Old Hag Syndrome | Ep. 54
Welcome to another episode of Believing the Bizarre. This week, we tackle a topic that is the perfect blend of paranormal and science.
To some, the ghoul they experience when they wake up in the middle of the night – completely frozen and unable to move – is known as the Old Hag Syndrome. To others, it is merely a case of Sleep Paralysis.
Is one more believable than the other? We discuss that, along with a few personal experiences. Listen now.
It’s the middle of the night, and you suddenly wake up. It seems darker than it should be. You go to get up but you can’t move. Your body is frozen, but you’re conscious, and aware of your surroundings.
Suddenly you see a form out of the corner of your eye. It’s formless darkness but it begins to get bigger as it moves towards you. Suddenly. It’s. Right. On. Top. Of. You.
The face of an old woman is inches from yours. A wide evil grin spreading across her face.
What’s up Bizarro’s? This week we dive into the unknown and unusual story of Old Hag Syndrome.
What is Old Hag Syndrome?
Old Hag Syndrome is when an old witch-like woman sits on you and sometimes strangles you.
The victims wake to find that they cannot move, despite being able to see, hear, feel and smell.
The old hag is always accompanied with a feeling of an evil presence in the room and a massive amount of fear.
She can be blanketed in shadow or have a clear, old, grotesque face with greenish skin, a long noise, unkempt, long gray hair, and pitch black eyes.
In a more mild form, sometimes the old hag will remain in the distance, maybe a corner of the room, or the victim will just hear weird noises and footsteps.
You may argue that because of the “waking up” aspect of it that’s not real or it’s just a dream – but the victims report that it’s more like a trance being lifted.
But what would be the Old Hag’s goal? Is she siphoning energy from those who have reported seeing her, or is the fear that she feeds off of?
Let’s look at some of the purported encounters that others have had with her.
“I was sleeping on my back which I rarely do.” Emily said.
I woke up in the middle of the night with my body completely frozen, and terrified to find this demon-like creature with a gaunt, black face.
“It was squatting on my chest. It was dead staring me in the eyes about an inch away from my face.” Emily recounted.
I started freaking out and then my boyfriend woke me up, except he didn’t actually wake me up…
“What I experienced was him waking me up because he could tell I was scared but when I really woke up in the morning and I thanked him for waking me, he looked at me weird and said he never woke me up.” said Emily as she glances at the bedroom a short distance away from where we are talking.
“I haven’t experienced anything since but sometimes I get very freaked out at night but usually chalk it up to my paranoia I’ve always had,” said Emily.
In our second encounter the old hag steps up the fear by speaking to her victim.
“I wanted to share this here because of how many others seem to have had strange experiences,” explains Joey.
When he was twenty years old he had his one and only experience with sleep paralysis.
“At the time, I had positioned my bed adjacent to the laundry room, which is a narrow room with no door spanning about ten feet long.” said Joey.
“I hadn’t grown out of my fear of the dark until a couple years ago, and so I slept with the laundry room light on. One night, I woke from my sleep, opened my eyes, and looked directly into the laundry room.” Joey shuddered as he began his tale.
A woman, pale as a sheet, in a dress, with long curly hair was standing there, staring at Joey. Although her face was lifeless and her stare was dead Joey could hear her in his head.
“A woman’s toneless and emotionless voice repeating over and over again, “I love you.” “It was terrifying” Joey says.
“I was immediately filled with the purest terror I have ever felt, and quickly realized that I couldn’t move at all. My girlfriend at the time was sleeping next to me, and despite all of my efforts, I couldn’t wake her. I couldn’t even speak.” he states.
The woman continued to stand there, and he continued to hear her words, and for some strange reason, Joey had a woman’s name in his mind that he assumed was hers.
“As I had no other option, I closed my eyes until I fell back asleep.”
“I have remembered this night vividly, and while I forgot her name after a day or two her face and the way she spoke has never left me,” Joey said.
These encounters are terrifying, but what does the Old Hag want? Is she a trickster spirit that enjoys pulling one over on unsuspecting humans? Or is she living off their fear?
Or could the Old Hag Syndrome be tied to sleep paralysis?
Sleep paralysis is where you wake, but are unable to move and can sometimes suffer from vivid hallucinations. It is not an uncommon or unknown occurrence and explains a lot of the characteristics of an old hag encounter. Save for one thing. The pressure. What causes the pressure if it’s just sleep paralysis?
So Bizzaro’s, what do you think? Is it just sleep paralysis mixed with a life-like dream or vivid hallucination? Or is it an entity that is torturing you in your sleep?