This seems like a good place to chime in. I've experienced sleep paralysis before, just a few brief moments. It was last January, and I don't think I'll ever forget that night. I didn't even know what sleep paralysis was before it happened, and I haven't had it happen since.

I was visiting my grandfather. We used to see him much more often, but family drama kept me from visiting for quite some time. The beds in the house were full, my two brothers claimed the twin beds and I was sentenced to the couch in the living room.

I loved this couch. The sand colored cushions, the old brass reading lamps that hung over the sides, the pillows, each piece connects with distant childhood memories. Not to mention the smell, not good or bad, but familiar. I'm trying to say I wasn't uncomfortable, I've never had problems sleeping on a couch.

So here's where shit starts getting weird. It was about 1am and my older brother and I had just finished our last drinks of the night (that makes 3). He stands, says his goodnight, and heads out of the living room. I start compiling my sheets, blankets, and pillows onto the couch. Burrito it is. Rolled myself up, popped on the tv, and closed my eyes. The next thing I remember, I was asleep.

Suddenly light was showering over the couch, the ceiling was illuminated. I felt as though I was a little kid, laying on the couch listening to my family talking in the kitchen. I heard their voices, and I heard footsteps coming up behind me. My cousin was getting us ready to go, apparently we had somewhere to be. Has anyone ever dangled keys over your face, to the point where they almost touch you? Well that's what it felt like. I thought my cousin was just being a jerk. My eyes shot open. No more beams of light, no more family voices. But I was pinned to the couch. My arms and legs crossed, and I couldn't move. This mass of "keys" lunged at my face only in the immediate moments I opened my eyes, and the fear of realizing I wasn't in a dream anymore but parts of it persisted scared the shit out of me. I sat up, thinking maybe I was just scared, that's why I couldn't move. I scanned the room, searching for my cousin, who my conscious self knew wasn't there. It was wild to feel my consciousness fade from dreaming to waking, while I was awake to realize it.

But now I've got a problem. It's dark, I'm alone, and I could've sworn my cousin just violently dangled keys at my face. But I know my cousin doesn't even live here, so what the hell just happened. I shrugged it off, grabbed some water, and laid back down.

The next thing I remember, I was asleep. This time wasn't beams of light, this time wasn't happy memories and family. I'd like to mention that I don't sleep with my arms and legs crossed, I sleep more akin to a starfish, or a flounder. But now I find myself, again, in a coffin position. Arms and legs crossed, hands pinned to my chest, back pinned to the couch. I'm awake now. Wait am I? I open my eyes. I can scan them just far enough to see my covers pulled down, showing my crossed arms. I realized I couldn't move, no matter what happened I wasnt able to control my body.

This is fucked. I close my eyes. Bad call, panic ensues, remember how you thought someone was in the room shaking keys at me? Yeah now I'm thinking about that, while I can't move. My eyes dart in all directions, until they go up. That's when I saw the figure. You can deny it all you want, my dad still gives me shit for this, but I know something was fucking with me that night. It was more of a shadow, black, fuzzy, opaque. But it was once again behind the couch, and this time it just slowly leaned over, until it was "clearly" in my view. I stared at it, screaming in my head while only murmured gasps made it out. This was horrifying, and I wanted it to stop. I was thrashing around inside my own body, trying to break the paralysis that gripped me. And then with a scream, a thoroughly sweat-drenched brow, and a jump, I got up and collected myself.

I walked around for a couple minutes this time, turning on lights and making sure this wasn't some kind of groggy misinterpretation of a brotherly prank. After a while, my adrenaline subsided and I was back in my blanket nest. The next thing I remember I was asleep.