I’m 34 and I would say this happened about 10 years ago. Throughout my life I’ve experienced sleep paralysis and had a few other intense dreams. I was asleep and all of the sudden I was in pitch black with a tiny bit of light shining on the roof of a house.
The dream was completely focused on the roof. I could hear footsteps echoing. Then the hat man appeared. He was a black figure with no face. He had a hat on and a trench coat. He had a tail and hooves for feet. I watched him walk across the roof. He wanted all the attention on him. The end.
I woke up. It was so different than any dream I’ve ever had and so much more intense that I had to look into it and sure enough it was the hat man. If it helps for research purposes my mom also has these weird dreams. She’s never seen him though.