My name is Andre, and I am in my mid-twenties. Since childhood, I have often experienced sleep paralysis. And believe me, it’s not a very pleasant feeling. You suddenly wake up from your sleep and find you can’t move a single muscle. Arms, legs, nothing. You only feel a crushing weight on you, holding you down. During the paralysis, you can see frightening things which have nothing to do with real life. They’re merely a fabrication of your imagination or, at times, nightmares. However, at the moment, they seem very real. This fact is the most frightening part of sleep paralysis.
I moved to a small cottage in late January. It was a beautiful old building near a small town in Montana with a view of a lake nearby. I got it for an excellent price - later hearing there were rumors that the property was ‘haunted.’ For that reason, no one wanted to buy it; only one family lived near.
Now, I never believed in that stuff; hauntings, ghosts, monsters… I considered it all a hoax. So, I saw that it was an excellent opportunity and sealed the deal. I moved in and spent a few weeks unpacking. Everything was going well. I was never disturbed by any neighbors, let alone ghosts or monsters.
After a few weeks, a massive snowstorm hit, and the building lost power. I had spent the day unpacking and moving furniture but had to stop without light, as the night came on. Essentially trapped inside and in the dark, I decided to head to bed early. Tomorrow I will unpack the remainder of my stuff. Exhausted, I sank into a deep slumber. Sleep came quickly, but I woke up to the sound of tapping? Tapping on a… window? It must have been a tree branch blowing in the storm. I opened one eye and glanced towards the upper window but saw no storm or….. tree. I tried to move my head but found I was unable. I couldn’t move. Oh great, I was paralyzed… I heard the tapping again and looked down further and saw…
It was a face. The most terrifying face I’ve ever seen in my life. It appeared to be a person, but its eyes were deep black hollows. It had a wide grin that went from ear to ear. It turned its head right to left and grinned at me, both of its hands pressed to my window. It had long, jagged, black nails that clicked upon the glass. It tilted its head, and I heard the sound of bones cracking. Everything about it scared me, but that terrifying inhuman smile horrified me the most. I wanted to scream, I tried to run, but still, I couldn’t move. All my struggles were in vain. I squeezed my eyes tight and willed myself to believe that this wasn’t real. It was merely the figment of my imagination, an illusion like the ones before, but it looked so real. It felt so REAL. It was more vivid than any of my sleep paralysis hallucinations before.
I opened my eyes, but it had vanished, just like that, into thin air. I exhaled a sigh of relief. It had passed. I expected the episode to be over and my body to shortly return under my control. Only a few seconds must have passed when I heard sounds coming from the kitchen. Fear stabbed through my body as I thought, ‘What was it in my house?’
My imagination ran wild with horrible things. I turned my gaze towards the door. It was slightly ajar, and I could barely make out a silhouette, just outside. Chills ran down my spine as I heard the door creaking open, inch by inch. My eyes met its inhuman face and the shadow moved closer. It slowly scraped towards my bed and I heard the floorboards protest under its monstrous weight.
I pleaded with my unresponsive limbs as the thing inched forward. But still, they laid motionless… All I felt was that familiar crushing dark weight pressing me into the mattress.
It stopped right in front of me.
The black orbs glared down upon me as my eyes followed that exaggerated smile, ear to ear. The scene blurred slightly as I felt a single tear run down my face. More followed as I accepted my fate, and I knew there was nothing I could do.
I blinked back the tears and steeled myself for whatever horrors this monstrosity would inflict upon me. And noticed, in between one heartbeat and the next, it was gone… It had again vanished…
My muscles finally responded and began working as I drew a precarious breath. I felt a cool breeze from the open door and looked around. The thing appeared to be gone. Had it been real? I heaved a sigh of relief, got up, and quickly closed the door. I glanced out the window and saw no creature. I thanked God or whatever that it was over. I clicked the lights, but they still refused to come on. I made my way carefully back to my bed, lying awake for seemingly hours before sleep claimed me.
When the sun finally came up, the previous night’s terror faded to embarrassment over such a juvenile reaction to a nightmare. Was I some little kid needing to cry to mommy over a bad dream?
I willed my mind to the tasks for the day and started to get dressed. When I made a discovery in the morning light from the window. My eyes trailed large gouges in the old wood leading from the front door to my bedside… It was right along the path that the grinning… THE THING, had taken. A fresh wave of fear flooded over me… Was it not a hallucination after all? Could it have been real?? Was something actually in my room last night?
Perhaps it’s time to reconsider my beliefs in monsters…