name withheld by request
To: shadowpeopleorg@comcast.net
Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2015 12:39:38 PM
Subject: Shadow People Experiences
I have experienced a lot of strange phenomena in my life and I would like to share my shadow people experiences with the public. My first experience happened a long time ago and a more recent event has prompted me to question what really is going on.
My first encounter happened in 1968 when I was 5 years old and living in Kentucky. My experiences occurred night after night, sometimes skipping a night or two, but I was visited by the shadow man dozens of times over the course of about a year.
I shared a bedroom with my brother and we had bunk beds; he slept in the top bunk and I slept in the bottom bunk. During the night I would suddenly waken and be absolutely terrified. I wouldn't be able to move, and I would actually break out in a cold sweat because I knew 'he' was there. In the doorway there was always a faint light from down the hall and I would see the shadow man peeking around the edge of the door frame. I would be so scared I couldn't even speak, and could only move my eyes. I knew if I closed my eyes he would 'get me' so I would try to keep my eyes open as long as possible. It was as if he couldn't move if I was looking at him. Eventually I would have to blink, and with each blink the shadow man got closer. First, he would be peeking around the door frame, then he would be standing in the doorway, then closer and closer with each time my eyes closed and opened again. I never saw him walk towards me, or move, it was as if a cardboard cutout was closer each time I blinked.
He was a solid black shape with a sharp outline but no discernible features. He appeared to be wearing a coat about knee length, and a wide brimmed hat. From his height to the door I would guess he would be between 5.5 and 6 feet tall. I was instinctively terrified of him and I have no idea why. I would try to call out for my mother or father but couldn't get a sound out. I felt pressure, but all over me. I can't even explain it well, but it was almost what I would imagine being in a vacuum would be like. It was almost as if there was no air. If I couldn't manage to break free and call out, the shadow man would get closer and closer until he was just 3-4 feet from the bed and after that I have no memory. If I was able to call out, immediately it felt as if a spell was broken and I would be able to move again. Also, as soon as I called out, the shadow man would turn around and walk quickly out the doorway and to the left (towards the living room). This was the only time I saw him walk, he would walk away from me, but not towards me. Sometimes my mother would come around the doorway from the right side just as the shadow man went out to the left side and I could never understand why she never saw him. She would tell me I had just had a nightmare and as a good child, I tried to believe her.
We didn't live in that house very long and after we moved, I never had that experience (or nightmare?) again.
In about 2004, I took a trip to Florida and stayed in a supposedly haunted B&B. During the night I experienced the same paralyzed feeling of being in a vacuum, but this time there was no fear. I could also feel myself being pulled toward the edge of the bed. I knew if I could find my voice, I could stop it so I mustered up the strength to say out loud, "Stop it" and it worked. This experience brought back memories of my childhood torment and it was exactly the same physical feeling of being in a 'vacuum', only without the fear. So I wondered if the shadow man of my childhood was a ghost.
In 2010 I was working in a warehouse in Tennessee and one day, during my shift, (between 7 a.m. and noon) I was working at my station with no one around within at least 20 feet. My work station was at the end of a long conveyor lane and there was only one way in and one way out, which was to my left, and you had to walk at least 25 feet to reach the main aisle. Suddenly, as I was about to turn to the left to leave, I saw out of the corner of my eye, a shadow person standing just to my left and slightly behind me. I had been working and sort of 'zoned out' and not really paying attention, so I thought it was a person and I was about to bump into them. I stopped and sort of stepped back because it 'felt' like it was a solid person standing there, but when I looked, there was no one there. The shadow had been a tall, big shadow of at least 6 feet and very, very black with distinct edges. I wasn't scared at all, I was just mystified. This shadow person appeared in broad daylight, at work.
I'm really curious about these experiences and would like to find out more about them. What are these shadows? What is the physical sensation I felt? I never thought of 'ghosts' appearing during the day and that's a bit disconcerting to me. Are they attracted to me? Am I just more sensitive to them? Are there 'good' and 'bad' shadow people?
Please share my story on the Official Shadow People Archive, and if you have any suggestions of where I can look for some answers or more information to help me understand these experiences I would appreciate it.
Thank you,
