary night in 30 years of my life. Busy day with work an was traveling, staying in a hotel near Sydney airport. I had an injury to my back and was having a restless night. I thought I was awake but may have been in some sort of sleep pattern. I was laying there when I heard some sort of cat cry twice and almost demonic noise. Then I felt a pressure jump on the bed I tried to move and could not. I then felt like I had a pillow across my face and remember trying to attempt to turn on the bedside lamp and could not I could not move at all which felt like forever and remember struggling. Like people say and experience I was petrified and eventually remembering being able to move a finger and limb at a time. I am not a spiritual person but this affected me greatly, as u can see I have been researching 2 days later at felt compelled to tell my story. Ps happy I am home in my bed

  38. So this is my story and it’s real 100%.
    21 August 2019 I fell asleep around 3am and at 4am I had sleep paralysis and I was hearing like I had put a video to my phone with affirmations and had it next to me, at one moment I’m hearing from this video the word “devil” I tried to move but I couldn’t, immediately I understood what was going on so I started praying to Jesus and I swear for that I swear in less than one second I felt like this thing was leaving my body ,then I was able to move. oh and when I started praying I heard the phone falling between the bed and the wall .when I opened my eyes and tried to find my phone in the dark it was not there but to the place, I had put it before to sleep. i wish I’d never experience something like that

  39. 2 nights ago I had the worst night of my life. I have been experiencing sleep paralysis regularly ever since I was about 7ish, but as I grew older in my teenage years I got it more and more, usually about 2-3 times a month. 2 night ago I experienced paralysis 3 times in one night. In the first paralysis, I felt a hand grab around my neck, but I had my eyes closed and I woke up almost immediately. The second time, nothing happened but as I was coming out of it I opened my eyes and saw the typical Shadowman you hear everyone talk about. He was completely black and pretty tall. I only saw him for a split second before I looked away, but I could tell her was just watching me. He went away after a sec, and I was fine. The third and final paralysis of the night I was sleeping on my stomach and I felt someone jump onto my back and forcibly shove my body deeper into the bed while whispering something to me. Yeah, it was pretty messed up.

  40. Hello,
    I’m a very spiritual person and sleep paralysis has been on and off to me. I always pray when it happens to me cause it gives me a very unpleasant feeling. I would want to know does prayer has ever helped anyone? I’ve never experienced someone sitting on my chest but sometimes it’s visual like I see someone hanging. Sometimes it comes in the form of the person sleeping next to me. Sometimes it just like a person trying to force you.
    I hope we all have some good sleep.

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