My story with the Hat Man began about 12-13 years ago, but I have always been sensitive to the supernatural, even from a young age. I attribute this sensitivity to almost dying when I was born. They say that when you’re born or when you die, your brain releases dopamine. I believe that my brain was flooded with dopamine during my birth, causing my third eye to open. However, that’s a topic for another time.
It all started in 2011 when my ex-girlfriend (and mother of my children) brought the Hat Man into my life. One night, she called me at 3:30 in the morning claiming she had a bad dream and asked if I was okay. I suspected there was more to it, so I pressed her for about two weeks until she finally revealed the truth. She explained that she had woken up to a very tall man dressed in a trench coat and wide-brimmed hat standing in the doorway of her bedroom. She asked him questions, trying to know who he was and what he wanted, but he just stood there staring at her. Eventually, he uttered, “One day, I am going to take away everything that means something to you,” and vanished. I was completely flabbergasted and asked why she had waited so long to tell me the actual story. She confessed that she found it weird and didn’t think I would believe her. However, being sensitive to these kinds of things, I assured her this was no joke. Still, I had no idea what she had actually seen.
About four months later, she moved in with me, and that’s when the visits shifted from her to me. The first night I encountered him, we were asleep. I woke up filled with intense dread and anxiety. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could make out his figure standing at the other side of the room, in the corner by the end of my bed. I asked him who he was, but he didn’t answer. All I remember is his smile, revealing thousands of small, sharp teeth. I couldn’t see his eyes or the rest of his face; it looked as if someone had painted a face on canvas and then smeared the paint. He continued to stand there smiling for a few moments before vanishing. This continued on and off for almost a year. Sometimes there would be visits, and other times months would pass without anything happening. However, I noticed something. With each visit, he would get closer and closer to me.
Then, one night, I woke up overwhelmed by fear, only to find him standing right beside me, looking down at me. I still couldn’t see his eyes or any facial expressions, just that unsettling smile. As soon as I noticed him beside me, he vanished again. He never spoke to me; he simply watched me sleep. The last time I saw him was the night I had enough and confronted him. I woke up, and he was standing at the foot of my bed. I was frozen and unable to move, but I managed to sit up. There I was, at 3:30 in the morning, screaming at this entity to go away, never to come back, and repeatedly stating, “You are not welcome here!” I could sense his increasing anger, likely because I refused to let this thing scare me any longer, and he didn’t like that. Finally, he vanished, and I haven’t seen him in many years.
Years later, in 2015, I decided to do some research to understand what I had seen. That’s when I discovered that people all over the world had been seeing him for centuries. They all had similar stories: he comes in the night and watches you sleep, sometimes speaking and other times remaining silent. I found that he instilled the same kind of fear in others as I felt. Now, I don’t know if confronting him was the safest way to handle the situation, but it worked for me. He cannot harm you; he can only observe. He has no power over you, except for the fear he instills. Confronting him may not work for everyone, and I do not recommend doing so unless you are confident in your ability to handle paranormal entities. I have dealt with the paranormal my whole life, as I mentioned before. For me, standing up to him felt like the right way to handle his visits, and it worked. However, please be extremely cautious when dealing with these types of things.
I have many other stories about the things I have encountered throughout my life, but that can be shared another time. Just remember that he cannot harm you; he can only observe and uses fear as his main scare tactic. I don’t know exactly what he is, but one thing is clear: he feeds off negativity, which my ex-girlfriend was filled with. He attached himself to me because he saw me as an easy target, until I couldn’t tolerate it any longer. I’m sure I will encounter him again someday, but I think he knows that I won’t let him scare me anymore. That’s probably why I haven’t seen him in many years. Will he return? Only time will tell, but I’ll be ready to send him back to where he came from.