Sleep Paralysis | dream studies portal

Are Creative Muses Visiting Us During Sleep Paralysis Hallucinations?

Posted by Ryan Hurd on April 8, 2013 | 6 Comments

Next month, I’ll be giving an invited talk at a dream conference in Weston, Massachusetts. I’ll be showcasing examples of how people throughout history–and especially today–have used their sleep paralysis-induced hallucinations for creativity.

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Guarding the Threshold: the Use of Amulets and Liminal Objects for Sleep Paralysis Night-mares

Posted by Ryan Hurd on November 30, 2012 | 10 Comments

As most of my readers know, I have “suffered” from sleep paralysis night-mares since I was a teenager. I say suffer in quotes because these chilling episodes have also come to include some of my most transcendent experiences in the dreamworld: such as contact with healing light, benevolent angelic beings, and intense otherworldly journeys that [...]

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Nexus of Nightmares: Fuseli, Sleep Paralysis, and Horror’s Master Image

Posted by Matt Cardin on October 31, 2012 | 4 Comments

A guest post by author Matt Cardin. When I first started experiencing sleep paralysis attacks accompanied by visionary assaults from a shadowy demonic presence in the early 1990s, I was already a long-time fan and student of supernatural horror. I had grown up enthralled by horror stories, novels, and movies, as well as by nonfiction [...]

Filed Under: Dreamy Book Reviews, sleep paralysis

New podcast: Borderlands of Consciousness — Sleep paralysis and hypnagogia

Posted by Ryan Hurd on July 13, 2012 | 5 Comments

In April, I gave a lecture at Stanford University on sleep paralysis and hypnagogia. The teaching assistants of Dr. William Dement’s class were kind enough to record the talk, so I cleaned it up a little and added a creative-commons badge so it can be shared and remixed to your heart’s content.

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Sleep Paralysis Makes Great Art

Posted by Ryan Hurd on February 22, 2012 | 5 Comments

Awareness during sleep paralysis often includes the terrifying and realistic sensation of being held down while waking up or going to sleep. Sometimes, it’s accompanied by grotesque visions that seem to threaten our most prized possession: our sanity. But I have found for myself that sleep paralysis can lead to creative states of mind (such [...]

Filed Under: Dreams & Media, sleep paralysis

Halloween Infographic: the Vampires and Werewolves of Sleep Paralysis

Posted by Ryan Hurd on October 31, 2011 | 2 Comments

Why do millions of sane and rational people believe in ghosts? Because they actually see them, hovering over the bed and holding them down.
Over the centuries, spooky stories have warned us of the creatures of the night. But these tales don’t just come from dusty fairytales: they are panicked stories of real experience transmitted down [...]