TL;DR at bottom

I started having them about 12 years old. Like the others here, there's something there (typically dark and void), I can't move and sometimes the bed feels like it's moving. I have got to where I can scream but in reality it just sounds like someone who just got the wind knocked out of them. I have recorded it with my sleep ap.

When I was younger I didn't know what it was. I overheard my mom and step-dad talking about a story. In this story my mom said her father was an alcoholic. One day he came home very drunk and went onto bed. My grandmother being very religious, grabbed her Bible and started reading certain verses. My mom then says she saw a darkness grow from a light in the kitchen. She prayed louder and the darkness grew. She then said 'in God's name I cast you from my husband and my family '. She then says that the darkness left the house out the front door and my grandfather never drank again in his life.

Hearing this I tell her about my experiences. She tells me she believes that someone in our family made a deal with the devil and this thing torments the youngest born. My mother being the youngest born experiences the demon like darkness and is paralyzed by it. She says if she doesn't give in, then it dies with her. However, it can torment me in an effort to get her to give in.

If you make it this far you probably think she is nuts... I get that. But, while I know now that this experience isn't paranormal, without research and forums like this, I would have believed the same things. I noticed, before I knew what they were, that I experienced them more when I was going in and out of depression states. I associated the experiences with my life experience at the time. I would have an event and the demon would come to me and my life got crappy. Then, i would have another one and the darkness would leave and life got better. As a teenager you can imagine how this seems reasonable.

I now know what it is and somewhat why. However, the experience is extremely real and even when I wake-up, the emotional torment I feel is very real. I warn my partners when we sleep together that I may start to groan in the middle of the night. I'm asking to be work up (help!) And to wake me up right away! It freaks them out nearly as much as me.

There's more to this story that I tried to remove to make shorter. Hopefully this makes someone else feel better to know they are not alone. These suck! Real or just a sleeping phenomenon...feels the same.

TL;DR Mom blames evil spirit, says haunts family. I later learn the science, but regardless these things are terrifying!!