Australian Experience
I have actuallybeen visiting this site for a couple of years and have finallygot up the courage to de-lurk! Anyway, let me not digress andfinally post my own personal experience. I don't know how much ofthis is relevant but I am a fraternal twin.
Both my brother and I appear to be sensitive to the paranormal (aswell as fascinated by it). My experiences started as a very youngteenager (11 - 12) whilst my brother seems to have developed hissensitivity in his mid-twenties - although he was somewhatsensitive as a child as well as it turns out. Okay - here goes.
As a young girl (starting around 11 years old), I was oftenafflicted by terrible (or what my parents told me at the time)nightmares - I would often wake up and feel like someone wassitting on my chest and trying to smother me. I would hearfootsteps at the end of passage way that always seamed to ceaseat my door. These footsteps sounded quite heavy but also veryfast - almost like someone was running up the corridor towards myroom (my room was at the end of the passageway). I would heardining room chairs move around and when I would get up toinvestigate everyone was in bed and the chairs were as theyshould be.
This happened with almost monotonous regularity for several years- up until I was about 16 or 17 and by this stage I knew I wasn'tdreaming. That this was actually happening to me.
Firstly, let me explain some background to you. I live inAustralia - a fairly warmish client all year 'round. These eventsor nightmares usually took place on very hot nights - we don'thave air-conditioning in the bedrooms just ceiling fans. Now thatI've set the scene - I will tell you about one night inparticular that still makes my hair stand on end.
It was a very hot Summer and I was about 16 (1987ish) - it wasSummer holidays (January in Australia) and I was lying awakereading. It had been a sweltering 40 degrees Celsius (not surewhat it translates to in centigrade but let me assure very hot)for about two weeks running without a break. As a result thehouse was quite hot.
Around 1.00 am I decided to reach over to my dresser and get aglass of water when I was SUDDENLY pushed back down on the bed!My book flew out of my other hand a and the room temperaturedropped rapidly. Then the dreaded pressure on my chest started -I could breathe but not scream or talk - my vocal cords werecompletely frozen and I felt as though I was completely paralyzed.I did not see anything but the room had taken on a distinctly"ozone" type of odour - a similar type of smell thatyou get after an electrical storm with little rain. I could alsohear what sounded like heavy breathing in my ear and the room hadtaken on a distinctly dimmer quality. I don't know why but I gotthe impression that this was a distinctly male entity.
Now this all seemed to be happening in slow motion - you know,when you're really terrified time almost seems to stand still. Istruggled and struggled with whatever it was until I wasexhausted but extremely angry. Finally, I thought to myself"We'll Damn you - kill me if you want I don't care anymore".Remember, my vocal cords appeared to be frozen so I couldn'tactually say it out loud. I definitely screamed it my mind though!As soon as I said this - it let go.
After that event, it went away for a while. Now every couple ofyears it to come back and does the same thing again - just for anight or so not on a regular basis as when I was younger. Asmentioned previously, it always seems to happen in the Summer notWinter. My last experience with it was Christmas (1988). My hubbyto be and I were staying at his father's beach house and Iapparently woke up screaming - "get it off me I can'tbreathe!" at the top of my lungs. I woke the entirehousehold (the house is three story's) and quite large and therewas more than a dozen or so people staying there so it was quiteembarrassing to say the least.
Whatever it is it seems to be able to follow me wherever I live.I even had an experience with it once while I was living in theUnited States. Poltergeist or overactive imagination? I couldalmost put it down to my imagination if it did not still occurtoday and if my twin brother had not shared some of hisexperiences with me (he told me lots of stuff that happened tohim as a child once we had grown up because he did not want toscare me when we were younger). My older brother and youngersister have never seemed to have any trouble.
If anyone wants to know more I will expand upon my otherexperiences and/or some of my brothers if anyone is interested. Iwould also like to hear anybody else's thoughts, feedback,theories as to what it actually is.
Also - just a quick footnote: my parents house (where most ofthis occurred was purchased brand new)!
Hope it wasn't too long or boring!