I'm a self-certified insomniac.
So I quite regularly have periods where I wonder what the hell is going on and have to concentrate to try and decide if I'm dreaming, or not. Quite often it's just frustrating, like right now I'm more tired than a tired thing that studied at tired university and majored in staring at the ceiling. Most of the things are fairly mundane.

Like when I was working for a small company, as the sole programmer, doing about 3 people's jobs. I went to the cash machine and withdrew £20, but walked away with just my bank card and no money. It was only a few feet from the machine that I realised, but the knob tickler that was behind me had obviously taken the money and buggered off!

Most of the weird things that happen, happen in that period of sleep where you're not quite asleep, but not quite awake either. For example, jerking awake and wondering why there's a bright light shining through my window and coming to the conclusion that there couldn't possibly be a bright light shining through my window, so I must be somewhere else other than my flat. Then spending the next 10 minutes stumbling around, turning all the lights on to convince myself that I was in fact in my flat. I still have no idea what the light was, or if the light was even real.

I also quite regularly experience a phenomenon that I can't remember the name of. You basically imagine that a shadowy creature is hovering over your bed, looking like something from the Dark Crystal. They descend upon you, clearly looking to do you harm, when suddenly you wake up and have to check that you haven't shat yourself.

Finally, the most realistic event was actually a nice one. It's the one that's stayed with me for quite some time. It was a good few years ago, I was living on my own in a flat in Glasgow and I wasn't doing particularly well. My insomnia was bothering me, amongst other things. I was drifting off to sleep in my tiny bedroom, just barely big enough to fit a double bed and a hip-height bookcase at the end of it. I turned over in my sleep and realised there was someone sitting on the bookcase, no idea who it was, but it jerked me awake (no, not like that!). Of course there was no one there, so I just went back to sleep. A few minutes later he's back, but this time he gets up and walks out the room and smiles and nods to me as he leaves, as though to suggest that everything is going to be ok.

I'm not normally one to believe in the supernatural, but something about that moment made me feel ok, for the first time in a long while. My Swedish friend tells me it was my guardian angel, or some spirit who was watching over me. I'm not so sure, I just think that was me finally losing it!

Hopefully this has now been boring enough to send me to sleep...
(anonymousreality tickled your fancy on, Fri 22 Jul 2011, 4:10, 4 replies)

The phenomenon you refer to is called "night terrors".

It has a sciencey name but I forget.
(tyrellsOwl, Fri 22 Jul 2011, 12:45, closed)

It is similar to night terrors...
...but without the uncontrollable screaming. With night terrors you don't wake up until afterwards, but with this thing it wakes you up immediately.

I seem to recall it was something like "Shadow People", but a quick look on Wikipedia tells me that's not quite right either.
(anonymousreality tickled your fancy on, Fri 22 Jul 2011, 13:53, closed)

Night terrors dont always involve screaming. It is most commonly described as either
a) Seeing your room (because your eyes are still open) changing and morphing, often with demons appearing (your brain being asleep).
b) a woman/creature sitting atop you, choking you

It was this latter thing that made me think your thing might be night terrors.

In severe cases the person is almost fully awake, but unable to move, and just has to last it out.
(tyrellsOwl, Fri 22 Jul 2011, 15:26, closed)

I guess it could be then.
Fortunately it doesn't happen that often, hasn't happened for a while, which makes me think I'm due!
(anonymousreality tickled your fancy on, Fri 22 Jul 2011, 18:20, closed)