Episode 8 - Ever wake up unable to move — your mind awake but your body frozen — while something dark lurks at the edge of the room? This week on Hyperfixation Time, Erin dives into the strange world of sleep paralysis and its most infamous visitor: the Hat Man. We explore where science ends and folklore begins, from mirror neurons and REM misfires to chilling firsthand encounters that defy explanation. Sweet dreams… if you can.

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Sources:

• https://ripleys.com/stories/the-hat-man

• https://chillinkristen.medium.com/the-hat-man-is-a-shadow-person-who-will-keep-you-up-all-night-62c462d9eb0d

• https://www.vogue.com/article/sleep-paralysis-demons

• https://www.houseofweirdpod.com/e/the-hat-man-he-s-real-he-s-watching-and-it-s-your-problem-now

• https://www.reddit.com/r/SpookedPodcast/comments/17ymktk/who_else_has_seen_the_hat_man

• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11344621/ 
• https://www.ripleys.com/stories/the-hat-man

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_hag

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alp_%28folklore%29

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocnitsa

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_person

• https://arxiv.org/abs/1704.02342

• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32903364

• https://balandjalal.com/publications

• https://frontiersin.org/news/2021/03/29/baland-jalal-sleep-paralysis-frontiers-psychology

• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32233744

• https://theweek.com/97457/who-is-the-hat-man-the-nightmare-shared-by-dreamers-across-the-world

• https://www.pbs.org/video/the-hat-man-and-the-shadow-people-fqqhgl

• https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/sleep-paralysis-and-the-monsters-inside-your-mind

• https://balandjalal.com/publications

• https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ajp-rj.2023.180401

• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11344621