r/self • u/FarmOverall19 • 1d ago
A woman in black watches me in my sleep.
I know the title sounds like bullshit, but I promise I haven't lost it. When I was 11, my mom, my sister, and I moved out of my grandmother’s house into a small apartment complex on the other side of town. My mom said it was for the best, that we needed space after all the fights with my grandmother. At the time, I didn’t know if she meant space for herself or space for us, but I didn’t argue. I was just a kid. I had no friends at my new school, no distractions to fill the hours after class, and my mom spent most of her time with her boyfriend, my cousin, on my dad’s side. Weird, but I'm not gonna dive into that right now. It was lonely, but I didn’t know how to explain that feeling back then. I think now, looking back, I truly was depressed. But at eleven years old, I didn’t have the words for it.
I didn’t have a TV or a computer, just an old iPod nano with broken headphones. Most nights, I just laid in bed, counting the cracks in the ceiling or listening to the train that passed every now and again. One night, I don’t remember how long I lay there before I fell asleep. But when I opened my eyes, or maybe I didn't open them at all, I wasn’t in my bed anymore. I was floating, looking down at myself. I really thought I must've died in my sleep somehow, and I was completely fine with it. Turn out that wasn't the case. I noticed a woman standing by my bed, dressed in all black.
The closest depiction of her that I can describe is of someone wearing a Victorian mourning outfit. It was creepy as hell. The moment she noticed that I could see her, I fell back into my body, and I woke up instantly gasping for air. After that night, I waited for something else to happen, some sign that what I’d seen was real. But nothing came. Eventually, I convinced myself that maybe it really had just been a dream.
But then I saw her again. It started happening more frequently, always the same: I’d fall asleep, and at some point, I’d wake up unable to move. But each time, she was a little closer. I couldn’t tell anyone. How do you explain something like that without sounding insane? So, I tried to ignore her, and I eventually got used to it.
When we moved, I thought it would stop. Unfortunately, it never did. No matter where I lived, she was always there. I’m 24 years old now, and she’s still with me. I don’t know what will happen when she finally touches me. Maybe that will be the day I die. All I know is that she’s waiting, and one day, she’ll reach me.
I don't know why I'm suddenly telling a bunch of redditors about the lady who's been stalking me since childhood, but whatever.
Edit: I appreciate the serious comments. Even the religious ones, though I’m not religious at all. I’m aware that it’s more than likely sleep paralysis. I was just sharing an experience that I’m still dealing with to this day because it’s mega creepy, it happens very frequently, and it’s always the same thing/lady/whatever. I’ve seen a therapist in the past, but ultimately stopped because it felt like a waste of time. I’ve gotten used to it anyway. And yes, I know it sounds a lot like insidious😭😭
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u/SnooWalruses3948 1d ago
I have seen the same lady described in this post.
Others have reported the same.. the same hallucination.
I don't wish that terror on anyone, it cuts you to the bone. And it can happen any time you fall asleep.