Best Sleep Paralysis Stories Post

The Sleep Paralysis Stories cases readers rated highest and believed most — the jury's all-time picks.

1. Every Night at 3:33 I Wake Frozen, and the Hallway Light Is Already On

   I am a light sleeper and a creature of habit, which is why I know for certain that I turn the hallway light off every single night. I have a…

   175 Upvote · 67% of readers believe this story

2. The Tall Man in the Brimmed Hat Stands Where My Closet Used to Be

   I have moved twice since the first time I saw him, and he moves with me, which is the detail that keeps me up now, more than the freezing, m…

   168 Upvote · 67% of readers believe this story

3. I Started Sleeping With a Camera On, and It Recorded Me Whispering

   I am an engineer by training, so when the paralysis started I did what engineers do. I decided to gather data. If I could film it, I told my…

   152 Upvote · 66% of readers believe this story

4. My Son Woke Screaming About the Lady, and Then So Did I

   My son Theo started the night terrors around his fourth birthday. I want to say that plainly because I need you to understand I spent months…

   141 Upvote · 66% of readers believe this story

5. They Gathered at the Foot of My Bed and None of Them Had Faces

   People who get sleep paralysis usually describe one intruder. One presence, one shadow, one hag, one man in a hat. I have read hundreds of t…

   129 Upvote · 67% of readers believe this story

6. I Could See My Roommate Sleeping and I Still Could Not Scream

   The worst part of being frozen is the math you do. You lie there and you think, if I could just move my little finger, if I could just kick …

   118 Upvote · 67% of readers believe this story

7. My Grandmother Called It the Old Hag, and Now It Visits Me

   My grandmother kept a pair of open scissors under her mattress and a line of salt on her windowsill, and when I was a girl I thought it was …

   107 Upvote · 67% of readers believe this story

8. The Radio Turned Itself to Static Every Time I Woke Unable to Move

   I inherited my father's bedside radio when he passed, a heavy old thing with a dial and a mesh speaker, and I kept it more out of sentiment …

   101 Upvote · 67% of readers believe this story

9. The Weight That Sat on My Chest at 3:47 A.M.

   It always started the same way. My eyes would open and the ceiling would be there, gray and ordinary, and I would think, good, I am awake. T…

   96 Upvote · 68% of readers believe this story

10. The Night Shift Broke My Sleep and Something Moved Into the Gap

    I work nights at a hospital, on a unit I will not name, and if you want to break a human being down to the studs, put them on rotating shift…

    79 Upvote · 69% of readers believe this story

All Sleep Paralysis Stories