Since I was young had experiences with parasomnia in the past such as sleep-walking, and night terrors. My father had told me that as a kid he would often see a dark figure standing over his bed at night. To be sure, I’m a bit of a skeptic and I think that the hooded man/hat man/shadow man can be attributed to a parasomnia called sleep paralysis. When I had recently moved to Texas after finishing college and ending a relationship—a time of great emotional stress– I had an experience with what I would describe as “hooded man.” I had never had a sleep paralysis before, but I had read descriptions and, as it was happening I realized that this was what was happening to me. I kept saying to myself, “be calm, it will pass.” That didn’t change the fact that the experience was very frightening.
By Steven Laing