10 Terrifying First-Hand Accounts Of Sleep Paralysis
You can’t move. There’s something pressing down on you, on your chest, making it hard to breathe. The room is dark, but the darkness has a razor edge, not merely a shadow but something malicious. Then you see the shivering little child in the corner of the bedroom. At the same time, the child sees you. You try to scream, but all you can manage is a choked, terrified whisper as the child starts crawling toward you in the dark.
It’s estimated that around 40 percent of the population has experienced sleep paralysis. Modern research into the phenomenon agrees that sleep paralysis is most likely caused when a person wakes suddenly from rapid eye movement (REM), a sleep stage in which the body is essentially paralyzed to prevent it from acting out dreams. But all the science in the world can’t make it easier to deal with a nightmare unfolding before your open eyes.