In which I am attacked by a sex demon...
My dad used to suffer from sleep paralysis. It’s this sleep disorder where you try to wake up in middle of REM sleep and find yourself paralyzed, still dreaming. He used to lay in bed, unable to move or make a sound, and hallucinate shadowy figures standing in his room, evil presences sitting next to him on the bed, or pressure on his chest. He would scream for help in the dream, but was only mumbling in reality.
Eventually, it stopped (or, if it hadn’t, he hasn’t mentioned it since). A few years later, and I’ve got it.
It’s only an occasional thing. It’s only happened twice, and I blame the stress of college.
I think I posted about it last year. We thought our dorm room was haunted because stuff would move or disappear, and one of the lights flickered, and something kept touching us. One night, I was asleep (with my three other roommates in the room), and woke up. I couldn’t move, and there was this horrible pressure on my chest, like something was sitting on me. But there was nothing there. Then I felt hands wrap around my neck. I tried to call out to my roommates, but couldn’t talk because it was choking me. I don’t know how long it lasted, but eventually I woke up. One of my roomies happened to have insomnia and already be awake. She (thankfully) got up and turned on her desk lamp across the room and logged onto the internet. Without her sitting there with a light on, I don’t think I’d have been able to go back to sleep. The next morning I apologized for the noises that must have woken her, and she said the only she heard was a gasp as I woke up and then the puffing of my inhaler while I tried to get my breath back.
I figured out what it must have been because my dad had it, but it still felt real enough that I checked my neck for bruising the next day.
So, last night I was sleeping in my room and woke up on a cot in a forest. I was dreaming I was camping with a friend, but I could still kind of see my room. All of a sudden, I was standing up and there was a hand wrapped around my throat and that same suffocating pressure on my chest. I tried to call out for my roommates again, but another hand snaked around and covered my mouth and nose. The thing choking me was whispering in my ear, too, cold breath puffing through my hair, in some language I couldn’t understand. After a few horrible minutes of this (and the perfectly-rational-at-the-time thought of “it’s a demon!” which prompted some random praying because even though I‘m a blasphemous whore who will burn in Hell I still have faith in God), I woke up for real. I was terrified out of my mind to go back to sleep. I still am.
I did some research today and found that a lot of people experience their fears (so, apparently I’m subconsciously afraid of suffocating, probably due to the asthma) along with the paralysis. There are also “dark presences” and voices and out of body experiences. Over all, it’s a creepy-as-hell experience and I’d like to never go through it again (though if it’s triggered by stress, I might not have a choice).
Random fun fact, though: sleep paralysis was once thought to be caused by incubi and succubi. So, apparently, the demon-thought was pretty much on-par. Which makes sense, since I did a bunch of research on incubi last year for a paper. Maybe my subconscious remembered and that’s why the Our Father triggered my wake up (because Lord knows I’ve had nightmares where that didn’t work).
Eventually, it stopped (or, if it hadn’t, he hasn’t mentioned it since). A few years later, and I’ve got it.
It’s only an occasional thing. It’s only happened twice, and I blame the stress of college.
I think I posted about it last year. We thought our dorm room was haunted because stuff would move or disappear, and one of the lights flickered, and something kept touching us. One night, I was asleep (with my three other roommates in the room), and woke up. I couldn’t move, and there was this horrible pressure on my chest, like something was sitting on me. But there was nothing there. Then I felt hands wrap around my neck. I tried to call out to my roommates, but couldn’t talk because it was choking me. I don’t know how long it lasted, but eventually I woke up. One of my roomies happened to have insomnia and already be awake. She (thankfully) got up and turned on her desk lamp across the room and logged onto the internet. Without her sitting there with a light on, I don’t think I’d have been able to go back to sleep. The next morning I apologized for the noises that must have woken her, and she said the only she heard was a gasp as I woke up and then the puffing of my inhaler while I tried to get my breath back.
I figured out what it must have been because my dad had it, but it still felt real enough that I checked my neck for bruising the next day.
So, last night I was sleeping in my room and woke up on a cot in a forest. I was dreaming I was camping with a friend, but I could still kind of see my room. All of a sudden, I was standing up and there was a hand wrapped around my throat and that same suffocating pressure on my chest. I tried to call out for my roommates again, but another hand snaked around and covered my mouth and nose. The thing choking me was whispering in my ear, too, cold breath puffing through my hair, in some language I couldn’t understand. After a few horrible minutes of this (and the perfectly-rational-at-the-time thought of “it’s a demon!” which prompted some random praying because even though I‘m a blasphemous whore who will burn in Hell I still have faith in God), I woke up for real. I was terrified out of my mind to go back to sleep. I still am.
I did some research today and found that a lot of people experience their fears (so, apparently I’m subconsciously afraid of suffocating, probably due to the asthma) along with the paralysis. There are also “dark presences” and voices and out of body experiences. Over all, it’s a creepy-as-hell experience and I’d like to never go through it again (though if it’s triggered by stress, I might not have a choice).
Random fun fact, though: sleep paralysis was once thought to be caused by incubi and succubi. So, apparently, the demon-thought was pretty much on-par. Which makes sense, since I did a bunch of research on incubi last year for a paper. Maybe my subconscious remembered and that’s why the Our Father triggered my wake up (because Lord knows I’ve had nightmares where that didn’t work).