The Horror Of Sleep Paralysis Hallucinations Revealed In 46 Dark Drawings

Sleep paralysis hallucinations often include visions of incubus and succubus - demonic entities who lie atop sleeping people, harboring evil intentions.

"Why can't I wake up? I have had this before, and it is undoubtedly one of the most frightening experiences ever. Who else here has had sleep paralysis? Once I woke up but I was not really awake it just felt so real, I looked at my room door to see why it was open. I close it every night, all I see is what seems to be an old woman silhouette standing there then all of a sudden she runs to the side of my bed, I can't move, can't talk, can't shout."

Another common theme in sleep paralysis hallucinations - terrifying intruders. 

I've had sleep paralysis for a few years, and each time is just as terrifying as the last. I always wake with a feeling of being in a void, alongside a sense like the void is rumbling deeply, like an airplane engine is above my house, combined with a weight on my chest

Dark and eerie monsters are what accompanies sleep paralysis most often. And when the ability to move and speak is lost, it is incredibly hard to snap out of it.

It started in my teen years and has continued into adulthood. It was always hard to explain to people without thinking I was crazy. I wanted to create something that conveyed how scary the experience is when your body is paralyzed, and you lay there while you feel things in the room or see dark shadows or demons staring at you

Feeling of sleep paralysis is probably the best described by using such words as terror, helplessness and threat. 

I feel it's definitely a manifestation of my inner issues and fears. Although I used to get sleep paralysis all the time when I would drink heavily and that seemed pretty straight up demonic at times - like I was in hell. Which felt like I was in a lot of the time. But this drawing was from the tail end of my excessive drinking days and a bad relationship. That was two years ago. A lot has changed. I'm healthy. I am feeling better than ever. I don't have sleep paralysis anymore. Not often anyway. It's happened once in the last two years, but after dealing with it nightly for years, I'm no longer afraid

For me, I know for sure that it was a sleep paralysis since I couldn't move at all. It felt like all nerve connections were cut, and even though I ordered my legs and arms to move, they didn't respond in any way. It was a terrifying moment. Also, I saw all kinds of stuff, but after the thing was over I realized I had kept my eyes closed all the time

She comes from the doorway and kind of just floats in the corner of my room staring at me. She has no legs that I can see as her dirty white dress covers them. One of her arms is cut off above the elbow and bleeding onto her dress. There is always a breeze blowing her hair and dress around. She doesn't do anything but float and look very sad. Never tries to approach me. Sometimes she has a lantern in her intact arm. I used to be very afraid of her but now that I am used to having sleep paralysis - I know she is not real and nothing to be scared of

After a sleep paralysis hallucination episode one might feels totally helpless and out of control of their own body.

I avoid sleeping on my back when I don't want it to happen. It still scares me

This is a profound subject to represent for me, so it was kind of hard to do, and I think that's why my style is so different, kind of truer

Those were like translucent blue electric cords, what I saw. Like being plugged into the matrix

It happened to me a lot of times, and it is the most frightening experience that has ever occurred to me, but now I am getting enough sleep, and I tried following a sleep schedule

I get sleep paralysis quite a bit, a few times a week at the moment, but unfortunately/fortunately I don't get the creepy woman sitting on my chest like so many others do. I also get night terrors, but they are always completely separate from my sleep paralysis. So anyway, a few days ago I woke up to some sleep paralysis but this time it was different, it was like an out-of-body experience, but I could see myself asleep in a hospital ward, the creepy empty 1950s asylum type. I didn't think that much of it, and I was doing the usual actions trying to wake myself up, at some point, I 're-entered' my body and was laying there asleep but able to see. Then all of a sudden from underneath my duvet these grey old spindly claw-like hands reached out towards me followed by this hollow/shallow face. It moved lightning fast with the kind of jitteriness of a spider, and this woman came from beneath the covers and injected me. The instant I was pumped I was awake 

Sleeping in a supine position - lying flat on your back or stomach is a known instigator of sleep paralysis and hallucinations that follow it. 

When I was a child, I experienced sleep paralysis for the first time. Sleep paralysis may leave you feeling frightened, especially if you also see or hear things that aren't really there. Sleep paralysis may happen only once, or you may have it frequently - even several times a night

For me, the first time it was on my ceiling staring at me, and the second time it was sitting at the end of my bed. Back when I had no idea what sleep paralysis was I told my brother about what happened (he is 25), let me just say that was a terrible idea... because he tried to convince me it was an alien and that I was abducted

I only had the sitting feeling, seeing things, and the stabbing feeling. The choking one, which some people also suffers during sleep paralysis, sounds pretty horrible

A lot of times they are standing right next to my bed while I try to move or scream for help but can do neither. There's not much you can do besides try to wake yourself up somehow

Though, as much as it scares me when it happens, I have to appreciate the creative motivation it provides! Something good has to come of it

You are staring at a blank ceiling, and you can’t stare anywhere else. Shadows flit across your vision, forming shapes you try not to think about. A clawed hand, a flash of jagged, shadowy teeth. All images from your subconscious. A face forming above yours, leering through black void eyes. You think you hear sibilant whispering. Angry hissing, like a snake that’s been disturbed

A succubus is a demon in a female form that appears in dreams or hallucinations with intentions to seduce men for their own good.

I'd like to say with this one, and I remember my TV woke me up...or what I thought was my TV, I mean I was in a dream state, so it wasn't actually even on. That snowy effect was going on when the cable goes out, and there was an all-encompassing and deep vibrating or buzzing that seemed to come from the TV. This buzzing typically accompanies sleep paralysis episodes and serves as a sort of warning for what may happen if I don't calm myself and think positive and loving thoughts

Sometimes he comes over and picks me up, but I usually wake before we leave the room. Sometimes he just stands there waiting for me to go on my own. He's a very long, creepy looking dude with blotchy skin and wears a suit. Sometimes a table and two chairs are set up at the end of my room, and he's trying to get me to come to sit. I have a very long bedroom with not much in it. I guess he brought the table and chairs with him

Luckily, I don't have sleep paralysis issues anymore. Not often anyway. They were common experiences for most of my life though. Lots of ideas for artistic inspiration

The fact is that your brain thinks you are sleeping so all your dreams, and your fears will be personified into the real world, and it'll give you hallucinations. I think it's the most terrific thing I've ever experienced cause it's impossible for you to understand that what you're seeing is not real, you know you are "not sleeping" so you are SURE it's real 

This has caused me sleep deprivation and insomnia as I am anxious to sleep. I went through severe sleep deprivation to the point of hearing things and waking hallucinations when I got to 8 days without sleep I took myself to the emergency room where I ended up voluntarily committing myself. It was scary as hell

I have sleep paralysis too. This illustration is an expression of my feelings. It's no joke, and sometimes it’s hard to deal with it

The scariest aspect of my experience was that though its face was pitch black and had no facial features, yet I could “feel” it intensely staring at me. It was that same feeling you get when you are alone and feel like you are being watched. I get chills thinking about it. But as creepy as this figure looked, the weirdest thing is that I didn’t feel like it was an evil presence. It was sitting so human-like... and seemed more curious in me rather than threatening. It sat there motionless for about 30 seconds by my feet at the edge of my bed, just watching me the whole time, then disappeared once I regained control of my body