In this episode, Matt discusses sleep paralysis, one of the most common and controversial topics in discussions of ghost folklore. Matt will talk about the folklore surrounding sleep paralysis, the origins of the modern study of the phenomenon, and how a folklorist appears to have spurred the medical community to take the matter seriously.
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This episode featured music by Matthew Armstrong and production assistance from Kaylia Metcalfe.
Sources:
Psychology Today and here
Cheyne, J.A. 2002. Situational factors affecting sleep paralysis and associated hallucinations: position and timing effects. Journal of Sleep Research 11(2): 169-177.
Cox, Ann. 2015. Sleep paralysis and folklore. JRSM Open 6(7). Accessed online 4/10/25 at https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5167075/
Forrest, David V. 2008. Alien abduction: a medical hypothesis. Journal of the American Academy of Psychodynamic Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis 36(3):431-42
Hufford, Mark. 1982. The Terror That Comes in the Night: An Experience-Centered Study of Supernatural Assault Traditions. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, PA.
Hufford, Mark. 2001. An Experience-Centered Approach to Hauntings. In Hauntings and Poltergeists, Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Edited by James Houran and Rense Lange.
Lavatar, Ludwig. 1570 (English translation 1596). Of Ghostes and Spirites, Walking by Night. Translated into English by “R.H.”, printed in 1596 by Thomas Creede, London, UK. 2024 reprint by Legare Street Press, mimeographed from a copy in the Rare Books Collection at the Susquehanna University, Pennsylvania.
Ricksecker, Mike. 2020. A Walk in the Shadows: A Complete Guide to Shadow People. Haunted Road Media, LLC.
Sehgal, Amita and Emmanuel Mignot. Genetics of Sleep and Sleep Disorders. Cell 146(2): 194-207.
Sharpless, Brian. 2016. A clinician’s guide to recurrent isolated sleep paralysis. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment 12: 1761-1767. Accessed online on 4/9/25 at https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4958367/
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