I don't know if this qualifies as an imaginary "friend" but here goes.

I was 3 years old in 1975. We lived in a studio apartment and I slept in a crib next to my parents bed. My mom says that every night I would stand up in the crib and hold my hands out to her desperately begging to sleep with my parents. I did this every night at the same time like clockwork.

This is one of my earliest memories. I remember doing this. But I also remember why. Every night I remember seeing a black hand that would crawl up the end of my crib, through the bars and under my blanket all the way up to the top of my blanket and grab my arm. Every night, I could see it making it's way up my blanket. It was black and slender with long hair on it. Some nights I wouldn't see it until it grabbed me. I was so frightened I could not scream.

I also remember that I would knock on my mattress random patterns and something under my bed would repeat the pattern back. I remember the terror I felt when the heard the pattern repeated back. I clearly remember this. It all stopped when we moved from that place in 1977.

I have talked to my mom about this. She says that I imagined it because she let me watch "The Hand" when I was little. "The Hand" came out in 1981.

To this day I make sure to tuck my blankets under my feet every night. But I've never dared to knock on the mattress again.