• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Weird Sleep And Half-Asleep Experiences

S

sneakyfeet

Gone But Not Forgotten
(ACCOUNT RETIRED)
Joined
Jul 3, 2009
Messages
35
I'm not sure if this is the right place to put this, as I don't think it's exactly paranormal or anything like that. But it was a little bit strange, and I wanted to share it with somebody, so hopefully you guys aren't completely bored by it.

Anyways, I am currently staying in a house all by my lonesome, which is not a big deal (in fact, it's kind of nice to have some peace and quiet!). However, it can be a little bit spooky at night. It's an older house - that is, old by California standards, being built in the early 1900's - so it can make some creaking or settling sounds at night, which I'm used to.

However, last night, just as I was falling asleep, I was suddenly snapped back to complete consciousness by a sort of trilling, Marioland type of sound coming from our living room. It had a musical sort of quality to it, and reminded me of in the Nintendo games when Mario would be jumping over a mushroom or turtle in a level, with some computerized music playing in the background (it didn't sound EXACTLY like that, but was similar). I lifted my head and strained to listen, but as soon as I did so it stopped.

Perhaps this wouldn't have struck me as being so odd if I don't go through the same routine every night to make sure all electronics in the house are turned off before going to bed. My computer speakers were off, my television was off - and I don't own a video game console. Aside from my television and computer, there is absolutely nothing in my living room that could have been making this sound.

My only explanation for what this could have been is some type of hypnagogic hallucination (yes, I had to google that. I totally did not know that off the top of my head). In fact, this morning I recalled that for a while, as a child of maybe 10 or 11, I used to hear someone distinctly calling my name just as I was drifting off into sleep, only to awaken fully and realize no one had been calling me. However, I never heard any sort of 'digitized' sounds, only the distinct calling out of my name and that was it.

Additionally, my mom told me I used to have night terrors when I was very young. She said she used to get up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water or to check on me and my sister, and would sometimes find me standing in our living room, in the dark, staring silently out the window with my eyes open. She said that when she would try to talk to me I would completely unresponsive, and continue just staring out the window, which admittedly weirded her out. So apparently I had some weird sleeping issues when I was little, but aside from occasional insomnia and some strange dreams, I've been a normal sleeper since my teens.

Anyways, it was a very small and probably unfortean event, but I just had to share it with somebody, and figured if anybody would be interested it would hopefully be my fellow forteans.
 
Smoke alarm or carbon monoxide alarm with low battery?
 
That's a good theory, only I've heard our smoke alarms' battery beep before and it sounds very different. This almost sounded musical, and multilayered, like there was more than one sound playing at the same time.
 
I get things like that happen fairly often. I've been woken by my text tone on my phone- no message. Last house I lived in I got woken by the doorbell and we didn't even have one.
 
I've thought I heard my phone beep for a text message before when I'm fully awake, actually! I've heard of people experiencing 'phantom' vibrations as well, when they think their phone is vibrating in their purse or pocket and they don't even have it on them.

Perhaps a neighbor's doorbell?
 
My first thought was some kind of insect in the house. They can make all kinds of noises. Or maybe a tree frog, which can be very musical.
 
Birds? Even though at night we get some birds out in darkness because of street lighting. And (I've said this in a previous thread), starling are amazing mimics. I once heard one in a friends garden and I could have sworn blind that her phone was ringing, but it was a starling outside. Unlikely I know...
 
I doubt it was a frog or insect, as it had a very tinny, digital type of sound to it - like the type of music/sound you might hear from an old Nintendo gameboy or console. I'd be very surprised if a starling could have made a sound like that, but I know little about starlings, so perhaps I'm wrong!
 
Ha! I have never heard of that before! That would make me absolutely NUTS if that's what actually happened though. Can you imagine if somebody tossed a neverending box of cricket chirpings onto the telephone wires in front of your house? Lol I would lose it.
 
The neighbours didn't have a doorbell either, or at least not one I heard at all in 18 months. It's just your brain firing off stuff when you are half asleep not something weird that needs working out.
It's not just electronic sounds I hear, a couple of weeks ago I was half awake and heard my daughter screaming 'mummy, mummy help me!' in a terrified voice. She lives 350 miles away!
 
marionXXX said:
The neighbours didn't have a doorbell either, or at least not one I heard at all in 18 months. It's just your brain firing off stuff when you are half asleep not something weird that needs working out.
It's not just electronic sounds I hear, a couple of weeks ago I was half awake and heard my daughter screaming 'mummy, mummy help me!' in a terrified voice. She lives 350 miles away!
Click to expand...

Something like this happened years ago to my sister.
I was still living with my parents at the time, and there was a phone call in the early hours of the morning. I got up and answered it. It was my sister in a very distressed state - she claimed she'd just had a panicked phone call from me and my Dad, and that we'd been in some kind of accident. She'd phoned back to find out more or talk to my Mum.
I told her that I hadn't phoned her, I'd been asleep. She didn't believe me, as she was in such a hysterical state, so I passed the phone over to my Dad to calm her down.
I concluded she'd had a bad dream or some kind of hallucinatory experience, as the people she had (apparently) spoken to had our voices and had addressed her by name...
 
Oh my gosh, that must be such a disturbing thing to experience! Fortunately for me, I only heard a weird video game sort of sound. I can't imagine if I heard the voice of someone I loved sounding distressed or scared! Our sleep states can affect us in such strange ways. It's all the more intriguing since researchers and scientists do not fully understand sleep and dreaming.
 
I had a very vivid dream the other night in which I was stranded in Africa (no, i have no idea either!) unable to open my eyes and trying really hard but aware that a rat was biting my toes. When i eventually woke up I still couldn't open my eyes fully although I could make out the outline of my room so was most likely no longer dreaming.
Funny thing, sleep. :s
 
What a funny dream! And actually I guess the whole 'waking up and not being able to open your eyes' sleep thing happens to a lot of people - I remember reading about that before.

You know when people interpret dreams to have a deeper meaning? I wonder what your dream would have meant, lol!

Actually, speaking of weird dreams, the other night I had a dream that Conan O'Brien stopped by my house unnanounced and decided he was going to be living with me for a while, then wouldn't stop eating all my peanut butter straight out of the jar. So yes, sleep is definitely a funny thing!
 
I often get phones ringing or knocks on the door or similar things when sitting in the chair dozing. I'd swear I'd not been properly asleep, and the things are not like dreams. I think the brain just kind of wanders around wild in those half-asleep situations.
 
In 1993 a mate of mine died, he had got in with the wrong crowd & had died taking drugs, he was about 17 & I was 20. At the time I was living at my mums & between his death & the funeral I dont know what to call it, i suppose a dream happened but it was so real it was strange.

the `dream` as ill loosely call it was this, I was in bed asleep & woke up, the room was the same, bedcovers , pics on the wall (my brother laid in the bed on the other side of the room) everything all details exactly the same & in the door way was Micheal, he was stood like he used to look (handsome lad who looked older for his years) in the doorway of the bedroom, he was wearing a white suit, shirt & shoes & the light behind him was a brilliant white shining in the room, but the thing was the room itself was quite dark. I looked at him & said `Mike` as in a surprised way. He looked at me & said "youll be alright Paul, Youll be alright" & with that he was gone.....& the room was how it was before he appeared in the doorway. I put my head down on the pillow confused but calm, the next thing It was morning.

The thing that has always struck me was how detailed the dream was, you know when you dream about your surroundings etc there may be something different i.e. the room may be bigger or smaller or a wall may be coloured differently, well this is my confusion with dream / awake....to this day im still not sure, i do take some peace with me that Michael in some strange way is looking down on me like a guardian Angel, even though he couldnt help himself (which was devastating) he manages to see if im ok now & again.

After this i remember going `walking` a mate of mine & his to a hill which overlooks our town. We sat down & as it was between Mikes death & funeral we spoke about it (I suppose it was a way of dealing with the grief & the sadness) I told my mate my dream, everything the detail etc. Dave said that he was in touch with Michaels girlfriend & spoke to her a few nights back, & she had had a wierd `episode` she said that Michael would sometimes come behind her & whisper in her ear now & again, she went on to say that she was with her friend 2 nights before Michaels death & she swore that Michael was behind her & said `hello` in her ear. She said she was surprised when she spun round & he wasnt there. She said she mentioned it too him when she got to there flat but he just laughed it off....

I know the above isnt a `dream` but its strange how this happened before & after his death its like a crisis apparition or sound & then a peaceful calming message after death.
 
I've probably posted this before but I think it bears repeating...

One morning I was awakened by the sound of my sister's voice yelling my name in my year (we live over 40 miles apart). Hypnagogic experience, maybe - except that after I leapt out of bed in confusion and now wide awake, I heard her yelling "I'm here!" from downstairs as if she'd just walked in. She told me later that her husband has told her he's had the same experience of hearing her come into their house when she is out and really hasn't returned yet. We joke that she really gets around.

But while I have read tons of accounts of hypnagogic experiences (I've had other ones myself, but none that involved hearing voices) and I've read tons of accounts of people hearing what sounded like invisible people entering their homes, I had never heard of one thing leading to another, as happened to me.

Bororeturn1, I think it sounds as if your friend visited you. That's how I would take it, anyway.
 
Laughing, right?

I seem to be having a lot of Fortean type things happen of late. I’m sure reading this board can be bad for you in a subconscious way.

This happened a few months ago, and reading this thread made me think of it again.

From fast asleep, I woke up, it was about 3:00am and I needed a pee, so went and sat on the en-suite toilet.
I didn’t put the lights no, so as not to disturb the dogs or the wife, but it was light enough to see the bed.
As I was sat there, feeling fairly awake, but looking forward to another few hours sleep before the alarm, I heard laughing.
It sounded sort of distance, but became more clear, and it sounded like a small group of children – sort of giggling, laughing.
As I focussed on it, it almost felt like it was right outside the bathroom window.
It was so out of context, that it slapped me to full awake.

I shot back to the bed, and was thinking of opening the bedroom windows to take a look, but was absolutely terrified.
I can’t remember anything else about it, so I must have gone straight off to sleep again.

As a sanity check, I know this was not real, as the dogs that sleep on the bed didn’t move an inch but at the time it was terrifying.
 
heliart, I know that terrified feeling when you hear voices coming from outside in the wee (no pun intended!) hours of the morning because I had a similar experience a few years ago. I was in bed reading, it was around 1:30AM on a Monday and out of nowhere I heard voices coming from outside. They sounded like a group of people having a party, but on the rare occasions I do hear people talking outside, the sound quality isn't all the same and it's never at that time of night. As I listened in consternation I then heard the unmistakable sound of a woman laughing, but it was over the muffled voices - almost as if it was reacting to my growing fear.

Then the voices became louder and I swear they started moving. They now sounded as if they were coming from downstairs in my house instead of outside. I grabbed my phone and got out of bed and went to the landing, and as I did the voices kept getting and louder. Logically I knew there was no way there could be anybody carrying on in my house (like your dogs, my cat was asleep on my bed through most of this!), but I dialed 9-1- with my thumb poised over the final 1 as I started walking down the stairs.

I got about halfway down the stairs when the voices completely stopped as suddenly as they had started. Thankfully that was the one and only time I've had that experience, because it was disturbing and I know I wasn't imagining anything, nor am I crazy either.
 
In the dead of night, there are fewer ambient noises and the air is often quite still. This can make voices really become much clearer than they would be in daytime.

I was woken up in the early hours a couple of months ago, by the sound of some people in the street speaking loudly.
I got up to go and pee, but I didn't turn on any lights.
A woman's voice then started talking loudly about me - being quite rude, calling me a 'fat bastard'. I guess they must have seen me moving about in the bathroom in spite of the fact that I hadn't put on any lights.
I couldn't believe how clearly I could hear their voices - I guess they'd come back from a nightclub or party, and were a bit tipsy. Ambient sound conditions must have been just right for the sound to carry.

Solsticebell - your experience sounds quite frightening.
 
Reading through your guys' experiences reminded me of a similar thing that happened to me when I was about 14, that I hadn't thought of in years.

I used to have a lot of trouble falling asleep, and would lay awake in my bed in the dark for hours, just trying to fall asleep. One night, as I was laying in bed, staring at the ceiling in the dim light that would filter in from the streetlight and through my blinds, I began to hear something outside my window. It was soft at first, the slight snuffling of a person like their nose was stuffed. Then, they began to cry, and it grew into the most heart wrenching, devastating sobs I have ever heard in my life. I froze in my bed, absolutely terrified. It sounded like they were sitting right beneath my window, just wailing in a manner that sounded so deeply tragic.

I don't know how long they went on for, but eventually they just stopped, abruptly. I was completely freaked out, and lay in my bed for a couple more minutes, afraid to move. Finally, I climbed out of bed and ran to my parents room to tell them. My dad went outside, and, of course, there was no one there outside my window. But to this day I remember the sounds of that person (real or unreal) crying. I have never heard anything so broken and sad as that.

Perhaps I had fallen asleep and it was a dream, but like Bororeturn1, everything was completely detailed, and I don't remember falling asleep or waking up, I just remember laying in bed. Or maybe it was sound carried from somewhere, but we lived right next to a freeway with cars going all day and night, so I don't know if sound carries in my area as well as it might somewhere else.

Anyways, you guys have some really interesting experiences! Bororeturn1, I would agree with solsticebelle - it sounds like your friend came to visit you. I don't know if I necessarily believe in spirits, but I have never personally experienced anything ghostly, so I do not discount what other people have seen or believe and keep an open mind.

And solsticebelle, you're a lot braver than me! That sounds terrifying. I probably would have stayed in bed, shaking under the blankets! And all these stories about phantom laughter are giving me the willies.
 
Last night, in the early hours, I was awoken by some sounds. I was half asleep, and I heard an unfamiliar woman's voice call my name once.
Fully awake, I heard nothing further - so I wondered if I'd imagined it.
Going to the bathroom for a pee, I noticed my neighbour's kitchen light was on. This was 4.30 in the morning. Completely unconnected, but a little unusual I guess.
 
On a caravan holiday years back I was woken to a couple outside. The women seemed very angry and kept blaming or swearing at some poor chap with her. He kept mumbling back to her as he called out the word "Parkle". Whilst listening I heard her mention the word "Sparkle". His voice got closer and I looked thru the curtains. I saw a very drunk man in vest and boxer shorts lumbering around looking for something. When the hidden women shouted, "its not a ffffing dog!" I laughed alittle. I heard the women call out to Sparkle with - puss,puss.

I fell back to my bed thinking who takes a cat on a caravan holiday :D
 
macrosblack said:
On a caravan holiday years back I was woken to a couple outside. The women seemed very angry and kept blaming or swearing at some poor chap with her. He kept mumbling back to her as he called out the word "Parkle". Whilst listening I heard her mention the word "Sparkle". His voice got closer and I looked thru the curtains. I saw a very drunk man in vest and boxer shorts lumbering around looking for something. When the hidden women shouted, "its not a ffffing dog!" I laughed alittle. I heard the women call out to Sparkle with - puss,puss.

I fell back to my bed thinking who takes a cat on a caravan holiday :D
Click to expand...

Sorry, was there more than one woman? You mention 'women'...
 
solsticebelle said:
voices in the house
Click to expand...

This is absolutely terrifying. I had a personal experience, somewhat similar, when I was a kid of maybe 12 and home alone for a few hours. I swore I heard people in the house, talking quietly, and moving from room to room downstairs, and just knew we were being robbed despite it being broad daylight. In my case, fortunately, it turned out to be the neighbors, whose voices somehow carried strangely from where they were walking along our shared path between the houses. Remembering my terror, I can't imagine what it would be like not to have such a comforting explanation.

Speaking of strange voices in houses at night, I ran across a truly bizarre story a few years ago. Didn't happen to me, and could be nothing but somebody's attempt at creative fiction, but it was certainly presented as being true: a man repeatedly heard voices of children talking just outside his bedroom window, and the children seemed, judging by their conversation, to be aware of his presence and even watching him, but he could never catch them- not even with some very oddly-behaved recording equipment. But also judging by their conversation, they might not have been children at all. :shock:

I'd share the story, but it's a long one, and not all of it is relevant to this topic, so I wouldn't want to hijack it. Any suggestions on where to put it if there's interest?
 
AtomicBadger said:
solsticebelle said:
voices in the house
Click to expand...

This is absolutely terrifying. I had a personal experience, somewhat similar, when I was a kid of maybe 12 and home alone for a few hours. I swore I heard people in the house, talking quietly, and moving from room to room downstairs, and just knew we were being robbed despite it being broad daylight. In my case, fortunately, it turned out to be the neighbors, whose voices somehow carried strangely from where they were walking along our shared path between the houses. Remembering my terror, I can't imagine what it would be like not to have such a comforting explanation.

Speaking of strange voices in houses at night, I ran across a truly bizarre story a few years ago. Didn't happen to me, and could be nothing but somebody's attempt at creative fiction, but it was certainly presented as being true: a man repeatedly heard voices of children talking just outside his bedroom window, and the children seemed, judging by their conversation, to be aware of his presence and even watching him, but he could never catch them- not even with some very oddly-behaved recording equipment. But also judging by their conversation, they might not have been children at all. :shock:

I'd share the story, but it's a long one, and not all of it is relevant to this topic, so I wouldn't want to hijack it. Any suggestions on where to put it if there's interest?
Click to expand...
I'd say General Forteana, since it didn't happened to you.
 
I can recall a childhood memory of going to bed early one Christmas Eve. I drift into sleep excited about all my action man and starwars toys from santa :) I wake up in the early hours and like previous years wait and listen for the all clear before creeping downstairs. I get out of bed and hear a noise downstairs - seems to be coming from the kitchen area....doh! The flooring near the back door (in the kitchen) always made a sound when you trood upon it. It seems like something is walking into the kitchen. Thud, creak, thud, thud, thud. All then goes quiet again and I return to sit on my bed trying to decide what to do next. My need to open gifts takes over again and off I creep onto the landing. As I pass my parents bedroom I can hear them both breathng in their sleep - yippee! :) For a brief moment I blame Santa for those noises in the kitchen and excitement returns. :)

After focusing my attention on ripping away wrapping paper I began to feel alittle ill. My stomach and limbs ached which was odd. The aching was minimal but did continue throughout Christmas day. This odd sensation passed near evening - after a long lay down. I blamed it on getting up so early.

....
Many weeks back I woke up with the aroma of fruits in my bedroom, followed by a knocking noise near furniture. Most odd and also strange by how I simply forgot about it and went back to sleep.

Since then Ive occasionally picked up the smell of baking whilst at home. When it occurs its around 10pm whilst I check my work emails. It always strikes me with a thought of - whats cooking, is something burning. Ive picked up this smell around me in the bedroom a few times too.

One early Monday morning recently I awoke to the tick-tock of my alarm clock. I was on my back and I stretched - as you do :) Well as i made myself relaxed again I felt a chill pass against my body. It felt peaceful and gentle as it went. Some part of me concluded it was a spirit. I then spent a minute or so checking I had not somehow breathed this effect.

Tonight Ive had no strange smells or noises but I know my past experiences are not imagination.
 
I had a disorientating thing, happen a week ago-ish.

I woke up, because my phone buzzed, it was a text. Well, I opened one eye, in an attempt to focus on my phone, and tried to read the text, but the words kept on getting muddled with each attempt. Then, I felt movement, side to side movement, as if I was rolling over in bed. THEN, I woke up, my eyes open and I was holding my phone, and there was a text too. It was very strange xD
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top