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.
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.
Poll 3
Poll 3 shows that many readers first experienced sleep paralysis during adolescence.
Poll 4
Poll 4 shows that most readers don’t experience sleep paralysis on a regular basis.
Poll 5
Poll 5 shows some of the ways readers deal with episodes. You’ll find more coping mechanisms below.
The not so scientific explanations for sleep paralysis
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.
I used to experience these types of sleep paralysis dreams occasionally as a child and teen. Gradually these experiences stopped, except for a few very bizarre incidents that occurred when I was about 50 (about 5 years ago.)
Yesterday, due to something I watched on TV, I started thinking of the first sleep paralysis experience I can remember, which happened when I was 4, and this is why I searched out this article. Lol.
So, in this incident that happened when I was 4, I had been sleeping in an upper bunk bed. In the middle of the night, I awoke to feel an ice cold hand on my back. I don’t think.I was actually paralyzed, but I was certainly too terrified to move.
I then heard a voice that said something like ” Hi….I’m Spooky”. So, there used to a character called Spooky on a cartoon called “Casper the friendly ghost”, and I assume that’s where the name came from.
As this incident occurred, I thought I was awake and that someone was standing beside my bed (an adult would be the right height to place a hand on my back) and I was too afraid to move.
After a couple of minutes, I finally found the courage to flip over, and I then started screaming for my parents. My mom put me in their bed and told me I had had a bad dream, and that no one was in the house.
The thing I remember most is the horrible coldness of that hand on my back. I could FEEL this icy handprint. on my back for hours it seemed.
After this incident, I was too afraid to sleep on my side…it took me about 20 years to be able to fall asleep in any position other than lying on my back.
Anyone else experience an ice cold hand dream?
I experience these symptoms when I was in my early twenties. I would feel like there was somebody standing over me close to my head and I couldn’t wake up, open my eyes to see if somebody was there, my body would not move. This experience always frightened me and I would what I call head talk and convince myself to go back to sleep and when I woke up everything would be fine. Whilst this experience lasted about 18 months the technique of head talking would work. The people I spoke to about my experiences told me I was having an “out of body experience “ and had never questioned their diagnosis. Something made me look up these symptoms today and question what would cause this only to learn it is known as sleep paralysis. This makes more sense to me. I am now 69 years of age and as far as I can tell have had no ill effects.
Hi Ethan, My name is Karen and until today I have been reluctant to even search this topic. I have recurring bouts of what I think is sleep paralysis probably more than five times a year. Most of the time I feel as if someone or something is pushing me up in between the mattress and headboard. I try desperately to alert my husband but it is futile because I can hear myself try to cry out but go unheard. I can FEEL my panic and once I wake can remember everything in excruciating detail. Sometimes he hears some sleep talking but nothing that alerts him to something serious. It’s all just so scary…
Hi Karen Gordon when I was 11 I would sleep in my parent’s bed,
and when I would fall into paralysis I was scared and couldn’t move
I could hear barely a raspy call for help and when I woke up it was like nothing happened.
Hey everyone! I’ve experienced sleep paralysis twice. One at age 20, one at age 34 (I’m currently 37).
Neither of them did I see anyone or anything in the room with me.
BUT I had the most severe, intense fear I’ve ever felt.
I believe that there was a reason I felt fear though, not the medical reasons, as the nanosecond I became aware and opened my eyes, I immediately felt the fear, almost before I knew I couldn’t move, it wasn’t a few seconds or 10 seconds after, as in the moment of “realization-I-can’t-move” type of fear.
I’m pretty in tune with the spiritual world, which is why I believe there was a supernatural force that made my spirit feel the fear, thus why it was immediate fear, not a delayed fear after the awareness of not being able to move.
I saw a comment a lady had made on another post, about whether you see something or not see something. And that God won’t give you more than you can handle, and that God wouldn’t give the ability to see spirits if you couldn’t handle it.
I’m that person who God wouldn’t give that ability, as He knows I would be weak in that area, because of how my mind works.
But, He has given me the ability to feel and sense spirits & energy, both good, bad, evil, and anything in between.
That’s why when I say the fear was immediate, it’s my ability to sense what is in the room without needing to see it.
Which, I thank God for not giving me the vision ability, and that we understand each other on why it wouldn’t be good for me.
The first one I was on my back, home alone, and the room was completely dark. The second one I was on my side, on my bed, no lights on in there but the door was open to my living room, which the overhead lights were on, and a friend was sitting in a chair, whom I could see, and my bedroom was quite illuminated by the overhead lights in the LR.
So, that’s my experience and wanted to share!
Hi April, my experience is very similar to yours. It first happened to me when I was 19-20 and I was taking a nap after lunch. The second time I was around 34-35 and it was nighttime, I was sleeping right next to my son. Both times I didn’t see anything only felt a terrifying presence and I couldn’t move my body or cry for help. I’m 42 now and last night it happened again which is why I’m here reading your stories. I was sleeping next to my husband. I feel like I might’ve seen something this time but a darkness on top of me. I was trying to move and cry for help but I couldn’t, eventually I was able to call out my husbands name. I asked him this morning if in fact I called out his name last night and he said he was watching TV while I was sleeping and that I called out his name but when he responded I didn’t say anything back. I personally don’t know anyone that has had these experiences. I’m not a psychiatric patient nor do I take any pills for any condition. I am a spiritual person and I believe in God. I wish someone could confirm what this is all about. I’d like to think that the scientific explanation is accurate but you have to experience this to understand how scary it is and why other explanations come to mind.
Hi Ethan and all…
I realise this blog is a few years old now as I write but hopefully people are still reading?
Having had a very recent episode, in the past week or so, I decided to go surfing for more info on a condition I would suffer regularly from as a teenager, I’m a month away from turning fifty now.
Back in my early to mid-teens this was a regular thing, at it’s worst stage it happened going to sleep and also trying to wake up again in the morning. From the age of twelve I suddenly started suffering from massive and terrifying panic attacks, which started a few days before my thirteenth birthday, hey I can recall the date and time of day now, it was a real ‘ Remember where you were during the JFK assassination’ moment. Those attacks would continue throughout my adolescent life, until I was eighteen, going on nineteen, but the sleep paralysis episodes began a year or so after that and although they peaked around sixteen-seventeen years old, they’ve never fully gone away. They are however extremely rare now, maybe every ten years or so and can normally be attributed to over tiredness, working too hard or just something bugging me too much, (I did say I’m about to enter my fifties and that’s the age both my parents passed away, so it’s been preying on mind somewhat)
Back in my teens, I’d generally fall asleep quite quickly at bed time, but soon after become aware of noises outside, traffic going by or people going home, we lived on a busy road back then with nearby bars, restaurants etc. The noises outside would generally be accompanied with strange sounds like pumping water or rushing water, emanating from inside my head. If you stick an ear against a water pipe inflow, it was a bit like that. I could also hear my heart beating and the sound of blood coursing through my veins. Then I’d become aware of the fact I couldn’t open my eyes, I couldn’t move and that I was somehow trapped within myself. Fear and absolute panic would quickly set in, whether or not this was an actual panic attack in my sleep or not, I do not know, but it would be impossible to snap out of it for what felt like several minutes. Eventually I would snap up awake and leap straight out of the bed in sheer panic. My heart racing and breathing heavily like a long distance runner.
I never had the terrible sensations of being watched or devilish demons in the room, but on one occasion I did experience a sensation of strange disembodied hands going up and down my wrists and it’s fingers examining my wrists. This was whilst ‘relaxing’ on my bed one early evening and listening to the radio (a live Queen concert broadcast as I recall). Once again I could not move and the sensation of complete fear and panic began to build. A huge tremor travelled up my spine and as it reached the top of my neck, the mysterious hands suddenly let go as if receiving an electric shock, I quickly woke up and ran into the living room where my parents were watching tv. Generally speaking there was no association with any sort of ‘entity’ imagined or otherwise, but always the same feelings of being trapped, unable to move a single muscle or more importantly, wake up.
I put it all down to the bodily and hormonal upheaval that adolescence brings. I never got acne, just a terrible fear. Looking back now and at the very rare one off episodes, I’ve learned not to panic and just roll with it. It’s an experience that’s gone from scaring the hell out of me, to something that’s taught me to remain calm in trying real life situations. I think the important thing to realise for anyone suffering from this currently, in a big way, is that although terrifying at the time, it does settle down with time and an understanding of what might be causing it does help to deal with it. KTF…
Al
Well I just experienced sleep paralysis about 2 and a half hours ago when I fell asleep with my head where I usually sleep with my feet. I had a weird dream, I didn’t think anything of it since I always have these weird unrealistic dream, but then this weird thing happened, it was like I started biting so hard on my teeth they literally started cracking, I recall waking up and I opened my eyes looking at my led lights. Suddenly something shut my eyes with force, I was grabbed by my wrists, pushed down on my bed and there was this really loud noise, like the man pushing me down is moving, even with my eyes closed I could still see his figure looking down at me. I’m 16 and I live with my grandmother, I tried calling for help but I couldn’t move my lips or make a peep, I tried prayer but it was as if God couldn’t even come to thought, I eventually managed to think of God and I was set free, I moved my body and my eyes opened. I’ve never believed in demons or anything like that. This is real, this is demons trying to get to us at our weakest. The world makes us believe that it’s sleep paralysis, but it’s not, they try to cover it up because it’s a difficult matter. And anyone who has experienced this before would well know that this is nothing scientifically or medically.
I had two instances of sleep paralysis last night. From what I remember, I woke up around 2:30 am and couldn’t fall back to sleep. I got water and then tossed and turned and eventually did fall back to sleep. I don’t know how much time passed but I woke up again, and I was on my stomach and I couldn’t move my body. It felt like somebody was physically holding me down. In my lucid dream, it felt like someone was assaulting me and I was terrified. I then mentally realized what was happening and breathed through it and kept telling myself I just need to wake up. I was eventually able to move again and snap out of it.
After I fell back to sleep again, I had another instance of sleep paralysis. Again I was sleeping on my stomach and I felt like someone was physically holding me down and I couldn’t move. I kept trying to convince myself that it was my cat on my back and that’s what was weighing me down. It wasn’t my cat.
Since I woke up this morning, I cannot stop thinking about these instances and am doing as much research on this as I can. It’s quite unnerving and scary.
This started for me a few nights ago, I was in bed at a pretty normal time. when I was almost asleep I heard a slight whispering, thinking it was my mom or sister I passed it off. Then what felt like a few minutes later the whispering was back and directly in my room it said, “Where are you?” a pretty normal phrase but the way ‘she’ said it was terrifying like someone who was actually lost. my eyes shot open, fully awake I tried to get up to see if it was really my mom in the other room. But I couldn’t move I was too terrified to do anything. After sitting there for what felt like forever I finally could get up I walked to my mom’s room and found her asleep (which was slightly odd because she’s such a light sleeper she wakes up at the drop of a pin). That’s when I got really scared. I woke her up told her what happened and she passed it off and told me to go to sleep. I slept on the couch and had a hard time even doing that. the next day I looked up possibilities of what it could be, it was between ghosts and sleep paralysis for me. I don’t even believe in ghosts but this just pushed me over the edge. that night I didn’t have anything wrong. The next night I actually fell asleep and then I woke and heard it again, this time everything was very groggy. I can remember hearing ‘her’ voice again (can’t remember what she said) then I went to my mom’s room to find her sleeping again. she mumbled something about going back to sleep and I think I did. The next morning when I woke up it dawned on me what happened. I’m really nervous about this and I find myself not wanting to go to sleep so I’m tired all the time. I don’t know what to do.
-Kaitlyn
Not sure if you’re gonna see this but, I also get auditory hallucinations, during sleep paralysis. I’m too scared to open my eyes, cause I might scare myself. For me, I usually hear people like my dad, brother, teacher, or someone I know calling me, sometimes a whole bunch of people at a time. Their voices are in my head, and they slowly get very loud, and scary.
Try not to get too tired, and go to bed at the same time, and also if there was a specific way you were sleeping (like on your back etc.) try switching it up, and maybe get your sister to sleep with so that when you hear something you can think it was probably just your sister talking in her sleep. That way it won’t get too scary for you.
I dozed off on my couch today and experienced sleep paralysis again, at first I was hearing a sort of spraying sound, I would open my eyes to see what it was but when I did I didn’t hear anything, so I closed my eyes again and once again the spraying sound. This happened a couple of times and I thought it was probably something outside but then I heard this sort of robot noise coming towards me, when I first heard it I was oh cool, there’s a robot this time, (I tried to be positive so it wouldn’t get creepy) then it got closer and closer, and as it did I felt a pressure on my neck and on my side ( I was sleeping on my side) and it got harder and harder, I tried moving my arm and fingers but nothing worked, and this time it was lasting too long. But anyway it stopped soon, but I could still feel the pressure that was on my neck, ( like if someone holds your arm really tight and they let go, and you can still feel).
I hope it goes away for you, and actually, talk to your mom and tell her about it, It scary, but it’s just a hallucination.
So I literally just woke from an experience. I’ve had more in my life than I care to count but this one was a little… off… as someone who’s accustomed to these but extremely spiritual in nature(I can’t ever go back to the Antietam battlefield ever again long story short on that I gave the tour guide such a scare that I’m not allowed turns out one of their ancestors was killed there and I felt the man reach out to his grandson at the same time the dude felt not only like he was being watched but he felt something touch him I warned him of it and now I’m not allowed back *shrug* don’t wanna go back anyway back to the instance which was 20-30 minutes ago has anyone ever experienced sleep paralysis looked around and not been in their own room? I was in my mom and dads room from my childhood I felt an extreme chill like that of the Antietam incident there was a plate of corn which I was able in the dream to eat from and there was a medium height hooded figure who looked at me saw me awake grabbed the corn and ran into my mom and dads bathroom I couldn’t follow but my cat who I have now was in the dream she followed it hissed and came back to curl up on my legs something she only does if frightened I woke from the “trance” and there my cat was curled up on my legs with her hair on end… like I said this felt off as no one has to my knowledge ever included their pets in these. On a side note, I have a rare cyst building on my brain so I’m sure that has something to do with the sense of dread.
At the height of my episodes as a teenager in the late ’80s, and as I literally snapped out of one such experience, my cat was standing on the end of my bed hissing and spitting at something unseeable in the corner of the room. As I got up to go into the kitchen to open a can of cat food for her, she ran (as usual) alongside me, but would run back towards the room to continue hissing at whatever she could see. This cycle of waiting to be fed and running back to the room lasted several minutes and was not typical behavior from her at all.
I never thought this was common with others. My Experience has been someone is pulling me out of bed. After a few times of this happening, I decided I was going to let this thing pull me out of bed and then see what was going to happen. That did not happen, I decided to grab its arms and try to capture it. The arms were very thin and felt very hairy. I struggled with it for a bit and then tried to turn the lights on but there was no power. Lately, I have the feeling my legs are levitating and someone is then pulling on my legs. I fight the feeling off by kicking my legs to fend off whatever is pulling on my legs.
All the experiences have seemed so very real to me because I believe I am not asleep when these feelings happen. I try to scream for help but I can not.
Luckily I don’t have these types of dreams very often, they seem to go in spurts, I might have three nights in a row and then it will stop for a few weeks. The bottom line is they seem very real.
This happened to me last night / early this morning. when I woke up and the feeling passed, I immediately searched the internet for some kind of an explanation. First, I’d like to admit that I know this sounds absolutely ridiculous. With that said, I have no other explanation and the scientific data doesn’t specifically match my experience. I awoke (or so I thought) to my boyfriend laying on top of me whispering in my ear…it was his voice but not. I was under the covers and he was on top. I couldn’t move but remember a slight smile because I was happy to hear something to the effect of “ you’re the most beautiful girl in the world.” Realizing that I couldn’t move and it was definitely the likeness but not my boyfriend immediately caused a pitfall. My eyes were kind of open, in my bedroom but in some kind of alternate reality? I closed my eyes and entered another period of sleep where more “contact” occurred. This time the contract was different. It was short bursts of almost being pushed or bumped..so much so that one of the bumps cracked my back. I remember being terrified due to knowing being aware that something was happening. I can’t say I remember much after that other than trying to rationalize my experience.
You are literally the first person I’ve ever heard that has said it was a loved one other than myself who just posted above… my cat was involved and in a positive(?) way I’m sorry you had this experience might help to read mine but I don’t know for sure..
First I must say.. this happens to me all too frequently. I wake in the middle of the night, unable to move. Feeling as tho a demon is sitting on my chest, pushing harder and harder. I have tried to pray before- but that made whatever was happening WAY worse!!!!!! As though I was being punished for crying out and asking God to help me. The “demon” doesn’t always show itself. Every time it happens, I am picked up, and flung towards the floor, in between my bed and dresser, but I never hit the floor- right before I’m to hit the floor, I’m picked back up, high in the air, and dropped again, stopping maybe an inch or so from my head hitting the floor.
If I don’t try to fight it, it doesn’t seem to get too bad. It’s only when I pray/ cry out for God to help me, that I feel like “it” gets extremely angry and things get scary.
I remember everything that happens. It happens frequently. This did not start until I turned maybe 32. I am now 36.
One of my very good friends is very intuitive, does readings and all that good jazz. I had her come sage my home after the first time it happened. We walked thru my whole home burning the sage, and telling whatever may be there that this is my home, and only positivity is welcome. But my friend said she did not feel anything negative – and I have never been scared, or felt anything negative in my home. She said it was probably just a dream… but I CANNOT get the feeling/ certainty out of my head or heart that this WAS a demon.. why else would my prayers anger it? I don’t understand. it’s scary.. why does it happen often???
Tbh honest it wasn’t that bad at first, but today I saw the demon for the first time. And it looked kinda cool but I feel like I triggered it. After I closed my eyes, I saw a white light and it walked in the room I was having goosebumps and I was pretty calm. The weird thing is is that why now I have never had a sleep paralysis demon before.
I started having what I now know to be sleep paralysis in 2010. My first experience I was laying on my parent’s couch when all of a sudden I couldn’t move. I was looking around the room trying to figure out. I suddenly heard a voice coming from the ceiling fan of all things. It kept saying do you believe now Rikki? Do you??? The voice stopped and just as suddenly I could move again. I was petrified. It then continued to happen throughout the next few years. It progressed to me being pulled out of my bed by my feet. It was so real in my mind I was grabbing and trying not to be pulled but in my woken state I wasn’t moving at all. I tried to scream and nothing came out. I have had too many experiences to count. I have noticed over the years that my sleep paralysis is often preceded by rumbling in my ears. Recognizing this precursor helps me to I guess prepare myself better knowing what’s about to happen. I can say one thing for sure that I fall in between on the theory of what is happening to me…is it sleep paralysis or is something after me. Either way, it terrifies me.
Intro – I am 63; am an alcoholic, well – drink a few beers every night. I believe in Jesus.
Last night 28Oct, I had a new experience, there were two lights, one swirling the other stationery, I was surprisingly Unafraid. A few nights before I felt a presence, a nastyish one. I was scared. That night I felt unwell, sore throat, etc..
Years ago I experienced the same thing as many of you the body on mine, unable to move or speak, the worst times were a tad drunk and sick. The fear was very very real, BUT I prayed to Jesus claiming His Blood, and every time I prayed that way, when I could the presences went.
I really feel very sorry for those who have had experiences of presences speaking to them. I had a spirit removed from me in 1986, at a Christian meeting, it was a strange thing as I heard it speak that I was its. I also saw a sword turn upside down and a goats head.
All I can say to you is be careful, the witching hour I learnt from an ex warlock is 3 am. Every night recently I have woken around that time, I usually pray or calm myself.
But honestly, I pray for you all that Jesus will meet you and heal each of us. Ahava, Agape.
thank you timothy
Hi there! My name is Dee and I use to have sleep paralysis dreams as a child often and it was the most terrifying thing in the world. I would see shadows in my bedroom and was frightened to move. I felt the shadows were something foreign like an alien or some shape shifting evil presence. I think my parents would consider them bad dreams as i cried to them once i had fully awoken. Now as an adult I’ve done research into these “bad dreams” and realized that it was much more. I’m now 34 years old haven’t had them in so many years until 2 week ago it happened. What started as an afternoon nap turned into me struggling. I remember dreaming and someone called my name from another room. I snapped into a foggy dream like stage which was me laying on my back in bed struggling to sit up in bed. I attempted a few times and couldn’t and then i felt pressure on my chest almost as if someone was laying on top of me. Some how i know it was a man. (I can’t begin to explain that part) This time I was scared but not half as terrified as i was when i was a child. It also was not very dark in the room so i wasn’t able to see the familiar shadows i once knew. This time i didn’t feel completely helpless i closed my eyes and gave in to what weighed my chest down and soon after I regained feeling to my limbs. My childhood memories were horrible and the fear was a 10. This time the fear was more like a 6 i think sleep paralysis happening during the day may have had a lot to do with my rating of fear because i was able to see around my room.
Tonight i had a show on Netflix called Evil drag me to search for a chat or bulletin so i can let people know that they are not alone. I guess i never had anyone to talk to about this or anyone that has been in a similar situation so yes sorry i had a venting moment. If i had to give advice it would be to stay calm and think positive thoughts because in the end you will be okay! Stay safe and healthy!
Thanks for reading :)
I’ve had sleep paralysis before…but this…was different, As I laid there I saw something, In the dark, Then I felt something sit on my chest. I wiggled a finger, It worked and I broke out. Needless to say, I also heard voices in my ear before it happened, Something about a site 24. One said “Stay away from site 24.” While another one said “Go to site 24.” Is this normal? I need help!
I had my first a few years ago. I read it goes on for about a minute. I was there in bed for an hour trying to move but nothing happened, my body was twitching and something was sitting on my chest and I don’t know why but I kept feeling this throbbing pain in my legs but at the same time it felt like I was getting poked by needles in my legs, but I also saw something and I see it to this day, even when I’m wide awake. It was really tall and skinny and its skin was as pale as snow with and an outline made by the skin where the eyes should be inside the outlines was black dot for eyes one in each outline.
Hello
I am a 55 y.o. hardcore Atheist who does not use drugs nor am I on any type of medication for mental issues. I am saddened that I am unable to find any story similar to mine anywhere on the net. What took place when I was about six y.o. was 100% real and it happened…..period! However, I can totally understand if no one believes me……. if someone told me this story I would probably think they were a nut….lol!
I would like people to know that I was 100% awake. You know when your awake and in my story there was no waking up and saying” Thank god…. it was only a dream.” I was not paralyzed and could move freely as normal. I did not feel any pressure of any kind upon my body. There were no whispers or the touching of my body. I recall everything in UHD.
I had woken up in the middle of the night as nature called. I did my business and returned to my room which I shared with my brother Mike who was around 8 y.o. I jumped back into bed and laid flat on my back. Not satisfied with my pillow I slightly turned myself around to adjust it to my liking. As I turned back around to my final sleeping position there it was…….. staring right at me…… with the most un-godly serious look on its very sinister face which bordered on hatred. It protruded out of the wall a few inches and I will never, ever, forget the reddish/white clear eyes……..they were extremely hard and piercing yet looked highly intelligent. I INSTANTLY FELT PURE TERROR!
Its face was a deep dark red……almost blackish…..and its head was immensely thick, deep, and large. Its cheeks were slightly puffy and it had thick spike like hairs separated all over its face; it did not have a beard. It had nubby things on each side of its skull. It was baldish with little hair. I dont recall the nose whatsoever as I was drawn by the eyes.
Petrified, I immediately pulled the blanket over my head and hid. I waited about ten seconds before I took the blanket off hoping it would be gone. It was still there staring at me with the same ice-cold serious look. I quickly hid under the blanket again and was more terrified than ever……..I will never forget the earth-shattering fear that made my heart beat unnaturally. I really believed it was going to do something bad to me.
This time I waited at least a minute before slowly taking the blanket off my head a second time again hoping it would be gone…..it was still their…..staring blankly at me. I clearly remember turning my head and looking at my brother Mike’s face who was sleeping peacefully about five feet away. I simultaneously felt let down that he wasn’t helping me but I also felt comforted. I wanted to scream to my brother for help but I simply could not……I suppose the terror was just too great.
I dashed under the blanket a third time and waited at least three minutes this time. Once more I slowly pulled the blanket off my head and there it was…… cleverly smiling at me with the most diabolical grin I have ever seen in my life. The eyes were soooo piercing and fiendish that they seemed not of this earth. However, they were not unstable nor crazy in any fashion. My terror turned to insane panic and I pulled the blanket over my head yet again at lightning speed…….. I wasnt coming out for a very long time. I was trembling and my heart wanted to burst through my chest.
I must have waited around ten minutes before I came out of hiding for the last time…….a very long ten minutes. This time I only took a very small peek….. IT WAS GONE! The relief I felt was simply marvelous. I wanted to thank the birds…the trees….the rocks……the sun….the ocean for bringing this relief and liberation to me.
I have no memory at all of how long it took me before I finally fell asleep after this horrific scenario. But, I VIVIDLY remember that when I woke up in the morning I was very angry for this intrusion…..there was no “Ahhh, it was just a dream.” I wish. My parent’s bedroom was behind the wall where this monstrosity appeared. I immediately went into my parent’s room and looked at the wall……..there was nothing on it….just bare wall. As I inspected further I noticed a black wig on the floor. This had to be a part of the monster. I stomped and pounded on it with my feet aggressively at least 25 times shouting unkindly as I did so. I then threw it harshly into my parent’s closet. I FELT GREAT! I was certain I had killed the monster.
50 years later I have never seen it again and do not wish its return. It has caused me some mild anxiety over the years wondering it might appear again…….mostly when I was a teenager. I have only told three people in my life this story. And, this is the first time I have written about it on the net. I will look anyone in the eye and tell this exact story in broad daylight.
The only other oddity in my life was watching a salt shaker move gently across a restaurant table while waiting for breakfast. My friend and I looked at each other in complete disbelief. We both believed the other was playing a joke but soon realized this was impossible as both our hands were on the table.
John
Not sure what scientific explanation there is for this horrifying experience, mine were so bad I was asked to write it down for the University. It began after my first child was born, every night I would experience the weight on my chest and then my head would spin, and could not move I thought I was going to die and would wake up terrified. However, it got worse there were the hallucinations of the half man half goat sitting on the bed, then the strangling began to the point where I thought I was going to die, it escalated to being raped and my throat slashed. Being paralyzed and struggling to wake up. This was every night for nearly 5 years. In the dream, I would swear at it and pray. The worst feeling was the bedclothes being slowly pulled from me and then the feeling of being touched all over in a horrible way. Of course, I had no one to talk to about these horrendous dreams, I do not take drugs or drink either so could not put it down to that and it was the cause of a separation my marriage ended and a downward spiral into some serious mental issues, my husband was not in the least bit understanding or my family. I decided one day that I would fight this thing, and finally in the dream, I was in a room with lots of people, I held up a bright light and told them to stay behind me, there was a door in front of us the thing was behind it and was trying to get through making the door bulge out. I opened the door held the bright light up and confronted the menace it was an odd shape cannot describe it, however the light made it disintegrate and disappeared. It finally went, from then on I felt free of the entity and had no further bad dreams, however I still sleep with the light on, and now again it manifests but very rarely and when it does its a feeling of someone lying next to me and I cannot turn over to confront it and cannot wake up, and try to reach for the light. Thou looking back stress may have been the cause.
I have had sleep paralysis a few times before.
Always put it down to scientific reasons. I’m an atheist. Anyway, today was different and I can’t come up with a logical or scientific explanation for it.
I was trying to wake up and kept thinking I was waking up over and over again but I wasn’t. It felt like it went on forever. Then a demon asked me a question. He said which letters of these is Latin? And a handful of letters to choose from that I can’t remember because I just answered straight away thinking it was a dream. He said if you get it right, you wake up and live, if you get it wrong, death. He was laughing. I just quickly chose the letter D. I didn’t think about it. Then I instantly woke up…..
Why would I instantly wake up after answering his question? And I don’t know anything about the language Latin. Why would I dream/make that up….. I googled it and D is in the transitional Latin alphabet and not every english letter is. D is also a roman numeral. I don’t know much about it. But it’s crazy. Now I’m starting to think, it can’t be a coincidence. And it can’t be a coincidence that everyone sees demons. As someone who didn’t believe in them they aren’t the scariest thing to me. Like why is it always a demon? Why do people always experience similar things and hallucinations? It’s definitely beyond science.
I have them here and there. I usually try to yell for help but can’t get it out. Over the years I have been successful with being able to yell help and it wakes me up. It’s terrifying that’s for sure.
Hi, utoday it was my first and I hope last experience with sleep paralysis. I had a normal dream where I was playing with my new puppy and I heard his paws walking on the floor, but then it changed. I turned on my back (while sleeping I was facing celling) and that’s where it started. Everything was black and from puppy’s paws sound it became somehow foot. I tried to open my eyes and I saw my room. I’m laying in my bed. Something was running around my bed. I closed my eyes again I didn’t want to see it. I tried to move but I couldn’t. The same when I tried to scream, I was just not able to. It started laughing and I was scared to death. I was praying God in my head to help me wake up. And he heard me. I woke up. I was so happy but still scared to go to sleep again. It was at 1 am. I prayed again to Lord to help me sleep normally again. I played songs to my sleep, still had a feeling something is watching me but later on I was sleeping. I’m still scared but I’m praying to not happen that again.
I’ve had several sleep terrors also they started when I was 18 or 19. My first I can remember very well I woke up in the middle of the night and it felt like something was sitting on my face and my hands where crossed on my chest and I couldn’t move at all and my cover was wrapped around me super tight on my face and body. I couldn’t move or scream. My most recent happened today. I was dreaming about telling my mom that I keep having these dreams that wake me up and I can’t move or do anything. But when I went to her room I was telling her and she disappeared and something came craw running through the door and I blacked out and woke up under a coffee table and I couldn’t move or talk so I kept trying to and the thing felt like it was a part of the back of my head and I was hearing a very deep demonic voice saying “ your mine, you can’t do nothing nobody is going to save you”. So I kept banging my back of my head against the coffee table then I could move my hand so I grabbed the back of my head and it felt like it went through and I yanked the thing and it felt like I was coming out my body also and I could start crawling towards the door and I was tryna scream my mom name and I couldn’t still because the voice came back. I then started banging my head on the door and I pulled and I saw the numbers “246808” and I repeated them and I woked up at 8:19 in the morning with my blanket on my face with my hands reaching behind my pillow.
I’ve always experienced sleep paralysis. But this year it’s happening more often. It happens at least once a month now. I become terrified every single time and can’t sleep for days after an experience. Yesterday night was different. I felt pinned down and paralyzed. I identified it was sleep paralysis and I really focused on moving my toes and fingers. The thing got super mad that I was resisting, and it ripped me out of bed and threw me against the wall and laughed. I immediately woke up from that. But my body is so sore as if I actually was thrown against the wall. We need to study this phenomenon more. It’s more than I dream, I swear.
I believe you
Hi, I heard female voices saying that “I’m learning” others were saying it in shock too “he’s learning”. I woke up shouting out something but couldn’t sleep after that.
I’m not one to believe in ghosts or demons but the sleep paralysis I’ve experienced does make me query it!
I went through a stage of crying nearly every night not wanting to go to bed just like a child, the thought of sleeping and not knowing whether I was going to experience the disturbingly scary, very real demons that visit during my sleep. The worst sleep paralysis that I will never be able to forget was one where I woke and could not move I tried screaming, nothing came out! During this I throw myself out of bed shuffling around the floor like a fish out of water, in this dream my partner was stood in the doorway, I was still trying to scream, then…. I got picked up thrown all around the room, every time I thought I was going to hit the floor I was pulled back up again. The dream must have only been seconds but it felt like it went on all night!! The scariest thing iv ever experienced, at the time my son was born with kidney failure so I usually put it down to stress. That was 5 years ago and now it has returned and I don’t know what to do, feel like a child again fearing bedtime in the dark! I wish there was something I could do to make this go away!
I have never reached out and talked about my experience before but recently I have been thinking about it a lot lately and wanted to see if anyone has had a similar experience to mine. My experience happened about 2 years ago. It was a normal night I went to sleep fine and all of a sudden during a dream I felt myself being sucked out of my dream if that makes since. I could feel myself being pulled out of the dream I was having and completely aware of my surroundings but I could not move my body at all. I was laying on the left side of my bed on my stomach at the very corner of the bed. I feel something start to crawl from the other side of the bed towards me. I feel it holding its self up over the top of me but it never touches me. It just says in a mechanical voice in my ear “ hello my mortal darling, you will die of free will” and then boom I’m awake. I’m wide awake but I’m so terrified of what just happened to me that I could not move my body for a good 15- 20 mins after that. This was so terrifying because the voice was not of this earth I have never heard anything like it. Since that night I never have had another experience. Has anyone had sleep paralysis where something has spoken to them before? This felt so real like I was in another realm though and something really was communicating with me.
Jesus lord that’s terrifying. Try not to dwell on it too much. You don’t want to manifest it happening again. Also I can assure you that I don’t think it was something from another realm or alien. It used an endearment “Darling” which seems like more of a human thing but its obviously not a human considering it called you a “mortal”. How odd.
I just had an experience where I felt like someone sitting on my bed. Literally felt the mattress compressing then getting up and moving around bed and then sitting again. I wanted to yell but couldn’t. Followed by a violent dream where two beings were trying to harm me and destroyed my house and phone. I couldn’t break free and they kept attacking me. My pets were missing but I went to the roof and saw my dog on another rooftop. I dove off the roof to try and escape. This terrifying cycle of fighting and escaping continued for what felt like hours. I finally got to my dog. And he vocally encouraged me. I eventually woke broke from paralysis and reached for my phone at which point everything in the news feed I thought was offering a more demonic message.
I am not a person who believes in these things but felt like I was seeing a deeper meaning in all these social media events.
I just experienced the same thing 2 nights ago. The bed compressing next to me and something walking around my bed and not being able to move or talk. When I woke from the paralysis, my dog was looking in the spot where the shadow figure was. It is terrifying.
I have always experienced sleepwalking and night terrors since being a child. However, last night was the first time experiencing what I now understand to be ‘sleep paralysis’. It involved waking up at around 3:30 am and feeling that a negative presence was in my bedroom watching me, whilst laying on my side I noticed just really dark black hands holding my hands down with force, I couldn’t physically move or shout out for help. This lasted for over 5 mins, scary stuff 🤣
First, I am so sorry to everyone that has had these types of terrifying experiences, I wish we knew more about them so we could eliminate them. I’ve had many, and I mean, A Lot, throughout my life. The first one I recall, I was probably 8-10 and the usual paralysis was there and standing in my doorway was a very tall black figure. I was so afraid but that was it, just the feeling of an evil presence and luckily it was fleeting. Sadly, as I got older these experiences only worsened. There was one instance where I was asleep on my stomach, my face was towards my door and there was a tall, black mass standing directly beside my bed. I couldn’t move or scream but I thought if I could move my arm quickly towards the figure it’d disappear. I don’t know how I managed but I swung my arm and it didn’t go Through the mass, it hit it, it hit something physical and hard. Of course when I awoke completely there was nothing there. This same type of experience happened much later in life where I felt the fear, the dread, the extent and depth of these emotions really are paralyzing and I’ve NEVER felt them in my waking hours. There was, always is, the feeling of an Extremely ominous, dangerous and evil presence. It will hold me down, as though I’m being forced deeper into the bed and the moment I pray to God or start singing something like ‘Amazing Grace’, I wake up and it’s gone. I’ve also had a pup sleeping with me during one instance and I thought if I could just move my feet to touch him, where he was laying at the end of the bed, maybe that’d wake me up. Well it did, I touched something, I woke up immediately, however, my dog wasn’t at the end of the bed, he was sleeping up by my head and there was nothing at the foot of my bed. I’m writing this because this last year I’ve had the most frequent ones I’ve ever had and one has become reoccurring. I hesitate to share this because it’s very personal but my hope is it could help someone know they aren’t alone in their experiences. I live with my husband but we have separate rooms for nights when his snoring keeps me up. 😊 Anyway, each time this has happened I’ve always thought it was him. I’d vaguely see a male figure standing in my doorway and walk to the side of my bed. I’m frozen and when I realize I can’t move or speak it obviously hits me it’s not my husband. It’s a Very Strong Male presence and the fear I feel, terrifying, dread, horror, panic, these words cannot describe how truly horrible I feel. The figure stands for a time and then leans down and whispers in my ear, 5 times he repeats this, ‘kill yourself’. I’m eventually able to wake up and I’m covered in sweat and crying. I’ve been reading so much on this and it’s truly difficult to believe these occurrences are nothing more than your brain mixing up signals. I do of course believe that. There’s too much evidence supporting it, however, a part of me thinks there’s more to it than we can even realize. Lastly, this happened last night. I suppose that’s why I’m writing this novel 😊 because it’s stuck with me. I fell asleep on the couch with one of my dogs and was laying on my side. I woke up to the sound of my husband calling my name. Clear as day it Was his voice but to my horror, I couldn’t move. I knew it was just another ‘sleep paralysis’ instance and when I looked up I saw a tall, lengthy, male figure standing a fair distance away from me. Then I heard my name called again but this time it was a malicious, maniacal male voice almost laughing as he repeatedly called my name. I’ve only been this scared when the reoccurring dreams happened. This figure walked closer to me and I managed to say ‘Go Away and leave me alone’, then I fell off of the couch and could move again. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep much after this and when I did I had a nightmare, I don’t know what happened but I woke up sweating, trying to catch my breath, tears streaming down my face and shaking uncontrollably. For anyone that takes the time to read this, I strongly urge praying, singing a spiritual song and willing any part of your body to move. I usually concentrate on trying to vocalize something to make whatever’s happening stop. I’ve been dealing with this for nearly 30 years and most experiences are different but you WILL be ok after, you WILL be ok during it as well. It still doesn’t change the fact that these experiences are beyond terrifying and I strongly believe there are underlying reasons for these things to happen. Especially when you consider we don’t actually use our entire brain, there’s bound to be many unexplainable things and this, in my opinion, plays a larger role than we know. Again, I’m sorry for anyone that experiences things like this. Especially often. I pray you are able to learn ways to deal with them quickly and that ideally they occur less often, if ever again. God Bless you all and Thank You to everyone who’s shared their experience(s). It’s comforting knowing we’re not alone in these dreadful types of situations. Hold fast to your Faith though because I believe that’s what will undoubtedly get you through them and help you cope and become stronger. You are not alone, you’re not crazy (even though I feel like at times I am) and this obviously happens to many people. So rest assured you’re never alone. Please Take Care & again, God Bless.
It started happening to me at the age of 13, I was afraid to fall asleep, fear of sleep paralysis as they called it happens again. Anyway I’m 36years old and up to this morning about 1:35 am I woke up and couldn’t fall asleep and it happens again, at first I was struggling to fall asleep then all of a sudden, u start feeling very sleepy then eventually ur body stifens up and can’t move at all. It had a time I just give up trying to fight it off and I actually felt like someone is having intercourse with me. The only thing does give me comfort is when I started praying, but it still happens to me, I really I’m truly sorry to hear other people as well going true the same thing, whenever I mention it in person to anyone, they’ll say I’m hallucinating.
I feel this so much. I actually sleep in a separate room from my fiancé from time to time too because of his snoring and moving haha, and 2 nights ago I was sleeping alone and became paralyzed (which used to happen a lot) but this is the first time I experienced something. I could feel it sitting on the bed next to me and starting to walk around the bed (hoping it was my boyfriend coming into the room) but as soon as I came out of the paralysis, I sat up and saw the shadow man walking at the edge of my bed. I yelled out “mom!” and grabbed my phone for a light as fast as I could and it was gone. I do wish that we could figure out what this is!! Thanks for sharing your story though.
I have a dream that a devil was choking me and trying to take over my body. It feels so real I don’t want to go back to sleep because I think it was real. I was having a normal dream when it happened next thing I know I was being choked by a devil. I feel like I couldn’t breathe. Am I the only that experiences this?
I’ve experienced sleep paralysis several times. More recently, it happens when I wake up early mornings to use the restroom. As I prepare to go back to bed, I lay on my stomach, somewhere between being awake and still trying to “stay sleep”. As soon as I lay down, I can’t move my body and it feels like something is pushing my bed from underneath me. I’ll literally feel my mattress being pushed up. It’s gotten to the point, that I just remain relaxed and just pray or either close my eyes and just go to sleep. It’s best to ignore and remain calm. When we get frightened, we can enhance the experience. “If” it is an entity, it feeds on fear. So have no fear! We belong to God and nothing can hurt us. We are powerful!
Disturbing ones of a guy floating above me waiting to attack me. It was an ex who terrorized me.
Then there was a corpse who was a guy in a body bag also floating above me. I have trouble with spiders and Beatles crawling on my sheets. It started when I moved out on my own.
I too experience this. It is an awful experience. Something touching you. Things coming off walls, phones, thrown, haircut, scatches on the body, etc. Can’t move.paralyzed… Ooh GOOD GOD HELP ME!
I have only had ones where I see a relative. It wasn’t scary like hey get up time to study and I would say I can’t move and then when I could I would run and wake my mom up at 1:00am and find out it was paralysis. But then years after I would see a floating hag flying towards my face saying my name. Other times I would actually be capable of moving my body I would sit up and see this blonde boy with huge wide black hole eyes staring at me I would look and say oh another demon and hide under my covers. I’ve had these rarely tho. I’m never really paralyzed or I might be waking up and paralyzed and I force myself to fall off the bed. But I just had one where I was on my side and I woke up and then it was there in my face saying my name and “you have parents” I was like, I know that, and I found out I couldn’t speak or move and just tried to block it out. Just don’t care about sleep demons I have better things to do.
So I had just had a dream and I have always had the same dreams. They have never changed they just kind of go on rotation. But there are a lot of them do I end up forgetting them but if I remember them I don’t dream about them again. Anyway, I was having a dream right. I was skateboarding (I can’t skateboard) and I had gone down to my local shops and I saw a friend of mine, but it was getting really dark and he wasn’t saying anything. I couldn’t see his face and then a bunch of his friends (whom I couldn’t see) came and they all started to walk away and I asked why he(my friend) looked so sad(I just knew he was sad) and no reply but one if his friends chucked me a torch but it was do dark it barely worked. So I hoped in the car (I apparently drove down??) And went home. Then I remember waking up in my bed and I had a floating sensation. Like someone was picking me up with two fingers. And that happened 3 times. Then my covers were yanked off just around my thigh area and suddenly everything was really tight around there. Like something was squeezing me really tightly. And at first, I didn’t really know what to think about. But I couldn’t move. And my foot felt squeezed as well. That when I woke up for real and I was face up under the covers of my bed. God that was really terrifying, but I’m not sure what it is tho, sleep paralysis?
I was sleeping and I felt a whole weight on me where I couldn’t move my body or anything at all as I try to half awake/half asleep then I hear an ugly mumbling guys voice in Munich ear but couldn’t understand at all as I try to get up from the bed or call for help I couldn’t move or speak till I tried very hard n it stopped then.
Reanna, this exact same scenario just happened to me at 3:30am this morning. He cuddled up to me and wrapped his arms around me so tight. And then started mumbling…it took all my strength to break his arms away from me so I good sit up in bed. Scared the hell outta me. I got up and checked my house for intruders. It was so real. That mumbling…
I just had a dream almost identical to this last night. A man or someone was sitting on my back as I laid face down mumbling and squeezing my rib cage as tight as he could with the sides of his knees and strength of his thighs. I had to consciously tell myself to breathe because it became more and more difficult. And I swear my ribs hurt today.
I experienced this for the first time ever last night. I was lying on my stomach next to my baby’s co-sleeper bassinet (which is right up against the edge of my bed). I woke up and heard this weird static noise and thought ‘oh no, something is about to happen to me’. Before I could move, I felt this crushing weight on my back as if someone was sitting on me, and I could hear this whispering that I can only describe as demonic in my ear. I was trying desperately to scream or make noise, thinking that if I could wake up someone else in the house then it would go away. I couldn’t make any noise, and was still only able to move my eyes. I was looking up at the bassinet and it was suddenly empty, and that’s when I got really angry (as well as terrified) and I felt like it took all my strength to force my way out of the paralysis. As soon as I was able to move, my baby was back where she was supposed to be. Although for some reason it took a minute for her face to appear normal to me instead of distorted.
I barely slept again after that, and my back is really sore now this morning. I hope that never ever happens again.
I literally just had this dream about 10 mins ago.
It started off as a normal dream
I’m not gonna start from the beginning because that’s to much and not really important I don’t think anyways so I was outside with my family and we gonna play beer pong at the same time I’m trying to text my boyfriend to come outside and play too as I’m doing that he walks out and then I’m in my bed laying down I look to my right and there is a like motor car ( like the kid size ones that they get on and can drive all around ) anyways it’s just chilling and then my dog and cat are on top and it turns on and I’m like wtf like how ( it literally sounds like a car and has headlight and everything ) so they jump off and come on the bed with me (so I’m low key freaked out cause it not like they can just turn on a car but getting on it) so I’m still laying there now I’m yelling my boyfriend name trying to get him to come to bed ( where he is 😒) but then I get this overwhelming feeling of being watch and I can’t move anything but head but I don’t want to move my head cause I don’t wanna see what is staring at me cause I just know something is there so I move my eyes to the right and it was like some figure that moves really fast in place and it was just staring so I’m thinking to myself don’t give in and freak out cause that only gives it power but it’s really difficult to do that because well its freaking scary and I can just feel my fear getting stronger it’s crazy how I could feel it that much and I look again and it’s arm are like reaching for me and I try to tell for My bf but nothing comes out . I can also hear tv in the next room but I can’t scream so no one can hear me but I remember thinking if the tv is on then it must be my papa watching tv and it’s early in the morning so it’s almost daylight. Then I close my eyes and it’s gone I get up and I run super fast and go outside I see my bf then I wake up sweating. That’s usually how I know o had a bad dream if I can’t remember what it was.
The fear I felt was the worst part about it it was so unreal like I wish I could somehow explain but I can’t find the words.
This is the 3rd one I had that I remember where I couldn’t scream or anything and there is a figure or something scary. The first one was a black figure above me and the second one was at the edge of my bed it was on its hand and knees staring at me. This 3rd one was the worst by far.
It’s 5:44 and I’m low key glAd cause the sun coming up soon and I can get some good sleep then.
I have recurring dreams, usually demons throwing me around a room, high ceilings with beams, bashing me around. I go with the flow and tell them I know they aren’t real until I wake up!
More scarily are the dreams when I’m pinned down, paralyzed on my belly, demon heavy breathing in my ear, and squeezing my arms tightly. I live alone, these are terrifying and I struggle to go back to sleep as I’m too scared.
Last night was awful, demon was very aggressive, I feel exhausted this morning.
I have sleep paralysis very frequently. I also have night terrors with and without the paralysis. I think I had my first episode when I was about 8 or 9.
I have had so many I could write a book. My most recent was a black figure of some sort. I’ve had those a lot. Black imminently dangerous figures coming down on me and if they touch me I will surely die. I have had a lot where I try to pull myself out of it and am aware if my husband is in the bed next to me or not. I have woke him up in the living room making myself make a noise trying to cry like a baby louder and louder because I thought it would get his attention and get him to come into the bedroom and wake me out of it.
I don’t know that I believe they are fully scientifically explained.
I first had sleep paralysis when I was young and the fifth grade. I was asleep with my back against the wall on my side. I heard scratching behind me like scratching noises on a wall. I open my eyes, and tried to look behind me to see where the scratching noises were coming from. I was so scared because I didn’t know what was behind me and I looked outside of my door and I see a figure a dark shadow it almost look like a male but he was in Black no face no features and I came outside of my body and I even looked at my body and I could also see the figure staring at my body. That night I was so confused and frightened I didn’t know what it was until I looked it up and found out thought I was sleep paralysis ever since that night I’ve been having them every once in a while. If it involves a demon I usually pray close my eyes until I fully wake up my body and open my eyes and I can move. But if it doesn’t involve demon and swear I can’t move and I don’t see nothing I just moved my toes my fingers and try to think of other things.
These experiences are dreadful. I’ve lived by myself for the past 2.5 years and have had these experiences 4-5 times.
The first couple of times, it was an animal that jumped on the end of my bed and crept up towards me. Two times it curled up next to me and layed down. Then the last time, it was on top of me and had its claws in my arm and was biting me – even though I was paralyzed, I was trying to grab hold of it and tear it off me. I was in excruciating pain and was yelling out. I then woke up.
The nightmares feel so real.
Last night I have a dream that involved a man (current partner who doesn’t live with me) lying beside me, I have my back to him. I felt him moving next to me, ruffling the bed-sheets. I slightly turned over and could almost see his face. It was sort of him but not quite.
I was confused as to how and why he’d come into my house/bedroom in the middle of the night without me knowing. Then, there was another person (man with blonde hair who I didn’t recognise, holding a white/cream poodle-like puppy). The man looked to be wearing a red top and he was pacing up and down the side of the bed of my partner. I couldn’t speak and was terrified and confused. I couldn’t roll over to turn my bedside lamp on. Then, a figure with many arms (dark shadow) was right near me on my side of the bed. I was trying so hard to speak words that wouldn’t come out. Two people and a scary black figure all present. I remember screaming WHY really loud, it was the only word that I managed to say. I woke myself up hearing my own voice.
Flicked the bedside light on immediately. So terrifying. Don’t want to sleep by myself tonight. Scared big time.
I fell asleep on my side and I thought I was awake in my bed in the same position I fell asleep in but I wasn’t. I felt someone breathing and pushing up on me but couldn’t turn behind me. It started laughing then it licked me. I couldn’t move my arm but I whispered out that you are not ish.. I finally woke up and jumped up and check if my neck was wet but I was good.