What is Sleep Paralysis?
Sleep paralysis is a condition that occurs when your brain wakes up but your body doesn’t. You become conscious, aware of your surroundings—but unable to move, speak, or cry out. The paralysis can last from a few seconds to several minutes, and it’s often accompanied by hallucinations so vivid they blur the line between dream and nightmare.
These are called hypnopompic hallucinations (as you're waking) or hypnagogic hallucinations (as you're falling asleep). And for centuries, they’ve been described as demonic, ghostly, or even extraterrestrial.
And he’s been reported across cultures, languages, and continents.
And in some tragic cases, he never leaves.
The Types of Sleep Paralysis
Sleep paralysis can appear in many forms, but it typically manifests in three disturbing categories:
1. The Intruder
A dark presence in the room. Sometimes it stands in a doorway. Sometimes it’s beside your bed. You feel it more than see it. This entity is often malevolent and triggers overwhelming dread.
2. The Chest Pressure
Also known as the “Old Hag” syndrome. Victims report an invisible force sitting on their chest, making it difficult to breathe. Some experience the sensation of being choked, suffocated, or crushed.
3. The Out-of-Body Experience
A disorienting detachment where your mind feels separated from your body. Victims often describe floating, being dragged, or observing their own paralyzed form from above.
What Triggers It?
Sleep paralysis doesn’t come out of nowhere. It’s a doorway—opened by:
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Trauma and PTSD
Unprocessed trauma often disrupts REM sleep cycles, leaving the body vulnerable to paralysis episodes. -
Guilt and Repression
Recent studies suggest unresolved guilt can manifest physically during REM, creating shadow-like projections in the mind. -
Sleep Deprivation
A lack of deep sleep is one of the most common triggers. Your body becomes vulnerable during interrupted cycles. -
Irregular Sleep Schedules
Jet lag, overnight shifts, or inconsistent patterns confuse the brain’s circadian rhythm, setting the stage for attack. -
Substance Abuse or Withdrawal
Stimulants, depressants, and even SSRIs have been linked to severe episodes of hallucination-induced paralysis.
Sleep Paralysis Demons Around the World
Though the name changes, the feeling is always the same. Here are just a few of the global entities tied to sleep paralysis:
The Old Hag (Newfoundland & Canada)
A grotesque woman who sits on your chest, stealing your breath. Her victims wake gasping, their bodies still pinned beneath her invisible weight.
Kanashibari (Japan)
Meaning “bound in metal,” this spirit paralyzes sleepers through spiritual possession. Some say it's punishment for disrespecting the dead.
Karabasan (Turkey)
A jinn-like creature that presses down on the chest of sleeping victims. It can be repelled by reciting prayers or invoking divine protection.
Pisadeira (Brazil)
A long-nailed, red-eyed witch who walks the rooftops at night and jumps onto people who sleep on a full stomach.
Popobawa (Tanzania)
A bat-like demon that enters through dreams and assaults its victims. Often tied to outbreaks of panic in rural villages.
Dab Tsog (Hmong Culture, Southeast Asia)
An evil spirit blamed for the deaths of many Hmong men in the 1970s and 80s. Victims would report seeing the spirit before dying in their sleep—classified medically as SUNDS (Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome).
Incubus/Succubus (Medieval Europe)
Sexual demons said to seduce or assault sleepers, often connected to sinful thoughts or suppressed desire. Many paralysis accounts during the Middle Ages were attributed to these beings.
Amuku (Fiji)
A ghostly figure that possesses the sleeping body, paralyzing the limbs and inducing visions of the afterlife.
Sleep paralysis is a serious and often terrifying condition where the body becomes immobile during the transition between sleep and wakefulness—what makes it truly dangerous is not just the overwhelming fear and trauma it leaves behind, but the fact that in rare cases, it has been linked to sudden unexplained death during sleep; many victims report seeing a massive, shadowy figure lurking just out of sight—monstrous in size, difficult to fully see—yet undeniably present.
But these aren’t just dreams. Ask anyone who’s felt it—the clawed hands gripping their legs, the whispers from the hallway, the entity standing just outside their peripheral vision.
The photo below is one that someone claims to have captured during their own encounter with the sleep paralysis demon.
You didn’t find this page by accident.
Maybe you’ve seen it too—the black shadow in the corner of your room. The one that doesn’t move until you do. Maybe you’ve felt the weight on your chest, the pressure behind your eyes, the cold breath of something ancient. You tried to scream, but your lips wouldn’t part. You prayed, but no words came out.
This is sleep paralysis. And it’s not just in your head.