It can be tough to get up in the mornings. Now imagine that you wake up, and you go to rise but you can’t move. Your chest is tight and your breathing is labored. You realize that you’re not alone in your room, maybe not even alone in your bed but you can’t turn to look or to defend yourself. All you can do is stare blankly at the ceiling while panic rises in your stiff body, and your voice stays locked in your throat.
The accounts that are related here are often first hand, though due to the nature of sleep paralysis and the fact that they are the product of waking dream state, readers should bear in mind that while these people may have believed this was happening at the time, science tells us otherwise.
10. Turn off the Light
Adam, a student, dozed off on the open pages of his textbook. As he nodded off, he remembered that he could hear the faint sounds of a TV downstairs. He awoke to find the room as he had left it; the light on his nightstand still on and his textbook in his hands. The first thing that seemed out of place was the fact that the room was freezing cold.
Adam was sure he could feel someone’s eyes on him, though he was alone in the room. He attempted to rise but his limbs were lead and his locked legs kept him in place. He began to panic, unsure of what was happening. The feeling of being watched grew stronger until it reached a crescendo of silence and stillness when the lamp clicked off next to his bed.
Still paralyzed he struggled internally to rise. Out of the blackness in his frigid room, Adam saw an old man floating toward his bed. The man’s eyes were nothing but bloody sockets and he was screaming and grabbing at Adam as he raged towards him.
When he again awoke, Adam recognized his nightmarish attacker as his deceased grandfather.
