It’s the stuff of nightmares. You wake up, and you can’t move your body. A shadowy figure looms over you, but it feels too real to be a dream. If you’ve experienced this, you might have had a sleep ...

If you’ve ever woken up unable to move, feeling as if a ghostly presence is pressing on your chest, you’re not alone—welcome to the strange world of sleep paralysis. This phenomenon, which affects ...

Maybe you’ve seen the meme: “This is my sleep paralysis demon: [insert photo].” The viral idea builds on a very real condition in which a person is conscious but unable to move. In some cases, people ...

BERKELEY, Calif. — Baland Jalal lay in bed terrified, experiencing his own real-life horror film. Newly awake, the 19-year-old could see his surroundings but couldn't move or speak, and he didn't know ...

Sign up for CNN’s Sleep, But Better newsletter series. Our seven-part guide has helpful hints to achieve better sleep. Baland Jalal lay in bed terrified ...

A neuroscientist describes particular sleep disorders that occur while falling asleep and waking up. Hypnopompic hallucinations can happen with sleep paralysis, when body paralysis lingers during the ...

Jalal is a neuroscientist at Harvard University, Department of Psychology. He was previously a Visiting Researcher at Cambridge University, where he completed his Ph.D. with the School of Clinical ...

Most of us have had nightmares involving scary monsters at some point in our lives. But that fear pales in comparison with the seemingly real mysterious and menacing figure who has people around the ...

Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night after a terrifying dream? or even sleep paralysis—the inability to wake up from a sleep while feeling pressed down. Experts say your sleeping position ...

Aberystwyth University provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK. You wake up in the middle of the night. The room is dark except for the faint glow of the moon through your window. But ...