Sleep Paralysis Room......

by Chelle Pearson
(Warwickshire, England)

I'm not sure if it's common to have constant paralysis in one room, but I've lived in this house for 10 years. The first I heard of it was when me and my sister shared the room, she was about 11 and came running downstairs screaming. She told me she was lying on her bed (her bed was flat on the floor), and it was if the ground had disappeared all the way through to the living room. She explained how she thought someone was in the room laughing at her, but couldn't get to the light to turn it on. I obviously found it quite hilarious and teased her about it for years..... until I had my spell 5 years later.

I woke to see a shadow coming out of my wardrobe, I panicked and reach for my phone, I rang my dad and screamed for him to help me, but he couldn't hear me on the phone. The shadow came closer and came above me to the point I couldn't move. I shook out of it to find that my phone was on the other side of the room charging, and remembered my sister's experience. The first thing I did was turn the light on. I felt okay about it, and luckily haven't experienced it again (as yet!)

Then this morning, my fiance woke up and told me the room was haunted and he'd never been so scared. I asked him why to which he replied "Someone threw the covers over my head and started pressing on my chest and I couldn't move!" I burst out laughing and explained to him that it was sleep paralysis. He looked at me with much confusion to which I had to explain what it was. Still, being naive, he has now refused to go to sleep in the room and has taken the option to sleep downstairs tonight....

I do find it bizarre how 3 different people, with different psychologies (my partner previously not being aware of mine and my sisters previous experiences) have very similar episodes and wondered if this had happened to anyone else?

Kevin's Response

Wow, thanks for sharing that intriguing story Chelle. I love how you comment that you teased your sister for years before you had to bite your tongue after your own SP experience :-) It's quite a remarkable experience, isn't it?

I've definitely never heard anything before about a particular room being especially conducive to sleep paralysis episodes or anything of the sort, so on first instinct I'd pin what you describe as just a crazy coincidence that it all happened in the same room. But how crazy is it exactly? Sleep paralysis is actually quite a common occurrence; and in fact, most people will experience at least one episode in their lifetime. The dream imagery (known as hypnagogic hallucinations) that was present in all three episodes is not quite as common, but it still occurs to many, many people. So it's not necessarily any hard to imagine, against all odds thing that you all had similar SP experiences. It is pretty interesting though that each of your first sleep paralysis episodes happened in the exact same room.

Gosh, I hope your fiance is able to quell his anxiety over this soon! Telling him about why sleep paralysis occurs and the relationship between the hypnagogic hallucinations and the regular dreaming he does every night may ease his worries. If not, perhaps try telling him that episodes just like his are attributed to demons and curses and the like in superstitious cultures all over the world. But really, can we all be cursed or haunted???

Thanks for sharing!!

Sincerely,
Kevin