Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community  

Go Back   Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community > The Academy > Tilted Paranoia


 
 
LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 02-20-2004, 01:11 AM   #1 (permalink)
Insane
 
Stupid Old Hag

Sometimes when I'm really tired and go to bed, I end up in this not-quite-sleep and not-quite-awake phase where my body gets all tingly and it really feels like somebody was snuggling up with me. I always loved this feeling as I could imagine it to be anybody I want. Then I read the Old Hag stories. For those that don't know, these occurrences are basically the same thing, except these people report seeing an evil old hag sitting on them. I don't buy it since I've been experiencing the effect they describe for years. But, dammit, after reading the Old Hag stories, my 'phantom snuggles' have been ruined. Now when I feel them I have to immediately force my eyes open to make sure there's no old hag trying to get some lovin' from me instead of continuing to imagine a supermodel has crawled into bed with me. I need to stay away from ghost stories that strike so close to me cause they still freak me out even when I don't believe them.
wario is offline  
Old 02-20-2004, 11:00 AM   #2 (permalink)
Getting it.
 
Charlatan's Avatar
 
Super Moderator
Location: Lion City
I have experienced the Old Hag phenomenon many times.

Every time it completely freaks me out.

I don't get snuggles... I get the FEAR. I can't move but am certain that someone is in the room. I try and try to move but to no avail.

Finally with great effort I snap out of it and the spell is broken.

When I first came across the Old Hag stories I was greatly relieved to find it was a condition of sleep... I was worried I'd have to adjust my world view to incorporate life after death (ie ghosts).
__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke
Charlatan is offline  
Old 02-20-2004, 09:47 PM   #3 (permalink)
We are everywhere...
 
Location: Barrie, Ontario
I very much experienced the "Old Hag" phenomenon when I was younger.

When I was around 6 years old or so, I vividly recall trying to fall asleep in my parents bed when my Dad was out of town on business. My Mom was still up watching television, and I had pulled the blankets over my head trying to fall asleep when I felt what seemed like someone who suddenly perched on top of me. I was far to scared to pull my head up to see what it was, or even call for my Mom. So scared, in fact, that I remember it even today - 25 years later - as if it were yesterday.
__________________
You can be young only once, but you can be immature for the rest of your life...
Baldrick is offline  
Old 03-17-2004, 03:29 PM   #4 (permalink)
Tilted
 
No this is something...!HowHoe...
__________________
Milloin vaan voi kiihoittua!!
Annabella is offline  
Old 03-24-2004, 01:24 PM   #5 (permalink)
Insane
 
Location: Parts Unknown
Here's an interesting usenest post about this:

<i>In <3kdf8r$m8q@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu> mlingwal@ucs.indiana.edu (Malinda
Jane Lingwall) writes:

>
>: Tim Beeman (Tbeeman@gladstone.uoregon.edu) wrote:
>: : This message may sound a bit odd but here goes. For about four
>: : years I have had something that i would call night paralysis. I wake
>: : up and I am concious but I can't move. It might last for a few seconds
>: : or a few minutes. Once I move part of my body, i will 'wake up'. Once
>: : awoken I tend to be breathing rather heavily and somewhat disturbed.
>: : It might happen 3 times in one night or once in a year. So that
>: : is that.
>: : About a year ago this paralysis happened about 4 times in one night.
>: : The final time I awoke and made a consious effort to not let it happen
>: : again. I fell back asleep and the next time i awoke it felt as though
>: : something was sitting on my back. It became hard to breath. I could
>: : only move my legs and arms. I thought I heard 'voices' laughing at me in
>: : the corner of my room. after some effort, i 'snapped out of it.'
>: : I have tried to research this in the library but haven't had much
>: : success. the only luck I have had was from a friend who had taken a
>: : folklore class. I was hoping someone out there could help me. I would
>: : appreciate it.
>: : Thank you,
>: : tim
>
> Since your friend had a folklore class, I assume he/she told you
>about the "Old Hag" phenomenon . . . its classic symptoms are paralysis,
>a feeling of being awake, a sense of someone being in the room, and
>an inability to breathe--like something is pressing on your chest.
>Actually, ppl who are being observed while they are experiencing this are
>said to be hyperventilating and, even though their eyes are often open,
>they are asleep. The old folktale is that an incubus or succubus (male
>or female demon) is attacking the person having the "dream". One theory
>listed in my folklore book is that it always occurs to ppl lying on their
>backs and is most likely caused by improper circulation. I can't really
>remember much more, but if you haven't looked up "Old Hag", that might be
>a place to start. I hope this helps you out!
>
> Malinda
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------- -------
>Malinda Lingwall "Cyberspace . . . the final frontier. These are
>mlingwal@indiana.edu the voyages of the starship Emailprise."
>----------------------------------------------------------------------- -------
>

If you are interested in reading more about the "Old Hag" phenomenon,
you should order the following book from the University of Pennsylvania
Press, Blockley Hall, 418 Service Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6097:

"The Terror That Comes in the Night: An Experience-Centered Study
of Supernatural Assault Traditions", David Hufford, University of
Pennsylvania Press, 1982 (ISBN 0-8122-1305-X).

The book is a detailed case study of this phenomenon. The author
reaches the following conclusions:

1. The phenomena associated with the "Old Hag" syndrome constitute
an experience with a complex and stable pattern, which is
recognizable and is distinct from other experiences.
2. This experience is found in a variety of cultural settings.
3. The pattern of the experience and its distribution appear
independent of the presence of explicit cultural models.
4. The experience itself has played a significant, though not
exclusive, role in the development of numerous traditions of
supernatural assault.
5. Cultural factors heavily determine the ways in which the
experience is described (or withheld) and interpreted.
6. The distribution of traditions about the experience, such as
those involving the Old hag or the Eskimo augumangia, has
frequently been confounded with the distribution of the
experience itself.
7. The frequency with which the experience occurs is surprisingly
high, with those who have had at least one recognizable attack
representing 15 percent or more of the general population.
8. The state in which this experience occurs is probably best
described as sleep paralysis with a particular kind of
hypnagogic hallucination.
9. Although there may be some connection between the etiology of
this experience and narcolepsy, and although certain illnesses
could be confused with the experience, the Old Hag experience
itself does not indicate the presence of any serious pathology.
10. The contents of this experience cannot be satisfactorily
explained on the basis of current knowledge.

-- Don</i>
__________________
"If I could have one wish, as in the fairy tales, I would unmake my past, and rise like Lazarus and stand in sunlight and banish all the dark."
D. Tibet
rev_skarekroe is offline  
Old 03-24-2004, 08:04 PM   #6 (permalink)
Upright
 
i experienced this for the second time in my life last night. the first time i was young and had no idea what it was because i only thought paralysis is the only symptom but i found out there was more...it is very freaky :S
fillips is offline  
Old 03-24-2004, 10:57 PM   #7 (permalink)
bAck iN aCtiOn!
 
Location: in my imagination
wow when i was about 10 i experienced something very similar to that....except whatever it was followed me to the bathroom (i heard it's boot footsteps on the linoleum floor)
but it definitely sat on me so i couldn't breathe....dunno
__________________
I am known as Valentinez Alkalinella Xifax Sicidabohertz Gombigobilla Blue Stradivari Talentrent Pierre Andri Charton-Haymoss Ivanovici Baldeus George Doitzel Kaiser III. Don't hesitate to call.
~Vash, Trigun

>'.'< kitty kitty, meow ^..^~
ariekitten is offline  
Old 03-25-2004, 07:29 AM   #8 (permalink)
Crazy
 
Heh, you guys have had things sit on you at night, although I'm sure these experiences are damn freaky, it sounds a little funny when you describe things sitting on you.

I myself have not had this experience. The only night-attack/nightmareish incident I've ever experienced was waking up in the middle of the night, at age 4 or 5, to my whole bed (frame and all) shaking rather violently. It stopped the instant my dad busted in the room after hearing me scream like a little girl.

On the other hand, my sister experiences it quite often, now I'm interested, and will have to do some more reading on this....so I can freak her out even more
kwoodmex is offline  
Old 03-25-2004, 08:26 PM   #9 (permalink)
Crazy
 
Location: Brooklyn, NY
I only experienced once. I woke up one night and I couldn't move my body. I could see my room and stuff but my body just doesn't move, it doesn't felt like someone is sitting on me though.
Infernal is offline  
Old 03-25-2004, 09:20 PM   #10 (permalink)
Psycho
 
It happened to me once and I just lay there thinking "Hmm, interesting." It was kind of scary but I looked up and didn't see anything. I didn't try to move, but I think I should have. There was another time when I woke up when my friend's cat decided to sit on me. She was a cute cat so I tried to hug her tight but she pounced away.
nash is offline  
Old 04-05-2004, 10:01 AM   #11 (permalink)
Insane
 
Slayer's Avatar
 
Location: Brooklyn, NY............. South Of Heaven
Re: Stupid Old Hag

Quote:
Originally posted by wario
Now when I feel them I have to immediately force my eyes open to make sure there's no old hag trying to get some lovin' from me instead of continuing to imagine a supermodel has crawled into bed with me.
Old hag need some lovin too.
__________________
"the key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering"
Slayer is offline  
 

Tags
hag, stupid

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 10:55 PM.

Tilted Forum Project

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2
© 2002-2012 Tilted Forum Project

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360