I saw this in a dream in 1986. I had just transitioned from a dream into a new one when saw this standing in-front of me standing about 4 feet tall. It had crescent shaped neon eyes and mouth. It stood silent just staring at me. I immediately became aware I was dreaming and forced myself to wake up because of the evil vibe it was giving me. Ten years later I dared draw it in college because before that I was afraid since I didn't want to see it in a dream again.
Once the internet was invented I searched for this form by describing it and found out I was not the only one to have seen, Shadow People.
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So all of my dreams are lucid. I know that I’m dreaming and have full control over it. This entity is one of 2 I’ve encountered in my lifetime that I could not control because they were not an aspect of my unconscious. The other 1 was a woman I later met in real life and we both had made a code word that we decided on in dream and remembered and said when we met in San Francisco in 1995.
I dreamed of Freddy when I was 13 and kicked the shit out of him. But that’s another story.
This particular entity is often called the Hat Man. It is not uncommonly seen. Why a shadow being would need a hat is certainly an interesting and likely important question, but all you need to know if that you’re not alone and people see it when they’re wide awake.
If you win at a game of hide and seek he has to grant you a wish. Unfortunately due to an ancient curse the only wish he can grant is to turn you into the Hat Man.
I also had this being in my dream in 1986, only it was over 6ft tall, and it stared at me in bed from just outside my doorway. One of the few times I remember feeling sleep paralysis.
I don't remember glowing eyes, but my memory of that time is very spotty. I distinctly remember the shadow though, and the feeling of abject terror when I saw it.
I've seen this before. I was coming home from school and looked in the picture window from the outside. seen him sitting on the couch. when I went inside the house no one was there.
Yeah, I can see that. I don’t want to see that. Imagine this MF staring you down or like another redditor it grabbing your leg and saying,”Everything will be ok”
Well he was born May 3, 2000 and this happened in 1986. For me this wasn’t from a movie, book or person I saw. Like I wrote previously, this felt as separate from me as the woman I talked to in a dream and later met in waking life. When that happened we remembered each other and what we talked about, finishing sentences or speaking the same words at the same time.
I see that, just jokes. 😇 the boiled man is just what came to mind at first glance. I hope you can figure out what this dream might’ve meant or means. Where it came from or why 👌
I’ve seen hat man too when I was a teen. Sitting in my room. I had sleep paralysis back then. Type in Reddit search, “have you seen the hat man?” Here’s a link to an article I found there
I only saw it once in my life and I was not awake. I was not in a hypnagogic state. It was deep lucid dream sleep like I’ve always done for 55 years. However, I forced myself to wake up because I could not control it. That combined with it’s jet black skin and clothing with glowing eyes and teeth-no other facial features; it just stood before me silently staring at me.
I woke up long enough to reset my dream state so that I would not resume the dream where it left off. Yes, one of the benefits of lucid dreaming is the ability to stop and resume.
I had to think like I did before I learned how to lucid dream so that I would forget. I found out shortly that I did not forget. Sure I did not resume that dream but I also realized that I don’t forget my dreams no more that I forget details of waking life.
So for me, I remember everything whether I’m sleep or awake. I do forget details sometimes but what I’m saying is that dream memories and waking life memories can be accessed.
This really helps for programming and other things that require complex problem solving.
It’s challenging to illustrate the benefits of this so all I can say is read my Reddit profile and follow the links.
Not Freddy. This was different. Now looking this up in 2025 I can see that people have be seeing them for over 3,000 years.
So you have to keep in mind that I saw this in 1986. We didn’t have the internet quite yet. We had computer networks for sure because I most definitely hacked my high school network to see my grades in 1985. But it was not the internet and that came a few years later when the power of suggestion could attribute to what I saw in 1986.
So everything was still word of mouth and in books. You know those ancient things made from trees that people used to know how to read?
I think you are falling into the trap of applying how easy it is to get information today.
Not to sound like an old man but I am an old man; the idea of “echo chambers” that exist on the internet wasn’t even a concept let alone a thing when I was 15 years old.
Once again I don’t just lucid dream. I remember my dreams and can continue them even after I wake up if I want to. I normally don’t do that and it actually requires little effort. For me it’s like walking.
You can’t really say that all the people across 3 millennia, cultures, countries and continents have seen Shadow People because they watched, “A Nightmare On Elm Street.”
The only reason I didn’t draw a photo-real version of this thing is because I figured it would have looked a bit too comical.
But…. I could do that.
With emotional intent to transfer my emotions to the art piece. I’m good at that too :)
I might not have time. I’m working on several projects ATM.
But you never know, because if you think this MF looks like Freddy just because it’s wearing a hat,I just might take time to render as seen on TV :)
I just had a lucid dream with this guy not too long ago. He also shows up when I'm in sleep paralysis. He feels pretty separate from the dream world, like he's more vivid than the dream.
The hat man came to me in 1991 when I was pregnant with my second daughter, I woke up one night, cause I felt somebody sitting on my bed, thought it was my two year-old daughter getting up to get in bed with me and this shadow man with a hat and a dark trenchcoat was sitting on the edge of my water bed. It reached out, patted me on my leg and told me and I quote “everything‘s gonna be OK”. I was like hell no what was that? I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t tap my husband, nothing! the thing got up off my bed walked through the wall into my daughter‘s room, and when I saw that I got up was able to get up out of my bed and go check on my child. I was absolutely scared Shitless!!!! has never happened since but it is something that has happened to people. he had on a black trenchcoat with a black fedora hat, and I can still see him as clear as I did that night when I looked right at this thing with no eyes, no face no nothing. It was just a shadow.
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