This is a Scream Queen production.

I'm Jen Carpenter, and this is So Dead Podcast.

Happy Taco Tuesday, Deadheads.

Today's Taco Break is brought to you by the letter Z, as in Z's.

Sorry, that's just a bad joke.

And my way of trying to tell you guys that today we're going to be talking about sleep paralysis.

According to the hub of the 100% accurate, never, ever wrong Wikipedia,

sleep paralysis is when, during waking up or falling asleep, a person is aware of what is going

on around them, but unable to move or talk. During an episode one may hallucinate, which often results in fear.

Episodes normally last less than a minute, although it typically feels much longer,

and they can be one-time occurrences or repeat episodes. Sound awful? It has happened to me

twice in my lifetime, and let me tell you, the shit is fucking terrifying.

But we'll get to my stories in a little bit. I do want to talk a little bit more about the

condition itself, and then we'll get into some stories. According to logic and science, sleep

paralysis is often caused by narcolepsy, sleep deprivation, stress, or abnormal sleep cycles.

But ask a group of people it's happened to, and an alarming number of them will tell you it's caused by something else.

The devil, the devil himself. I don't know. I'm sorry. I don't know why I just did that.

Many sufferers of sleep paralysis report similar experiences.

They wake up and see or feel or sense a malevolent being sitting on their chest immobilizing them.

This is often referred to as the night tag.

Others wake up, unable to move, and see a shadowy figure standing nearby

in the shape of a tall man wearing a hat. This figure is referred to, understandably, as hatman.

...