A demonic entity

“The Entity” is a scary documentary about the phenomenon known as sleep paralysis. Or perhaps the phenomena thought to be caused by sleep paralysis! The traditional explanation is that demons are attacking people in their sleep. The legends about incubi, succubi, the Old Hag and similar malevolent creatures are based on these frightening nocturnal experiences. (In Sweden, the Entity is known as “mara”).

One woman interviewed has been under constant attack by the Entity since she was a child. A man interviewed wonders why his brother had the same experiences of nightly terrors while sleeping in the man´s bedroom, but not after moving out. Could the explanation be more than just sleep paralysis? Or is the paralysis induced by something objective in the environment? There is also an interview with a person who exhibits an extreme form of sleep walking and memory loss, making the whole episode look like demonic possession!

And speaking of possession, “The Entity” follows a Catholic exorcist who is convinced that the phenomenon is indeed of the Devil. In the commentary section on YouTube, many people claim that the nightly tremors can be made to seize by simply calling on the name of Jesus. On the island of Pemba close to Zanzibar, the locals (who are Muslim) protect themselves against a nocturnal demon-attacker by talismans inscribed with the name of Allah…

One scholar shown in the documentary is David Hufford, author of an anthropological survey of Old Hag traditions, “The Terror That Comes in the Night”. Hufford experienced demonic attacks (or whatever they are) as a young man, and was surprised to learn years later during a field trip to Newfoundland that the people there had traditions about similar experiences. Interestingly, Hufford doesn´t believe that sleep paralysis can account for all reported cases – the experiences are just too varied.

Not for the faint of heart, and hardly as fun as Halloween, but nevertheless relatively interesting. In fact, I was surprised that a documentary about this strange topic even existed!