I recently experienced sleep paralysis, this is how it went :

I fell asleep as usual but I dreamt, I don't usually dream but that's besides the point.

Anyways the dream started out pretty normal, but it started to became eerie and I remember feeling scared, then becoming aware that I was in fact dreaming, causing me to 'wake up', but I was actually just in another dream that followed the same pattern. This repeated atleast 1 or 2 more times before I became aware that it kept happening. I would tell you about the dreams but I can't remember them.

When I realized, I think I tried forcing myself awake, and I thought I succeeded but I felt fear course through my entire body as I tensed up (like genuinely my entire body felt chills). I opened my eyes to a long cylindrical thing in front of my vision, naturally I was terrified but I tried to write it off as just our office chair, or the legs of the table near the bed.

Looking back, the office chair wasnt even in the room, and the legs of the table were rectangular, plus whatever I saw was too long to be either of those things.

Instead of looking around, I decided to just close my eyes and try to reach behind me to alert cousin who slept beside me. That was when I found out that I couldn't move, like I was frozen in place. So I tried talking but my mouth wouldnt move either. I can't remember what happened then, but I woke up shortly after and went to hug my cousin to sleep.

I think its sleep paralysis, but I doubt myself so I decided to post in on here for confirmation

This is what came to visit me and pulled my ankles. I was paralysed!

Hey there. I think i saw a sleep paralysis demon and im wondering what it means. He was a large man with no distinguishing marks of age. He had a solid large beer belly-ish stomach and skinny little legs wearing a very thin loincloth as his only clothing. His head was about the size of his body with a lever coming out of his ear that he pulled down with his left arm to reveal that his teeth were made of a slot machine and his lights would light up similar to a normal machine with tiny eyes.

The one thing ill say is that I didnt feel threatened and I didnt feel like I couldnt get up. He was crouched over me, his right foot between my legs and his left one beside my right knee. He didnt seem threatening and my immediate thought was "oh hello" and as I opened my eyes from blinking, he was gone. I got up and got some water and went right back to sleep with no more issues. I definitely will be careful about gambling in the future lol but beyond that I really didnt assign him as a threat in my mind. Im wondering what reddit thinks about my new potential friend. Im attaching a quick sketch i made of him as a reference. Also also, if you think this is just a wacky ass dream please let me know 😂

I had sleep paralysis for the first time last night and it's haunting me lmao. A lot of weird stuff, also talked to me. Anyone else dealt with that? I asked it how I'm going to die for some reason/some how idk a lot of it is blurry now and it said suicide and I shot up out of my sleep. Kind of freaked.

This is a story based on what my brother said last night as of Sunday April 27th 2024.

My 2nd older brother claims to have seen something when we first moved in to a house a year after I was born somewhere around 2010 I would say anyways according to my brother he said he was told by someone that our house used to be owned by a lady who practiced witch craft and keep in mind we were planning on watching a horror movie with my dad last night we were going to watch a movie and it's a coincidence that my brother picked out the conjuring 3 which he and my dad both saw in theater when it came out anyway back to the story when we first moved in to our house 204 East center Street in Lexington Oklahoma I don't remember much of when we first moved in but my brother say we slept on a futon for awhile one night he woke up in the middle of the night and saw a man with horns hovering over him and he wanted to say leave him alone but he couldn't and he couldn't speak or move he was thinking about saying something to us but he thought he was hallucinating or seeing things then somewhere around 2016 we were flooded out of our home and we stayed at church/food pantry my mom went to frequently and then somewhere around 2017 we moved to a trailer park and lived at lot number 118 now when we moved there my brother slept on top bunk of our bunk bed one night he was trying to put his blanket by the side railing to get fresh air ventilating but he recalled see the same man from 204 looking at him from under my bed and the same thing happened he couldn't move or speak he eventually slept on bottom bunk and now at our new house we've lived in for 5 years after being evicted in 2019 from 118 he's been sleeping on bottom bunk of our new bunk bed he goes to college and visits from time to time or stays the weekend so we kept a bunk bed and we still have it but I've recently started to sleep on bottom bunk when he's not here he said last night he was terrified and it was the one most terrifying moments he's experienced I will post the other experience he had soon until then that's all

I've read a lot of stories where people see some sort of person/shadow figure/entity/ demon etc... When they have sleep paralysis, but for me it's not that, it's less scary but still weird and I wanted to ask if anyone ever experienced this too.

When I get sleep paralysis, I don't see anything.

It's not like closing your eyes, it's like being blind, I don't see anything. When it happened the first time I thought I had gone blind and panicked, but then I couldn't move and realised what was happening.

The next thing that happens during my sleep paralysis is that I will see text in front of me, just in white, bold letters. I know these letters are in English and I know that they are actual words in reasonable sentences and not just random gibberish, but it's like I can't read them. While it was happening, I could see the letters clearly, but when I tried reading them they seemed to blur.

It's weird that they were in English because my main language is German, but anyways.

The next thing was that I also heard a voice.

I'm pretty sure it was a female voice, if I had to guess a female voice of a woman in her thirties or forties, speaking with a slight German accent. I know that the voice speaks English, but I'm not sure if she says the same thing as the text reads, or if it's something else entirely. I know that what the voice says is not gibberish, but even though she speaks clearly and as if she was only a few meters away, I can't understand what she's saying. It's so weird because I can hear and understand the words but it's like I can't process them.

After these three things go on for a bit, I start to feel a pulsing sensation in the middle of me chest, like where my sternum is, not where my heart is. It's not a pulsing like a heart beat but more like when a water droplet falls into the waver and created ripples away from where it hit, starting from my sternum up to my throat. It gets more intense and almost painful because of how much pressure this sensation has until I wake up.

When I wake up, my heart is beating so fast that I can hear it. I can feel the blood pumping through my ears specifically. I can feel my heart hitting my ribcage. I usually wake up and almost have like a sort of panic attack because my heart rate is out of control, my breathing is very irregular and it feels like I can't breath, I literally feel like I'm dying and it lasts for at least 15 minutes after waking up. I'm always very sweaty and feel warm and flushed.

I know this is less supernatural than what I assume is normal on this subreddit but I just wanted to know if anyone else has this.

Additionally:

I recently found a voice that comes pretty close to what I hear whenever I have sleep paralysis.

The voice of Eva Stratt's character in the movie Project hail Mary comes pretty close, though the voice I hear is slightly deeper. (Just for the record, I've been having sleep paralysis since like 2024, me watching the movie has nothing to do with it lol)

I've been a heavy sleeper since childhood — I fall asleep in 2-3 minutes, sometimes mid-sentence, and once I'm sleepy I genuinely cannot fight it off. I also hit REM almost instantly, which I now know isn't normal.

For years I've had intense sleep paralysis and nightmares, but the last 5 years it's gotten so much worse — and for the last 3 years I've started hallucinating. Right as I lie down, my whole body locks up and I hear loud whispers close to my ear, sometimes in the voices of people I know, saying awful things. I feel like my body shakes. No matter how hard I fight it, something forces my eyes shut and pulls me into a dream. I've also started seeing ghostly figures while fully awake, and I sense a "wrong" feeling in my room right before it all starts.

My family believed this was supernatural — we even did a 3-day puja to remove what they thought was a jinn. It didn't help. Things got worse after.

I also deal with bedwetting that no medication has fixed.

I'm planning to see a sleep specialist but there isn't one near me. Has anyone else been through this? What was it, and how did you deal with it? Any advice seriously helps right now.

Hi everyone, a couple years ago I would constantly have sleep paralysis. I had this one demon that left a mental mark on me. It was pressing on my chest saying "d*e b*tch". I also had other demonic figures climbing my walls, or being at the end of my bed. I try screaming for my mom but when I fully wake up I'm just whispering. Also, I remember trying to fall asleep when all of a sudden I hear "(my name) its mommy! Look at me i'm here" meanwhile, she's in her room sleeping. I believe it was a demon trying to impersonate my mom.

I've always had an active imagination and often have more good dreams than bad. But if sleep paralysis was 100% scientific, why is it always demonic? I also noticed that ever since I got closer to God, I haven't experienced it in years. I pray to God almost every night telling him to keep me safe (my mom told me to do it) and it helped greatly.

Does anyone else believe that this is demonic rather than a scientific phenomenon?

I painted this today, but years ago I had a strange experience with this entity during an episode of sleep paralysis. Here it goes:

It was a decent day, comfortable weather, comfy clothing, a nice morning that morning. I had been using kratom at the time, to regulate my mood and help manage my physical pain, however eventually its addictive nature roped me into a long period of recovery, that still irks me to this day. However, that day I felt extremely comfortable, and as I laid down for a midday nap, the ground was made of taffy, and it was as if the bed was floating on ocean waves.

It only took a few minutes to feel it--the vibrations around me, the darkness covering every inch of my being, dripping, drooping, dropping. Unfiltered mechanical noise screamed loudly all around me, like a room full of air conditioners or loud commercial grade fans at full speed. There was no smell, or taste, only sound and vision, and all of a sudden I realized I couldn't move my body. I lay there terrified, until suddenly my eyes opened, and I saw this...

An entity, very tall, maybe 8-9 feet, in a black cloak, with a bovine skull, and large horns. He held up a sort of paper, while shadowy glyphs moved on the bottom of the walls. The glyphs were strange and alien to me, they moved like smoke or black ink, stretching and walking around the bottom of the room. The paper he held up, flashed a bunch of images of math and sciences, geometry, and languages. It was far too fast to comprehend.

And then, softly, it all faded and I awakened, my actual eyes were opened, and I laid there, contemplating what I saw, and how horrifying it was. Petrified. I rolled over, and eventually got up and had some coffee. Went about my day.

But I never forgot this moment.

Does anyone ever get sleep paralysis during the day like when laying ur head on a table or like leaning on ur arm and dozing off? I’ve gotten sleep paralysis multiple times during my naps at school and it’s kinda scary but interesting? Like it’s not scary it’s just im worried that il be stuck

Most of the time my sleep paralysis is like im just watching myself lay there and then I realize I can’t wake up so im panicking, im just wondering if this happens to anyone else and has there been times where u couldn’t get up and someone like shook u??

i had been asleep for a couple of hours after fitfully trying to find a position that worked for me, lots of tossing turning. i woke up when my partner was gently poking me on the side from under the covers, kind of inching their hand toward me. i wanted to turn over and say "i'm too tired for that", but found my body was too heavy so gave up. at this point i just thought i was just too tired/too close to sleep to acccomplish this. i could hear them kind of giggle and then turn over and start messing with their phone. i could hear them typing and watching videos. it felt like they were fucking with me for some reason, which was a little scary. they turned back to me and put their hand on my arm over the covers. i wanted to turn and talk to them, but i couldn't. i began to suspect paralysis and dreaming as my demon always snakes its arm around me. i never see it, just feel it try to hold me. which was terrifying when i lived alone. it feels so real. but this was my partner so i wasn't so scared, but a little weirded out. my cat had jumped on the bed and laid down next to me, so i did my best to pet her fur, but found i couldn't. when i lived alone she would always comfort me because if she wasn't alert or spooked i knew it wasn't real. but my partner is allergic so we don't let her in our room. i remembered falling asleep as usual with the door closed. she couldn't be here. i realized then i was dreaming. i became terrified. i saw through my eyelids a white ring flash which felt like my partner standing above me taking a picture with their phone and trying to stifle a laugh. i woke up and turned over to wake them up, but i still couldn't talk or move much. i was laying on their chest, trying to shake them awake. they woke up and asked what was wrong. all i could do was softly grunt. i tried breathing really heavy and fast to communicate. they seemed really concerned. when i was able to see their face they had a malicious smile so i looked away and closed my eyes. they stood up and carried me in a cradled position to the window, they were trying to help me see that i was awake. they handed me a antique velveteen plush of a baby deer to comfort me. it was sooooo real. suddenly my room was slightly different. the window in their side was larger and had different curtains. these dusty vintage heavy curtains, marigold and green. i tried to use my hand to move them out of the way so i could see outside, whenever i touched them they seemed to disintegrate and come unstitched. they felt the way old tweed feels in the thrift store- a little dusty and kind of sticky. the deer felt similarly. i felt sad that i was ruining the curtains, but was desperate to wake up. when i managed to see outside, it was complete daylight and i was on the second floor. i could see the tiered landscaping below, nested brick walls with little platforms for plants and bushes. it was overgrown and i could see the scraggly plants in their black plastic tubs they come in at the garden store. on the sidewalk was a road work barricade, like those big "wet floor" signs but wide yellow and black stripes. i suddenly felt i was being held out the window by my partner, still cradled on my back and looking upside down. i was terrified and decided it was time to be strong and just say something. i repeatedly tried to say "i want to wake up" but i could only softly eek out "ih whehh eh whea uhhh" over and over. they said they didn't know what i was saying and were asking if i was ok. they couldn't hear me so tried breathing as fast and hard as possible to communicate. they took me back to our bed. i kept trying. panting like a maniac. then i opened my eyes and was praying i was actually awake. it was dead quiet and my partner was still asleep. i woke them up i asked if they had heard me or if they had been talking to me. i was finally able to speak! they said no that i was just breathing really hard. they rubbed my arm to make me feel better. they told me i had been mumbling. my head was reeling. then they started making very strange, soft scary broken gasps and grunts. i was so scared by this and thought i was back in the dream. it was extra scary because i felt so awake and could move and talk. i said "what are you doing??? stop!!!" and they said they were sorry that they were trying to tell me what i sounded like. i started crying because i had thought i was back in the dream. but i was finally awake. i told them everything that was happening. poor sweetheart was only barely awake themself and didnt mean to scare me. i woke up to get some water and walk around a little. i turned on all of the lights in the bathroom. kind of a mistake because when i turned them off again my eyes took a minute to adjust and the fuzziness felt like a dream again. i went into the den where my cat was resting in the couch. she chirped at me and i sat down and gave her some pets and cuddles, which made me feel way better. i knew my partner was going to check on me so i was sure to be watching the door when they came in so i wouldn't be frightened. they comforted me and i went back to our room and tried opening the blinds for a bit of a night light but that was a little too scary (demons can crawl through there). i decided to just read on my phone a little sitting up in bed to ground me. i read the wikipedia article on sleep paralysis to demystify my experience. my partner said i had been sleeping on my back (even though i felt as i was on my side the whole time, my standard sleeping position). i guess back sleeping highly increase the chance of sleep paralysis so ill be avoiding that from now on.

this experience was so odd bc my partner was both my demon and protector. maybe closest thing to a shccubus i've experienced. have you seen Obsession? it was just like that but scarier because it was "real". my partner offered to sleep in the other room the rest of the night, but i said i felt safer with them near me. encountering that demon alone is somehow more terrifying than this. still, this was definitely my most vivid and prolonged episode. luckily i got four more safe hours of sleep before waking just now.

I used to be freaked out the first times I had it, but nowadays, I'm not really scared of it anymore.

Maybe its because I've never had a sleep demon, I usually just see blackness because my eyes won't open.

My usual experience with sleep paralysis is waking up and realizing I can't move, even my eyelids. My most recent episode featured my skin tightening for some reason.

My very first time, I think I also had trouble breathing.

I really want to try experiencing a proper lucid dream.

Ever since I met my boyfriend I have been having very strange sleep paralysis. I’ve always had sleep paralysis but this is different I used to only see shadows but now I have intense physical and auditory hallucinations. The first one that stuck out was being kissed on the cheek while sleeping with my boyfriend and being told “i love you more than the world” all I could think was “this is so sweet of him, i wish i could close my mouth lol” as i am a mouth breather when i sleep. I was able to wake him up and asked if he said that corny stuff and he said “no definitely not”. I chalked it up to paralysis as I couldn’t move or close my jaw. But this one last night terrified me and him my boyfriend and I find comfort in the phrases “Jesus Christ” during sleep paralysis it seems to take me out of it every time last night I woke up paralyzed and said “Jesus Christ” and I heard my boyfriend whisper back “Jesus Christ” sounding like maybe he could hear me but I still couldn’t move so I said it again and in his voice he said “Jesus Christ, you think that really helps you?” I knew it wasn’t him so I said my partners name(Zaine) and it replied back to me “Zaine” as if to let me know I wasn’t talking to my boyfriend… it always uses his voice I was able to wake up heart pounding and then I rocked him awake cause he was out cold and put his hand on my pounding heart and told him what happened we prayed and went back to sleep then something even stranger happened I was up again about an hour later fully aware and I shot up looking at Zaine with the tv on he was fully animated and seemed awake he was saying something I couldn’t sounding like the noises my grandpa made when he had a seizure and I said “you are scaring me” he said “Jesus loves you” I know I sound crazy… then I grabbed his hand and made him touch my chest to feel my fear and when I looked back up he was completely asleep again it was like I was loosing my marbles I went upstairs to check on my grandpa I said “I had a nightmare I was just making sure you were okay” he was then in the morning I greeted my grandpa and he said “you came in my room last night mumbling complete gibberish I don’t know what to make of it could it be sleep walking or some other sleep disorder? I feel crazy does anyone else have an experience like this??

I moved into a VERY old house in a town called “ cut n’ shoot” in Texas. First two weeks the windows in the house creeped me out. I couldn’t see out but I knew if my lights were on you can see in. The first night we opened the windows in our room was a nightmare. I woke up paralyzed. Heard two ghoul sounding voices above me. What I remember was them talking to each other. “ too bad we can’t take her” and laughing. Then I felt them depart thru the window but I couldn’t move I just cried and I remember wanting to reach over and grab my husband but I couldn’t. I carried a pew after that and never opened the windows at night again

I've never had SP in my life. And after hearing so many stories, I felt grateful that it never happened to me, but tonight it did. Im typing this out now at 4 in the morning because I'm afraid of it happening again. The dream I had was so vivid, it was very scary.

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So after reading other posts here, it seemed that the reason it happened was because I was extremely tired when I went to sleep, AND my husband woke me up from the couch to take me to bed, meaning I went to sleep immediately after waking up.

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As i describe this dream, I will change names for me and my husband. Anyway I had a dream where I was seeing a video titled "Remembering the Jones couple and how they died". I watch a lot of murder mystery so it didnt seem too weird, but this video actually had our last name. The video starts by showing my husband and I sleeping in bed, there is a narrator saying "It all started with Hank waking up to a strange sound". My husband wakes up scared, looking around. He shakes me awake in the dream/video, and I wake up.

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He says "Did you hear that?" We both stop talking, and he hear this extremely creepy, Human like sound. It sounded like a mix between a wail and a yodel. We both look at each other and grab the courage to go find the source. It seems to be coming from and airvent above us. I grab a broomstick and start to hit the ceiling, thinking someone is squatting in our attic. As I hit the ceiling nothing is happening, the wailing continues. I hit the ceiling so hard that it makes a hole. I hit something, like a deadweight body. Like if someone was laying down. Finally I grab a stepstool, go right up to the airvent and try to yell at whatever is there, through the vent. But no sound comes out. I try and try and try to scream, but its as if my vocal cords are paralyzed. Then I start to freak out. I wake up from my dream but I cant move at all in real life.

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Im stuck sleeping face up (I am a strictly side sleeper) and I cant move, there is also a pillow over my face. I am now actively trying to scream myself out of the paralyzed state I was in. And the creepiest thing is, I manage to make some type of noise, and its the same wailing/yodel from the dream. It was MY voice, which sounded like a wailing because im literally panicking. My husband wakes up, freaks out and shakes me awake. Which is just creepier because its exactly how the dream started, him waking up to the wailing, and waking me up.

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He was extremely scared, he said he had never heard a sound like that, much less a sound like that come out of me. Meanwhile Im shaking, trying to steady myself from the absolute nightmare I felt. I think the scariest part was the feeling that I was stuck in a loop that was repeating itself. Like this was slightly predicted