I have had several old hag encounters, and they continue to this day. My first encounter occurred when I was 21 years of age. I was staying the night at my then-girlfriend's house in Pemberton Near Wigan in Lancashire in the U.K. It was a warm June night in 1983 and I had just settled down on the couch. The house was a two-bedroom house and Sandra's parents were soundly asleep in the room opposite hers.


Sandra had a mongrel dog called Trixie that slept on her bed.

As I said, it was a warm night and the humidity was high, making sleep difficult. About a half hour after everyone had settled, I heard footsteps padding down the carpeted stairs. My first thought was that it was Trixie and I waited with my eyes closed for her to lick my outstretched hand. As I waited, I felt the cushions of the settee depress as if someone was sitting beside me. I remember grinning, thinking that Sandra had sneaked down stairs and my luck was in. I waited for a moment for the customary caress of my cheek, but when it didn't come I opened my eyes.

From the light of the street lamp that shone through the curtains directly outside, I saw that I was alone. Then, an overwhelming sense of terror and danger swamped every fiber of my being. My limbs became instantly stiff and paralyzed, as did my throat and mouth. I couldn't even murmur, and yet all my senses -- sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste -- were fully alert.

The most obnoxious stench of putrefaction filled the room, making me gag, as if something big and dead was rotting and decomposing beside me. A huge and deadly weight seemed to crush my chest, making it impossible for me to expand my lungs in order to draw breath. But all-pervading was that overwhelming sense of menace and evil.

The whole episode lasted only moments, but it felt like a lifetime. Then, as suddenly as it started, it was gone. I stayed awake all through that night and prayed for dawn. I have had other attacks like this since, but now, because I'm used to them, I can instill an inner calm within myself and the attacks are less severe because of this.

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