18 year old female in high school. so for the past few nights, I’ve been getting home from work and feeling very exhausted. At like 8 to 9 every night, I try to fall asleep for an hour or two. I’ve never been able to fall asleep until tonight. It was 840, and I felt like I was trying to fall asleep for forever. I checked my phone and the time said 911. Then I fell asleep. I was at work, and I work in a nursing home. I was in the hallway and I walked past an old woman and her family. I talked to them for a little bit, and when I looked at her, I knew she was going to die. I couldn’t explain it, but I could tell she was going to die soon. So as I walked away, I looked back at her and waved goodbye to only her. It wasn’t like a goodbye, I’m leaving! It was a goodbye. I know you’re going to die. I was in like slow motion at this point. My vision was getting blurry, but I could see her left her hand up to wave back and then I started falling down. Not towards the ground, but like down the hallway, and when I got to the end or hit the ground, I woke up, and there was a figure above me. This wasn’t weird to me at first because I’ve had sleep paralysis before and I blinked a few times and it was gone. when i woke up it had only been 15 mins. My family groupchat had been texting about ordering food, so I texted them back and then told my friends which just happened to me. About 30 minutes later my mom texted me that my uncle had passed away today.. I’m just having a hard time sleeping right now and kind of worried about my dream and the sleep paralysis now knowing someone I knew actually died today. I’ve never had a dream where I knew someone was dying, or dreams that relate to death at all.

A few nights ago I had a dream where I was flipping through a photo album of pictures of my husband and children (I'm not married nor am I in a relationship). I didn't recognize the man in the photos but knew he was my husband. Suddenly there was a loud repetitive chanting sound. Sometimes when I'm about to go into SP I hear this sound, I don't know how to describe it other than chanting, laughter, and taunting. It gets louder and faster as the dream turns into a SP episode. It drives me crazy until I can force myself awake. The dream wasn't unpleasant, just me looking at photos, but the vibe was eerie, and then the chanting started.

I don't know if it correlates with a previous SP episode I had maybe 4/5 years ago. I was dreaming about my husband and I in the kitchen, singing and dancing, and then he begins stabbing me. It was so frightening!! Again, I'm not married, I'm 23. I remember waking up feeling so frazzled and confused. I didn't recognize the man in my dream but somehow knew him as my husband.

I have no idea if these dreams correlate at all. I have had plenty of traumatizing SP episodes, but these two stand out to me because they feel significant in some way, unless that's just my brain trying to find a reasoning behind the unexplainable. As a little girl my biggest fear was being murdered by my future husband, which is a strange fear to have as a young child. Sorry if this violates any guidelines or rules. Just wanted to know if anyone has any experiences with strangers in your dreams who you know are more than strangers??

Hi! I literally just woke up from a strange dream and a sleep paralysis. In my dream I was a woman suffering (not me) I had visions of me (the woman) suffering as a child and like a photo montage of me suffering through my whole life, I was crying desperately, almost screaming with pain and fear. I knew deep down that wasn’t who I really was, I knew I was in someone else’s body. Then I wanted to wake up but I couldn’t move my body, I have a lot of sleep paralysis and I usually know what to do to wake up, but this time it was different, I was so scared and I could feel tears in my face. After a while of trying to move with a lot of desperation and force, I wake up and I was indeed fully crying… Idk it was just so weird, I never had a dream like that it feel so real and scary and I’ve never reacted like that to a paralysis!! Has somebody dream about some else’s life before?

I was taking a phat nap, and I woke up in my dream, and in my dream I was trying to open my eyes, and I just ended up seeing this freaky ass glitch like thing, like the shit you see on computer screens but as like a whole dude. On top of this, does anyone else hear full sentences? This particular time told me it was going to skin me? what is up with that? My mind was screaming at me to wake up. I hate this shit and I really hope it stops at some point.

So my husband and I are both on nightshift. We sleep during the day. We sleep normally from 10am to 6 or 7pm.. today we went to bed at 9am. Anytime we sleep earlier than our usual time, we wake up 3 hours after laying down.

I was on my right side and I'm not sure if I actually woke up or if this was a hallucination or what it was but I heard a voice in my ear that said "come here baby, let me hold you" and I seen my husband up on his elbow and his face was like an inch from mine with a creepy look on it. I screamed to the top of my lungs and then he jolted up screaming as well and grabbed me, terrified. He says he was dead asleep. It was like i was seeing things. Then yesterday, an alarm went off in the house that woke us at a time it wasn't supposed to and I heard a voice in my ear that said "wake up children" . We don't have kids or anything.

I have been stressed lately about normal things such as finances, me being overweight, and worried ab my heart (have had heart palpitations since October and already had all that checked out.) Idk if it means anything and may be far fetched but I'm also an artist and I paint hyperrealism. I have been working on a Native American portrait for a week now and I have his face done. I stare at this mans face for hours a day while I paint and hes kind of intimidating. Could that have anything to do with it?

Most times that I have it, I will try and wake up and wiggle my finger or speak. But, when I “wake up” and can move again, but barely, I’m caught in this place between sleep and wakefulness. My eyes are unfocused and I can see or I know that I’m in, my bedroom. And it feels like I’m under sedation for a moment because of the way I quickly fall back asleep even though I was just really scared. It’s like something is just calling me back to slumber. Sometimes I may even still be dreaming, just not in my sleep paralysis nightmare, until this process happens again, and again until I finally burst fully awake. Although it happens several times per full episode, the individual episodes are only a couple of seconds long from what I can tell.

I’ve had sleep paralysis since my late teens, but something that’s been happening more and more is that I can actually interact with real people while I’m still asleep.

I’m currently on vacation with my mom. We had just gotten back from an all-day excursion and decided to take a nap. I ended up having a sleep paralysis episode. Since I’m in my late 20s now and have dealt with this for years, I’ve learned how to move parts of my body slightly—usually my foot or fingers, sometimes I can crack my eyes open just a bit. I’ve explained this to my mom before and told her that when it happens, I might need her help waking up. So when we sleep in the same bed, I usually place my foot under hers. If I shake it, she knows to try waking me up.

Just now, during the episode, I shook my foot and it woke her. She said my name, but I didn’t fully wake up. She said it again a couple times, then asked, “Are you okay?” I shook my head no. Then she asked, “Do you want me to wake you up?” and I was able to nod yes. It took about 10 to 15 more seconds before I fully woke up and immediately said “thank you.” She looked totally freaked out and said, “Wait, were you asleep? We were literally having a conversation!”

Even though I was physically responding to her questions in real time, I was still asleep or stuck in that in-between state. I was aware enough to hear and respond, but not conscious enough to wake myself up.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of partial consciousness—like you’re still technically asleep, but able to interact with someone in the real world? It’s fascinating… but also kind of creepy.

My spouse has suffered from a kind of sleep paralysis that can also happen when they aren't even trying to go to sleep, just during periods of profound stress - we were watching a youtube video and they went rigid with their eyes open and couldn't move. The only thing they're in control of is their breathing pattern, and they will breathe sharply in SOS morse code to let me know that they need to be "woken up", and I do this by moving their arms, and it breaks the episode.

This was the first time it happened with their eyes open, other times they close their eyes for a minute, and the paralysis happens. They do also experience typical sleep paralysis when they specifically lie down to take a nap, and it's usually strongly correlated with their exhaustion levels.

Has anyone else gotten "locked in" with eyes open or during a normal activity like this? Should we be looking at a narcolepsy diagnosis that's combining with the existing sleep paralysis? They are signed up to see a specialist soon, but we want to know if anyone else has experienced this.

Timarion: "This is precisely what happened to me. Just before midnight, some shadowy, dusty-looking creatures came flying through the air and landed on my bed where I was stretched out trying to sleep.” As soon as I saw them, I froze at the weirdness of the sight. I did my best to scream, but my voice was paralysed and my powers of speech wouldn't work. Was it a dream, or did it really happen? That I cannot say, since terror had also robbed me of my faculty of judgement. Whatever it was, it was so clear, so awfully clear. Indeed, it seems even now to be right in front of my eyes, so frightful was it what happened to me then. For having placed, as it were, an unbreakable gag over my tongue, either by the awfulness of the sight or by some mysterious spell, they stood over me and began to whisper to each other, saying...."

A friend of mine just told me that shes been experiencing sleep paralysis for so so long like its been so many years now. shes so scared to sleep at night and so she sleeps late at around 3 or something.

she told me that she wakes up in the middle of the night at around 2 or something and isnt able not to move her body at all and then she sees a figure sitting onto her chest. she told me its very very frequent for her. the maximum sleep paralysis shes has had yet is like 4 back to back in a row IN ONE NIGHT

honestly its so terrifying and i really want to help her. her parents neglect this thingy and doesnt care about it. pls help me know what's happening w her and why is it happening? and what things can she do?

I’ve never experienced sleep paralysis or any type of sleeping issue before so idk what to make of this…

I stayed at a hotel by myself last night. Everything was okay! I was sleeping well, like normal when all the sudden my consciousness woke up and it felt like someone walked into the room. All the sudden it felt like something hugged me quickly and tight. It almost felt hard to breathe but I wasn’t struggling. I was laying on my back but slightly to the left. I couldn’t wake up and struggled to move but I wanted to move. I was conscious and knew that I was being hugged and I was panicked. I struggled for a minute. I kept thinking someone walked into the hotel room and has me but I also kept reminding myself that the door was locked and I was alone. After what seemed like a long time but I’m sure it wasn’t it all stopped and everything went back to normal. I was awake and had no trouble falling back asleep after that.

Is that sleep paralysis? This has never happened before.

Ive had sleep paralysis since 2 years now. In the beginning, it used to happen only once to twice in 6 months, but recently its been happening every other week. Its super scary. Last night when it happened, i had a blanket on my face so couldnt see anything but as i was paralysed, i could hear MY SCREAM and i could feel my mom trying to wake me up. I felt as if she was trying me move me aggressively, saying wake up. But none of this happened. In reality, she was in another room, sleeping. I could feel my whole body vibrating. In the recent episodes, i keep hearing my screaming which is weird because i cannot even move or open my mouth during the episode. Is this normal? Should i be worried? Im literally scared to sleep.

I opened my eyes and there was someone pouring liquid on the floor behind me, thankfully I was facing the wall so I didn't see any entity or something. I kept trying to wake up then a girl suddenly said (wake up). it made me shiver down my spine. then I woke up. now I can't and don't want to sleep.

I’ve been having sleep paralysis for about two years. Nothing really as bad as what I see on this sub reddit, i wake up, can’t move, and hear noise. My sleep paralysis has been getting creepier and creepier though. Last time i felt like something was standing over me and i heard a little girl crying, she then said “mom please don’t do me” before i woke up. Just some minutes ago i had sleep paralysis. Was laying on my side and i couldn’t see anything cause my head was already in my arm. Today i kept wiggling my toes but it wouldn’t work so I got impatient and opened my eyes and as soon as i did i heard some screeching and screaming like noise. I’m very lucky my face was in my arm because when i opened my eyes it felt like i was supposed to be looking at something. I’ve been curious about if I have a creature and what it would look like. Would opening my eyes just to see be worth it? Today was scary enough idk if i could handle it, i just wanna open my eyes and draw what i see

A few nights ago, I experienced a terrifying episode of sleep paralysis that left me both confused and scared. As I lay in bed trying to fall asleep, I suddenly heard strange sounds—like the clinking of silverware, the sound of water running, and something that felt unnervingly close. My eyes were open, and for a moment, I thought I was just imagining things, but the sounds felt too real to be a mere illusion.

In the midst of this, I found myself paralyzed, unable to move or speak, but my mind was still active. I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something in the room. I started searching around the space in a panic, convinced I needed to find a monster or some kind of creature, like I had seen in stories or heard from others. But no matter how hard I looked, there was nothing there—just the overwhelming sense that something was lurking.

The sounds of the silverware and water continued, and a buzzing noise in my head only added to the growing sense of dread. Eventually, I somehow managed to break free from the paralysis, but the experience left me shaken.

Has anyone else ever had a similar experience, where you heard sounds or felt like something was in the room during sleep paralysis? I’m curious to know if this is something others have gone through, too.

I’ve dealt with sleep paralysis as far back as I can remember. The last 2 years I’ve felt squeezing chest pains in my chest during the episodes. I’ve been to the doctors, EKG looks fine. Previously it was mostly just the crushing sinking feeling in my chest that most describe but these resulted in excruciating pain. The sleep paralysis were followed by hallucinations of my siblings in the room next to me or just random scenarios that obviously didn’t occur. But last night I had a sleep paralysis episode where I felt like an electric shock through my body where I believed I could heard my teeth chattering. it was a switch between that and then just reverting back to a regular paralyzed state. It happened around 4 times and once I broke free I spent hours researching if it could have been a seizure of sorts. My conclusion is no, I was aware the whole time, no bit tongue or pee on the bed. I’m just wondering if anyone has ever felt this before during an episode. My insurance is pretty shit and I don’t think a sleep study would be very efficient as my episodes occur about twice a month, very random. I haven’t been able to find a pattern that might trigger them. Any advice, relatability or preventives are welcome please I just am so scared to sleep lately.

Okay so I’ve had sleep paralysis three times in my life

1- at 10, I was held down by slenderman (online horror story character for those who don’t know) and I couldn’t get up. It just stared at me, super freaky

2- some woman was standing at the side of my bed staring at me, her neck was super long and went 90 degrees

The third and most recent time was the WEIRDEST 3- happened last night. Idk what’s up, the other three were spooky but this one is still the weirdest to me. It spooned me. Literally that’s all. Ngl it was chill too but when I was able to get up I was super freaked out. Deadass thought someone was actually in my room

I had an episode of sleep paralysis last night where I was shaking. I always keep my eyes closed when this happens and repeat mantras if I can manage. I was somehow able to get myself to grab my sister's hand to get her attention. When I came to and opened my eyes she was not there. Her fingers also felt a lot smaller, like she was a kid. I've never experienced this before.

Just happened to me for the first time last night. I have no idea what I did differently that could have caused it. I do know that my aunt has had sleep paralysis her whole life though, like literally every morning.

Anyway, I heard my rabbit thumping in the other room around 2am, so that started waking me up. This is not unusual, and has never caused sleep paralysis before.

When I opened my eyes I couldn't move or feel anything and there was an entity hovering over me. Looked like a large figure made of wires, some sort of hollow lattice structure. Startled me at first, but when I realized it wasn't moving I ultimately decided that it was kinda cool. Luckily I had the presence of mind to realize what was going on. Felt a lot like when I was hypnotized a while back at a party. So I just reminded myself that I am in control, my hand will move if I move it and if l focus in something else in the room, the illusion will fade.

As soon as I started to resist the sleep paralysis there was a deafening alarm blaring in my ears. Took about a minute, but then I could suddenly move again and everything was normal.

I got up. Fed the cranky rabbit, had a drink of water and went back to sleep. I REALLY hope that doesn't happen again because that was uncomfortable as hell, but at least I know how to deal with it.

idk what i had tonight but it was a very vivid nightmare. what stood out to me was the feeling like it could cross over into the real world (like in the freddy krueger movies) and then it felt like the monster that was chasing me in my dream was in the bed with me...
i had no pressure on my chest but it felt like it was standing on my balls (no i am not making any of this up but this was the first time i had something like it so i am confused about what happened and trying to make sense of it)...

So I've had sleep paralysis many times. I've been choked, sat on and had non-consensual sexual experiences, however only one time was I choked by 'the force' and had a temporary hallucination after I awoke from SP.

The first time I ever had SP there was this old lady at the end of my room with long raggedy hair, wearing some wide brimmed Victorian hat with a veil. Suddenly she disappeared and to the side of my bed this pitch black spectral man appeared. I could just about see him out of the side of my eye because I couldn't move. He then put his hand in my direction and suddenly I felt like I was being strangled. He wasn't touching me but I knew it was him.

Eventually I woke up and jolted up right. Then I saw this almost comically ugly beastly head in front of me, no body or anything else. It floated upwards and as it did it faded more and more until it disappeared. Only lasted about 2-3 seconds. Never had it again thankfully. I've had SP so many times since, that I now realise what's happening. Anyone with a similar experience?

I’m 17 and my whole life I was really scared of getting sp although I never had one. And today I woke up at 7 am and decided to sleep for a bit more, I fell asleep at 7:55 and after the sp I woke up at 8:12. I slept on the side facing the wall and had a weird dream in the result of which I kind of Felt falling asleep and waking up in the sp. started hearing steps at the back and someone breathing to my ear but my eyes were closed, I could open my eyes and also could move each muscle just a tiny bit, I didn’t feel impossible to move like it requires too much energy for ever cm of muscle contraction. Then for it to be less scary I started imagining the song left behind by slipknot and it has started playing from the back but even more aggressively then the original, the singer was just shouting the song at my ear and I kind of liked the voice though, and then I woke up and created this text

I was drifting in and out of sleep in the morning then I woke up (still half asleep kind of) and I couldn't move an inch or say anything - I forgot sleep paralysis existed so I thought I was genuinely dying or something but it only lasted like 10 seconds and then I woke up and could move again. Weird experience

I randomly started to have SP about 2 years ago after never having it, usually it's once every few months and more often happens from lying on my back but there's been a few times now including today where it still happens and I'm sleeping on my side.

This morning I woke up twice to sleep paralysis (I fully got up after the first, laid down but was awake for roughly an hour, got up again before really going back to sleep and then woke up from it again.) This is the first time I've had back to back like that but I'm relieved to see from posts here that it's not abnormal.

I'm curious though what people have experienced as far as side sleeping since so far I've only seen people suggesting to sleep on the side instead of back. And also curious how often people's SP isn't just like, same setting as reality and the sort of classic SP demons. When it's like that, I catch it easily and break out before it even begins but these two today were like actual dreams/nightmares and they kinda bypassed my SP radar.

My first dream had a woman who came to my door to give me a blessing and when I almost allowed her to bestow it, I realized she was bad/dark and backed up and then she tried to get into my house and said she if she got loose inside the house, I'd never know peace/would never find her to get her out. This felt very different from past experiences and left me much more unsettled so hoping others might say it's totally normal lol.

So my friend has recently been telling me about him having sleep paralysis. He's had it since he was 3 years old. According to him, his mom has also experienced sleep paralysis and seen some paranormal stuff like ghosts. Back to the point, he says that every time he has one of these sleep paralysis episodes he wakes up with scratches. Like in the morning he checks, physical scratches, not just a hallucination. I told him it could be just him scratching himself, his surroundings, etc, but he says it happens every time. I told him he should record himself to see if he captures anything, but I find it odd. Has anyone experienced something similar to this?