Anyone have a night terror?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>This was a while back, but one night, I had the craziest nightmare ever.</p>

<p>I was sleeping and everything was fine, but I could see my surroundings in my dream. I don't know if I was awake or not, but I sure felt conscious. I looked at my doorway which is about 10 feet away, and I saw a dark shadowy figure. Very ominous, very scary. It continued to walk towards me, and it didn't say anything. When it came really close to me, it started choking me or something--I felt posessed by a spirit. Needless to say, this was the scariest moment of my entire life. I suddenly "awoke" from this incident and felt paralyzed. I could not move a single part of my body no matter how hard I tried. Not only that, but I was sweating and felt really tired. I must've fallen back asleep or something cause I don't remember what happened after that.</p>

<p>I've talked to other people about it and several people I know have had the same "shadow figure" dream. Anyone else familiar with this?</p>

2

<p>whoa. my brother had this shadowy figure thing where he couldn`t move, either. and it was choking him cause i had to go to his room to wake him up.</p>

<p>i get those falling off the cliff moments, where it feels like you<code>re going to fall and you try to regain your balance, but in reality, you</code>re not falling at all.</p>

3

<p>I've never experienced it but yeah, that's a (relatively) common thing - lots of folklore about it, etc.
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_hag%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_hag&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

4

<p>I'm scared to go to sleep now. Just yesterday, my sister was describing a scene from The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and it involved a dark, shadowy figure just as you had described.</p>

5

<p>from the same link that silentsailor cited (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_hag):%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_hag):&lt;/a> </p>

<p>"...various studies suggest that many or most people will experience sleep paralysis at least once or twice in their lives."
Whoa.</p>

<p>"Some report that various factors increase the likelihood of both paralysis and hallucinations. These include:</p>

<p>Sleeping in a supine position (facing upwards)
Irregular sleeping schedules; naps, sleeping in
Increased stress
Sudden environmental/lifestyle changes
A lucid dream that immediately precedes the episode"</p>

<p>4 out of 5 risk factors apply to me.</p>

6

<p>Gluck.
Mine occurred to me last winter break.</p>

<p>I stopped sleeping facing upwards. I find that having my face in the pillow is more comfortable</p>

7

<p>seriously, i'm terrified of going to sleep now. it's now 2:45 am, and i'm still up! why does sleep paralysis have to be associated with evil presence??</p>

8

<p>No need to worry man. Uhh, turn on some music and keep a dim light on :)</p>

9

<p>i'm not easily scared, but to know that everyone will have experienced this at least once or twice in their lives is terrifying.</p>

<p>i will have to sleep with the lights on.</p>

10

<p>Whoa. 4 out of those 5 risk factors apply to me as well.</p>

<p>I had a family friend who slept face down, in the pillow. He passed away because of suffocation. I guess it<code>s kind of risky to sleep like that, unless you</code>re really comfortable in that position.</p>

11

<p>ok now this may sound really silly but when i read hp 1......which was way way back.....i couldnt sleep for days. you know who (voldemort) kept popping up in my dreams.
hehe
i was so tired of being scared that one day i just seduced him...we have been lovers ever since
HAHAHA</p>

12

<p>gianscolere1
believe me the **** i mentioned really works, :D</p>

13

<p>seducing this evil presence?? i don't know about that!! </p>

<p>on a second thought, this strategy might work. it's all in the head, right?</p>

<p>3:16 am</p>

14

<p>it will.
just adjust the sex of the "evil presence" according to your preferences :D</p>

15

<p>This usually happens when you're trying to have a lucid dream (it's when you realize you're dreaming and gain control of your dream). Happened to me once - I saw this
<a href="http://www.cdaccess.com/gifs/shared/front/large/temujin.jpg%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.cdaccess.com/gifs/shared/front/large/temujin.jpg&lt;/a>
floating on my wall.</p>

<p>BTW, google images has never been scarier.</p>

16

<p>i've had about 2 of these in my life. very scary :X</p>

17

<p>u know what scares me is my chair in my room. sounds messed up but when i cant fall asleep and it is dark i imagine seeing someone in it. its creepy</p>

18

<p>agh yeah this past summer when i read hp i was having nightmares of dementors in my room.</p>

19

<p>nope
ive never had a scary shadow thing enter mi bedroom, but it sounds spooky. i always dream of going down steps, and falling, and when i try to put my foot down to regain balance, i just kick in my sleep and wake up, my heart thudding. i sleep walk sometimes, lol. but no shadow beings. u should read until you fall asleep, you never have bad dreams then.</p>

20

<p>
[quote]
i always dream of going down steps, and falling, and when i try to put my foot down to regain balance, i just kick in my sleep and wake up, my heart thudding.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>hey, that's happened to me too! it always happens in the car. i would stomp my feet when i try to regain my balance, and then everyone would be like #$%#$%? quite embarrassing.</p>