Or if you want to see a really terrifying version, check out this painting by Johann Heinrich Fussli.
I guess everyone knows about this sleep phenomenon, when you are partially awake and paralyzed, with the feeling of some thing pinning you down. I often wonder how often this happens to people, because I have suffered from it my entire life. Although I wouldn't go so far as to say it happens on average once per month, I can say it easily happens several times per year.
The last one was last night. I'm lucky now. Since I got married, as soon as I start freaking out and screaming it wakes up my wife and she speaks or pokes me so I become fully awake and am able to snap out of it. Back when I slept alone, it was just a terrifying experience that left me nerve-wracked and exhausted.
Most times I can't make out any details of the dream-beast. I know it isn't real, but in this semi-sleep state, the dreams become hallucinations. It isn't pleasant.
When I am able to make something out, it often looks only like a vaguely human shape that somehow manages to shine blackly in the darkness.
Back when I used to play Doom a lot, I once semi-awakened and in my sleep paralysis hallucinated a bunch of lost souls coming at me. They floated across the room slowly, just like in the game, then spotted me and rushed toward me. This time the fear was so intense that it awakened me fully and I jumped out of bed with a scream. Sounds stupid, but when you're lying with your eyes open and unable to move and you see a bunch of these guys floating into your bedroom, it's no fun.
I wish I could figure out what triggers this, if anything. I wish I could look forward to it never happening again. But I know in a few weeks more it will.
So why am I writing about it? I don't know. Maybe this will make it go away, but I doubt it.
