The Hat Man

The Sinister Hat Man Phenomena is experienced all around the world. The popular shadow figure lurks in people’s homes, watching them sleep and peering around corners.

Why is this particular shadow figure wearing a hat and trench coat? Is it different than other shadow men? Could The Hat Man be tied to sleep paralysis?

We discuss all of this and more!

What is the Hat Man?

Have you ever seen a shadow figure lurking in the corner of your room? What would you do if you woke up and saw a tall man looming over you? How can you tell what is a hallucination and what is real?

What is up, Bizarros? This week dive into the shadowy humanoid figure of the Hat Man.

What Does the Hat Man Look Like?

In the simplest of terms, the Hat Man is a tall, shadowy entity that wears old-styled clothes, sometimes a long trench coat, but always has a hat on.

Like a wide-brimmed hat.

He’s described as 6 to 7 feet tall, although some say it’s closer to 8 to 10 feet. This can cause him to sometimes have to crouch in rooms.

I think, when you picture this, it’s actually kind of terrifying. Imagine walking into a room late at night or opening your eyes in your bed and you see this huge, menacing shadow figure hunched over, just staring you down.

Creepy.

In terms of entities he’s often associated with, naturally, it should come as no surprise that he is in the “shadow figure” side of the paranormal.

However, he is a more notable shadow figure, and his physical styling is a little different.

Beyond the unique hat, it is claimed that the Hat Man is more solid than many other shadow figures – alluding to the idea that this particular entity has a stronger presence.

What Does The Hat Man Do?

Some believe he is passive and just lurks around.

Others believe he isn’t necessarily bad, just a harbinger of bad news – sort of like a banshee or doppelgänger.

On the contrary, some think he’s up to some bad juju.

They adhere to the belief that he is actually evil and has ill intentions, even though he doesn’t directly attack or harm you.

It’s kind of like a “look, don’t touch” theory that drives paranoia. Like a good psychological horror film.

He doesn’t jump out at you with a knife. Instead, he lurks in the shadows, in your peripheral vision, hovering over your bed late at night – just for the sake of messing with you.

It goes back to something we talk about often on this podcast which is intention.

This particular ideology revolving around Hat Man and his sinister plans to instill fear in you is certainly intentional, which in my mind, makes him a pretty nasty entity to be around.

Much different than a cryptid or ghost that is just minding its own business.

Why he’d want to torment you? Maybe he feeds off of that negative energy or fear.

Who knows.

We’ll dive into it later, but others believe he is just a hallucination that is deeply connected to sleep paralysis.

Here is a quote from “Hunt-a-killer” –

“He can appear to anyone at any time, but the pattern seems to be that The Hat Man often comes around people who are in turmoil—not unlike the appearance of poltergeists who feed off of the strong energy of those in distress in order to manifest.“

What Could The Hat Man Be?

Shadow Figure

Sure, we mentioned just a typical shadow figure. But he seems more than that, right?

Like, not to minimize shadow figures, but so many people have claimed to see a variety of shadow men.

If there is any chance everyone is seeing the same Hat Man, as many of the theories suggest, he seems like something much bigger than just typical shadow figures.

So, other than a lurking, creepy shadow entity, what could this man be?

Is The Hat Man A Demon?

Some claim he is a demon.

I get it to a certain extent with the intention to cause harm, ill feelings, and fear – but it also doesn’t seem to be quite as extreme or straight-up evil as demons.

We have encounters later in the episode, so you can make that decision for yourself.

Interdimensonal Being

Could the Hat Man be a normal person or just an entity from a different dimension that is either accidentally or purposefully slipping into our dimension?

Definitely lends itself to being an observer; could it be someone observing this dimension?

Is The Hat Man An Alien Species?

You’ll like this one, Bizarros – we have nothing to back this up, but there are a couple of sites that claim that he could potentially be an alien.

Perhaps along the observation theory? Or perhaps our memories are erased and replaced with the image of this tall, hat man. Or, the shadowy human shapes is a way to disguise the alien.

We don’t put a ton of stock in this, but interesting.

Astral Projection

Speaking of interesting, this is a potential explanation for the Hat Man that I would have never thought of.

Are you familiar at all with Astral Projection?

Not going to dive into it too much; definitely a great topic for another day, and it was explored in the fantastic film, Insidious, but essentially it is the ability to leave your body when you are asleep and explore areas, both our dimensions and others, in sort of an out-of-body experience.

The idea is that the Hat Man is someone’s astral projection that is enjoying going around and freaking people out.

Could just be one weirdo out there doing this and tormenting people. Kind of crazy, but also like…whoa, right?

The final theory is what we are going to talk about next in general, and I’m sure the majority of the scientific community would get behind it.

Could The Hat Man Be Related to Sleep Paralysis?

A lot of folks claim the common nightmares that people share of The Hat Man are actually experiencing sleep paralysis.

Just a quick reminder, which we did cover before, sleep paralysis is when your brain wakes up, but your body is still physically sleeping.

So, basically, you can see and hear, but you cannot move. Hallucinations are connected to sleep paralysis because people tend to freak out and panic when they realize they cannot move.

Similar to the Old Hag, the Hat Man is one of those paranormal entities people report seeing in this state.

Also, one of the factors that are related to sleep paralysis is stress. And, as I mentioned earlier, it seems as though people who are stressed and in turmoil or more likely to see the Hat Man.

So, there is at least a loose connection there between the Hat Man and Sleep Paralysis.

Now, before the encounters, let’s talk about a man who has made major strides in the Hat Man lore and experience space.

The Hat Man Project

Tim Brown is a man that had an experience with the shadowy figure when he was 14 years old in 1994.

The encounter was so terrifying, and it left such an imprint on his mind that he eventually started a blog known as the Hat Man Project to allow others to share their stories and a home for his research and evidence.

*his own words*

My experience with The Hat Man came in 1994 when I was about 14 years old. I was living with my grandmother and great-grandmother at the time at my home in Nashville, TN. I had been staying up really late that night, and at about 2:00 am in the morning, I found myself lying in bed and nodding off as I was watching TV. The lights were all off, and the only light that was lighting my room was coming from the TV set in front of me.

From where I was lying on my bed, looking down toward my feet, I had a clear view all the way into and through my great-grandmother’s room (which was just parallel to mine) as there was no door between my room and hers. I could also see into the hallway just on the far side of her room. Just inside the hallway was the doorway going into my grandmother’s room.

As I was lying there with the covers pulled up to my face, nodding off, my eyes would open and fall, open and fall, over and over again. And then at some point, something I heard on TV made a noise and caused me to wake up and open my eyes a little wider—only this time I saw something out of the corner of my eye.

I had always had a fear of intruders and what I would do if someone ever broke into our home.

For a brief moment, I thought that the movement I was seeing might be my grandmother getting up to go to the bathroom.

But as I moved my eyes more into focus, looking down through my great-grandmother’s room into the hallway, I very quickly realized that it wasn’t my grandmother.

What I saw gripped me immediately with fear and dread. I saw a tall human-like figure, and the figure looked like that of a man. The man had no distinguishable features whatsoever.

I could see no eyes, no nose or mouth, only blackness. He looked like a shadow, only darker—much darker. He had a very wide-brimmed hat and a long trench coat that flowed as he moved.

I started to tremble. My heart began to race.

At that moment, I came to the conviction that there was indeed an intruder in my house.

As I watched him move, in the back of my mind, I began to play out scenarios as to what he and I were going to do. Was I going to yell?

Was I going to get up and run after him and try to fight him?

I kept looking into the hallway. He stood there at the threshold between my great-grandmother’s room and my grandmother’s room.

He leaned his head and body into my great-grandmother’s room and looked in—turning his head toward her and then toward me.

I had my eyes closed as much as I could so I could still see him, and yet still look like I was sleeping.

He stood there for what seemed like an eternity, just staring. He then moved very slowly and without sound back into the hallway just out of view.

As I kept watching, I then saw this blacker-than-black figure move toward my grandmother’s room. Just like before, he leaned his body and head in her doorway, looking at her, again not making a sound.

He then leaned back and moved out of view into the hallway.

At this point, I didn’t know what else to do. I was convinced that we had some kind of burglar in the house, so I summed as much courage as I could, jumped up out of bed yelling, and charged into the hallway, ready for a fight.

I turned the hallway, and… he was gone.

Obviously, my yelling and screaming startled and woke up my grandmother and great-grandmother.

I told them what had happened, and needless to say, we didn’t go back to sleep for a long time, and when we did, we left the light on.

After my experience that night and during the next day, I spent a lot of time talking with my family about what had happened.

I was surprised to know that my experience of the man with the hat and cape was not the only one that had happened in that house. As it turned out, both my grandmother and great-grandmother had seen the same thing.

My grandmother relayed to me that a few nights prior, she had woken up in the middle of the night and, too, saw a dark figure walk past her doorway in the dim light of the hallway.

Since it looked like it was wearing some kind of flowing robe, she thought it was her mother, my great-grandmother getting up to go to the bathroom, wearing her evening robe.

Then too, my great-grandmother told me that she also, on a separate occasion, had seen the same dark shadowing being lurking in the house at night.

I honestly didn’t know what to make of it all. And over the years, as time passed, I had grown very antagonistic against the whole thing, brushing it off as mere happenstance—a figment of my imagination or perhaps the result of my nodding off and being in that in-between place of being half awake and half asleep.

I thought about it every now and then but relegated it to the back part of my mind, paying little attention to it. I would continue to feel this way about the experience until about the year 2001.

That’s when everything changed.

I was driving a long distance one night and hitting the scan button to see if I could find something to listen to on the radio to help pass the time.

The station landed on 1510 WLAC on a show called Coast to Coast AM with George Noory. It was probably 2:00 am or 3:00 am when the show came on.

They were doing a show on what was called “shadow beings.”

It was the first time that I had ever heard of something like that. As I listened to the show, nothing could prepare me for what I heard next.

George Noory and the guest went on to describe people’s experiences with one particular shadow being—a dark man-like figure with a large wide-brimmed hat and a cape.

Immediately I felt chills run down my spine. I knew at that moment that what had happened to me as a teenager was not a figment of my imagination and was definitely not the result of me nodding off.

I had seen what these people were describing. Exactly.

I began researching as much as I could at the local library and on the Internet.

There wasn’t that much information on the internet about the Hat Man or shadow people in those days, so I decided to build the first website dedicated to the research of shadow people, and in particular, the being that I had seen, known as the Hat Man.

Hat Man Encounters (Hunt a killer)

Tammy –

I am 44 now, but as a very young child around 3, I remember waking every single night at 3.33 am to use the washroom and this Hat man shadow thing about 7 feet tall, and his fingers were unnaturally long would be at the bottom of my stairs looking up at me.

I remember evil emanating from this thing. It scared me so bad I would sleep in my closet with a flashlight. I saw that thing until I was 12 years old.

Then he was gone.

Well, so I thought. I did see him once more in my mid 20’s standing at the foot of my young daughter’s bed. I was terrified for her.

Hat Man Encounter 2

Theresa –

In 1997 I was living in this house, my kids would tell me that they saw a figure and describe the entity as 6 feet plus with a long coat and a large brim-style hat.

I didn’t believe them till one night I was home by myself; I got up around 1 am to go to the bathroom, and there was that image standing in the doorway of my room. It never crossed over the threshold. It just stood watching.

I closed the door in its face and pulled the cover over my head. I shared it with my kids, and they said I told you. We then moved because the house was going up for sale by the owners.

Hat Man Encounter 3

Tibor – Hello,

I was born and raised on the Great Lakes, Cleveland, Ohio. My first memories of my childhood home are of the hat man.

My family would say I would stare off into the darkness of the house at night and play peek-a-boo until the wee hours into the night.

They would ask me what I was doing. Lol, I’d explain to them I was playing with the old man over there. Of course, they were not pleased by that.

They already believed something was not right about this home just a few short blocks from the waterfront.

Strange incidents would happen in our home throughout the night in my first years being born, they explained later to me.

But once I could start having memories aged 4-5, I recall this man at night. I can now, at age 51, still remember the dark feeling that came from him. I then would recall why I ended up in my parent’s bed every single night we lived in that home.

I recall him being a mean, mean man, and he would scare me so badly. I recall I could not look at the windows or the mirrors in my room. I had to keep my eyes fixed on the floor and not make eye contact. I would have to cover up my head with my blanket to gain the courage to make my run past him without making eye contact to get to my parent’s bed. I can remember my parents arguing a lot about these incidents!

Hat Man Encounter 4

Stephanie – I was about 8 years old in 1980 in Minnesota when I first saw the hat man. He was standing in the corner of my room by my door, watching me.

It was bedtime, and I had a nightlight bulb on my lamp. The lamp was on. He had on a fedora and trench coat. I got scared and hid under my blanket.

After a while, I peeked to see if he was still there. It looked really dark in my room; then I saw the dark move and his blank eyes appeared looking at me. I put the covers down instantly and just stayed like that until I eventually fell asleep.

The next morning I told my mom, and to this day, she will say I almost convinced her there was a man in my room. She and I later figured it was one of my nightmares.

Then I was watching YouTube at my home in Florida about 5 years ago, and there was a video about the hat man, and I right away recognized it as what I saw as a child.

I showed my mom the video, and my daughter saw it and started crying. I asked what was wrong, and she told me that that was the man she saw out my window weeks earlier. We were in my bedroom at night, and my daughter looked out my window and freaked out that she saw a man in a hat outside.

I interpreted that as a baseball cap without asking her to clarify. I went outside to see who could be out there, and they were gone. No one in sight. Before I went out, my terrified daughter begged me not to go out to look. We have since moved, and we haven’t seen him since.

Encounter 5 -Hat Man Project

While living on base in Anchorage, Alaska, I saw a tall man in my bedroom twice. One dark night I woke up to who I thought was my husband standing at the foot of our bed.

I called out my husband’s name and heard him groan next to me. I quickly looked at my husband and then back to the figure, but it had vanished. About a week later, I woke again to see a tall man standing next to the bed on my husband’s side.

This time I could see that the man appeared to be wearing a top hat and trench coat. I saw my husband laying next to me, so I knew it wasn’t him.

A few seconds passed, and one of my dogs woke and began to growl in the direction of the figure.

The figure then swung his coat over himself and disappeared. I have not seen him since. I later described the incident to my parents, and they told me as a child, I would see a figure walking outside our house that I named “trench coat man.”

Hat Man Encounter 6 – Reddit

God, I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about this and reading others’ stories. Until today I had never heard of the hat man, let alone been face-to-face with him.

I was scrolling through Facebook when I scrolled past a drawing of him and read this person’s encounter with him….and suddenly, I remembered it all.

He was always standing in the same spot. I don’t remember when he showed up or when he left, but I’ll never forget how it felt being around him. He was always standing in the right half of my basement in the left corner.

He was next to the coat rack with that evil hat, and I froze. What I thought I was seeing was the Jeepers Creepers… at least, that’s what I told my grandma.

I’d cry and scream every time she’d try to have me go down there. It was always about his “jeepers creepers” hat that petrified me.

My grandma kept telling me over and over again that it was just a hat on top of the coat rack. I just knew there was something evil about the hat, so I’d always demand to know whose hat it was. She gave me some bullshit story.

I can’t remember when the last time I saw him was, but eventually, I went down there, and the hat was gone along with the man, of course.

Months later, I finally got the courage to go into that half of the basement I always stayed in the doorway.

I searched that basement and never found the hat, but as a kid, I just brushed it off, and that was the last time I ever thought about the hat until tonight.

I honestly believed it was a hat on top of a trench coat, and I had a vivid mind and that I was just imagining my worst nightmare lurking in the dark at that time. The Jeepers Creepers.

Tonight I learned there’s something scarier than the Jeepers Creepers, the hat man. He was always in the exact same spot every time.

He never moved; he never spoke. He was black. The scariest part? Others have seen him too… Now all I can think is, what is he? What does he want? Where’d he go? Is he coming back?

What Is The Dark Entity, That Is The Hat Man?

What do you think, Bizarros?

There are so many supernatural entities out there. Could the Hat Man be an evil entity? Is this frightening night-time vision a “normal” shadow figure?

Could it be lucid dreams or bad dreams? And while sleep paralysis has been a theory backed by many, it seems unlikely that everyone that sees the Hat Man is a sleep paralysis sufferer.

Let us know in the comments what you think the Hat Man is.