As a part of our Halloween 2017 coverage, we’ve decided to open up a bit of our personal lives, and share some scary stories. These are full on eye witness accounts of spooky occurrences. So, get your popcorn ready. Feel free to pull these stories out around the campfire, too.
This one isn’t so much a traditional scary story as it is just a crazy ass scientific phenomenon. According to the mighty truthful Wikipedia:
Sleep paralysis is when, during awakening or falling asleep, one is aware but unable to move.[1][2] During an episode, one may hear, feel, or see things that are not there.[1] It often results in fear.[1] Episodes generally last less than a couple of minutes.[2] It may occur as a single episode or be recurrent.[1]
But, we’re not going to focus on exactly what sleep paralysis is. No, we’re going to take a closer look at the symptoms:
The central symptom of sleep paralysis is being aware but being unable to move during awakening.[1]
Imagined sounds such as humming, hissing, static, zapping and buzzing noises are reported during sleep paralysis.[4] Other sounds such as voices, whispers and roars are also experienced.[5] These symptoms are usually accompanied by intense emotions: such as fear, and panic.[6] People also have sensations of being dragged out of bed or of flying, numbness, and feelings of electric tingles or vibrations running through their body.[7]
Sleep paralysis may include hallucinations, such as a supernatural creature suffocating or terrifying the individual, accompanied by a feeling of pressure on one’s chest and difficulty breathing.[8] Another example of a hallucination involves a menacing shadowy figure entering one’s room or lurking outside one’s window, while the subject is paralyzed.[9]
Yeah, nailed it.
It’s the most terrifying thing I’ve ever experienced. There is no sense of relief like the relief you feel when you dissolve out of a sleep paralysis episode.
I created this site back in 2015, and many of you might be surprised to hear that we actually don’t make much money. The Internet footprint just isn’t quite where it needs to be yet, and we’ve still yet to officially launch our clothing line. So, between design sales, advertisers, and affiliate marketing, we just aren’t making enough to support a full-time employee.
So, the bulk of the work here is done between 5AM-8AM and 8PM-2AM daily. Yeah, you read that correctly. For a while there, your boy was pulling near all nighters trying to make things happen here. I didn’t hold up long at all. Health issues forced me to go to my doctor where I was told I need to quit burning the candle at both ends. My stress, lack of sleep, and lack of activity was going to cause serious health problems if I didn’t cut back. So, I eventually did. Ate better, worked out a little more, and made a rule to not work past midnight anymore (side note: though I gave up those hours, I actually found that when rested, I was ten times more productive).
But, there for a while, sleep paralysis was a regular occurrence. At one point, it was every night. I’d lose sleep trying to avoid it, and it only made it worse. All of the stories you hear are true. You see the weird shadowy figures with distorted faces. You feel trapped, suffocated, and terrified.
One night, I opened my eyes to see hundreds of softball sized spiders scouring across the walls. One morning, I awoke to the sound of my girlfriend screaming for help and I couldn’t move to help her (don’t worry – hearing things is a side effect, too. She was perfectly fine watching the DIY Network from the recliner. But, you can imagine how heart wrenching it is to hear nonetheless).
The weirdest instance wasn’t even all that scary. I woke up one morning while we were visiting family in New Jersey to see that someone had set a ladder up over my body. There was a man atop it, painting the ceiling, and the paint was dripping off the ceiling and hitting my face. Yes, I could literally feel liquid hitting my face. Keep your dirty jokes to yourselves, folks. It was fuckin’ weird.
A lot of what people report as hauntings are actually instances of sleep paralysis. The more you know.
OTHER SOBROS SCARY STORIES
Cats Are Creepy
The Shadow Man of Gladeville
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. A strong advocate of GSD (get shit done) and #BeBetter, he’s down to talk Tennessee Titans and Alabama Crimson Tide football over a beer any day. Check him out covering the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley, @WrestlingNewsCo
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