11 replies to this topic

[QuasiBeliever]

In the following paragraphs, I'm going to relate my sister's story to you. However, to preface, I never put much stock into the physical existence of the Grim Reaper or any other "demonic" presence. My sister is in the same vein as myself in that she always looks for a more plausible or scientific explanation first before jumping to any conclusions. This experience, however, was very different.

First, I'll start with some background info. My sister's first born child was involved in a near drowning incident when he was three. As a result, he suffered brain damage that basically rendered him a vegetable for the remainder of his life; couldn't speak, had to be nourished via feeding tubes, breathing tubes, etc. I can't be certain whether his condition -- and later, his death -- may have been the reason for this experience, but it seems like a logical conclusion.

My sister had just moved into her very first nice house after landing a great job. We were all very proud of her, especially because she's lead a very difficult life after leaving home. To my knowledge, there were no strange deaths within the place and there was nothing out of the ordinary about it; no "presence" or anything of that sort.

One night, as my sister was lying on her bed, she heard what sounded like footsteps coming down the hallway. Her half-sister was expected to visit and spend the night that night, so my sister naturally thought it was her. She called her name, but no answer. An average sized (my sister estimated him to be around six feet tall) being hooded in a black robe entered the room, whispering an incomprehensible chant and ending each time with "ma-MA!". She said that the being's presence felt very evil and she was paralyzed with fear. The being, interestingly, seemed to glide over the floor even though she initially heard footsteps. He came around to her side of the bed, continuing the chant, which became louder every time he said it. He then took his hand and grabbed my sister's crotch, which hurt badly and continued to hurt for a few days afterwards. She yelled "STOP!" and the being disappeared. My sister then ran to check on her kids, who were all sleeping and unharmed. Not for long, though. Within a week's time, my handicapped nephew passed away.

When my sister first told me this story, the first thing that came to mind was sleep paralysis. However, she insisted that she wasn't even sleep, she was just lying on her bed and didn't even intend on sleeping because she wasn't particularly tired. She has never experienced anything like this before, and is not a huge believer in the paranormal. My sister has always been a very intelligent, professional, level-headed person; no history of mental illness, proneness to hallucinations/delusions, etc. Both of us have been searching for some kind of an answer ever since and neither one of us can come up with much of a conclusion. I then began to consider the possibility of an emotional vision possibly stemming from the fact that her son hadn't been doing all that well at the time and her fears/concerns were projected as a visual experience, but she insists that the being was physical considering it grabbed her.

At first, she considered the entity to be a "demonic hooded figure", it was only after I asked her whether her son died soon before or after the experience that I considered the possibility of it being the "Grim Reaper". Again, I am still skeptical that this happened in a physical sense, but it has certainly made a lasting impression on her and she vehemently denies it being a hallucination, a dream, or sleep paralysis. I do believe her, she's not the type to just make things like this up, but we're both still searching for answers on what this could have been.

I'll do a search to look for other similar experiences, I was just wondering what you all thought about this particular one. Does this seem like a "Death" character? The fact that he kept ending each chant with "ma-MA!" leads me to believe that he had come for my nephew. Before, I had always thought that the Grim Reaper was simply urban legend with no basis in reality; never knew that people had supposedly had physical experiences with him.

All input is much appreciated!

[Stormcrow]

Sounds exactly like sleep paralysis to me. Being a long time sufferer myself, that is definitely what it sounds like. The immobility, the dark shape, the shouting and voices... I've had episodes when I didn't intend to sleep either, just barely having drifted off off on the couch or in a chair. It's easy to just "drift off" even without intending to, it just kind of happens, especially if you're exhausted (mentally, physically, both). You might not even realize you're falling asleep, it just happens.

That's about all I've got though.

[Richey Manic]

Try a google search on "shadow people", sounds very similar, especially the hooded figure description.

Edited by Richey Manic, 10 October 2009 - 10:17 PM.

[Rhungobains]

It does sound like a mixture of Sleep Paralysis and Hypnagogic hallucinations to me. The hallucination of the Reaper itself may've been something pertaining to your sister's current worries over her son, especially if their been any dramatic decline in his health during those last few weeks.

[brlesq1]

Very interesting. Sleep paralysis, hypnagogic hallucinations...I tend to agree. But I wonder what the crotch grabbing was about?  

Edited by brlesq1, 11 October 2009 - 02:37 AM.

[oz_nic]

Could it be a night terror? I have night terrors about once a month. In mine i swear i am awake, but i am not, and i swear things are either standing beside the bed orcoming towards the bed. which of course there isn't. when i wake up i am very dazed and it takes me a few minutes to remember the night terror.
your sister would have been under alot of stress and worry about her son and you said his health wasn't to good when this happened. STRESS is one of the number 1 causes of night terrors. it's got something to do with some part of the brain not shutting down while sleeping. as you said she was just lying on the bed but she said she wasn't asleep. maybe she did fall into a very light sleep, and had a night terror in which everything felt like she was awake.
as for the footsteps, i am not sure what that would have been, it my be linked in with the night terror.
either way it would be a very scary experience. i send my best wishes to you and your family for your loss.

[QuasiBeliever]

Rhungobains, on 10 October 2009 - 10:29 PM, said:

It does sound like a mixture of Sleep Paralysis and Hypnagogic hallucinations to me. The hallucination of the Reaper itself may've been something pertaining to your sister's current worries over her son, especially if their been any dramatic decline in his health during those last few weeks.

This sounds like the most plausible explanation to me, too. Of course, my sister insists that it happened and that it was not sleep paralysis. She's suffered a few times herself and so have I and I'm perfectly aware of how terrifying and "real" it all seems. I think the emotional connection bringing on the hallucination is very viable, as well; especially one as strong as between a mother and her child.

oz_nic, on 11 October 2009 - 03:01 AM, said:

Could it be a night terror? I have night terrors about once a month. In mine i swear i am awake, but i am not, and i swear things are either standing beside the bed orcoming towards the bed. which of course there isn't. when i wake up i am very dazed and it takes me a few minutes to remember the night terror.
your sister would have been under alot of stress and worry about her son and you said his health wasn't to good when this happened. STRESS is one of the number 1 causes of night terrors. it's got something to do with some part of the brain not shutting down while sleeping. as you said she was just lying on the bed but she said she wasn't asleep. maybe she did fall into a very light sleep, and had a night terror in which everything felt like she was awake.
as for the footsteps, i am not sure what that would have been, it my be linked in with the night terror.
either way it would be a very scary experience. i send my best wishes to you and your family for your loss.

Thanks for your thoughts, they're much appreciated. Night terrors are something I didn't really consider. I suffered through them as a child and that's actually one reason I began delving so much into the UFO and ET culture and why I came here to this forum, but that's another subject for another thread. You're right in that they seem very real; I spent countless nights as a small child not being able to sleep in fear that the "praying mantises" were going to come for me again.

Thanks for your responses, everyone.

[Kerrby]

Since when do Grim Reapers go around molesting people?

[_Only]

Ebonykrow, on 10 October 2009 - 07:06 PM, said:

Sounds exactly like sleep paralysis to me. Being a long time sufferer myself, that is definitely what it sounds like. The immobility, the dark shape, the shouting and voices... I've had episodes when I didn't intend to sleep either, just barely having drifted off off on the couch or in a chair. It's easy to just "drift off" even without intending to, it just kind of happens, especially if you're exhausted (mentally, physically, both). You might not even realize you're falling asleep, it just happens.

That's about all I've got though.

Yes, there is a weird time when you're inbetween a sleep state where anything goes mentally. Even if she wasn't tired, she could have dozed off enough to experience sleep paralysis. And if you're in this inbetween state, you can be easily startled out of it in many ways. And when you're suddenly awoken from this almost asleep weird state you find you remember everything that happened in that state vividly immediately.

A lot of scientists, mathematicians, etc. realized this, and used methods to invite it. Thomas Edison used a method where he would lay in bed or sit in a chair calmly. While he did this, he held a glass in his hand comfortably near him. Naturally, he would reach that inbetween state (which most of us never remember because we end up falling asleep) and the glass would fall from his hand, making a loud noise waking him up. And he would remember everything that he was thinking for the last few minutes, which seemed like he was wide awake, but he knew wasn't because he was "awoken" by the glass falling. He and others used this inbetween moment as they thought they did their best thinking at this time.

I've done the same thing recently. I was laying in bed listening to the radio thinking about something, when my train of thought was interrupted by me letting out a loud snore, waking me up. Funny eh, my train of thought interrupted by my snore, lol. But I recalled the last 10 minutes like I was never asleep and the radio was the same song; no skipped moment at all in the song.

So I feel this common but often not understood moment can also contain dreams that you normally wouldn't remember, but you get woken up by some startle and remember it as if it was totally real, never noticing reaching this state. This would also explain the paralyzed state of sleep paralysis, as your brain is working but you're in that inbetween state where your body thinks it is asleep.

The one thing I don't get is why so many people see shadow people, but your sister's experience doesn't sound like those. Just a scary dream. I'm sure "Death" grabbing her crotch and her yelling "STOP!" was what woke her up from her inbetween state, much like the glass falling from Edison's hand. The difference though, is that Edison knew of this phenomenon beforehand and afterwards realized he was in this state. Your sister doesn't know this, so she will swear that she was awake.

Edited by Jerry Only, 12 October 2009 - 02:06 PM.

[-Nuke-]

First let me tell you that there is a big difference in sleep paralysis, hallucinations, and real paranormal activity.
naturally, humans try and find scientific theories or facts that explain their experiences other than it being paranormal. I'm guessing about 75% of all experiences can be explained with scientific reasoning..but then there is that last 25%...that is really paranormal.

If it really wasn't sleep paralysis or an hallucinations(and it seems to me you already know what those are so you can decide if its that or paranormal because I'm not your sister so I couldn't tell you which one it was.)and you're sure of that then I would suggest you reasearch shadow people and the hat man/woman and decide if that's what she experienced.  Use the search feature and type in shadow people and you can find great stuff on it on this site. You will also find out certain things that might of happened before the hooded figure came(example: smaller shadows seen before the day the 'big one' came) that could help you figure out if that is what you experienced.

But not I or anyone else is your sister or you so just research and find out what stuff most closely relates to what happened and decide there.

P.s. the crotch grabbing is pretty crazy especially because it hurt for the next couple of days..was anyone raped in the house? And its definetly not a grim reaper lol

Edited by Dat-Nigga_Named-Nuke, 12 October 2009 - 02:14 PM.

[TuesdayMiles]

QuasiBeliever, on 10 October 2009 - 06:51 PM, said:

In the following paragraphs, I'm going to relate my sister's story to you. However, to preface, I never put much stock into the physical existence of the Grim Reaper or any other "demonic" presence. My sister is in the same vein as myself in that she always looks for a more plausible or scientific explanation first before jumping to any conclusions. This experience, however, was very different.

First, I'll start with some background info. My sister's first born child was involved in a near drowning incident when he was three. As a result, he suffered brain damage that basically rendered him a vegetable for the remainder of his life; couldn't speak, had to be nourished via feeding tubes, breathing tubes, etc. I can't be certain whether his condition -- and later, his death -- may have been the reason for this experience, but it seems like a logical conclusion.

My sister had just moved into her very first nice house after landing a great job. We were all very proud of her, especially because she's lead a very difficult life after leaving home. To my knowledge, there were no strange deaths within the place and there was nothing out of the ordinary about it; no "presence" or anything of that sort.

One night, as my sister was lying on her bed, she heard what sounded like footsteps coming down the hallway. Her half-sister was expected to visit and spend the night that night, so my sister naturally thought it was her. She called her name, but no answer. An average sized (my sister estimated him to be around six feet tall) being hooded in a black robe entered the room, whispering an incomprehensible chant and ending each time with "ma-MA!". She said that the being's presence felt very evil and she was paralyzed with fear. The being, interestingly, seemed to glide over the floor even though she initially heard footsteps. He came around to her side of the bed, continuing the chant, which became louder every time he said it. He then took his hand and grabbed my sister's crotch, which hurt badly and continued to hurt for a few days afterwards. She yelled "STOP!" and the being disappeared. My sister then ran to check on her kids, who were all sleeping and unharmed. Not for long, though. Within a week's time, my handicapped nephew passed away.

When my sister first told me this story, the first thing that came to mind was sleep paralysis. However, she insisted that she wasn't even sleep, she was just lying on her bed and didn't even intend on sleeping because she wasn't particularly tired. She has never experienced anything like this before, and is not a huge believer in the paranormal. My sister has always been a very intelligent, professional, level-headed person; no history of mental illness, proneness to hallucinations/delusions, etc. Both of us have been searching for some kind of an answer ever since and neither one of us can come up with much of a conclusion. I then began to consider the possibility of an emotional vision possibly stemming from the fact that her son hadn't been doing all that well at the time and her fears/concerns were projected as a visual experience, but she insists that the being was physical considering it grabbed her.

At first, she considered the entity to be a "demonic hooded figure", it was only after I asked her whether her son died soon before or after the experience that I considered the possibility of it being the "Grim Reaper". Again, I am still skeptical that this happened in a physical sense, but it has certainly made a lasting impression on her and she vehemently denies it being a hallucination, a dream, or sleep paralysis. I do believe her, she's not the type to just make things like this up, but we're both still searching for answers on what this could have been.

I'll do a search to look for other similar experiences, I was just wondering what you all thought about this particular one. Does this seem like a "Death" character? The fact that he kept ending each chant with "ma-MA!" leads me to believe that he had come for my nephew. Before, I had always thought that the Grim Reaper was simply urban legend with no basis in reality; never knew that people had supposedly had physical experiences with him.

All input is much appreciated!

First off I am sorry for the loss of your sisters son, Bless his sweet heart, I have seen what you are talking about twice, the first time when I was 19 yrs old the night before my grandmother crossed I was visited by this creepy black hooded red eye tall ugly looking spirit, scared the crap out of me for sure, I got a call next morning and sure enough g-ma died. The next time I saw a grim reeper looking spirit was the death of a neighbor, she was on her last day of life I was in the kitchen speaking with her daughter I felt something attack me, almost knocked me down, when O turned to look at what it was it was in fact a death spirit, letting me know I had no business there, wth I said this was a loving women, faith based she just was a decent person, well what surprised me was, even though we are good people, I mean heaven should be so lucky to get us good people, the fact is when on your death bed you have a choice where you want to go, free will is still intact, the good , the bad, the awesome and the really ugly show up, all pleading to go with whom ever, its your choice. At the time of her death she went to her light, had no problem with her choice, and all the other types of spirits went on to there area. Your sisters son he knew what to do, and made it just fine, he even stuck his tongue out to the bad guys, blessings sent

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

Your sister wasn't having a near death experience, Death was having a near your sister experience