MAY 2022 – ONGOING
I remember the night was pretty normal before the event happened. I had decided to stay up late and just dance around in my room while listening to music. The only light in my room was coming from the closet so I thought nothing of the creepy shadows in my room… Until a sudden wave of dread came over me. I had never felt this much fear before, especially in my room which is the place I feel the safest. I instantly pulled out my earbuds and just stood there. I had no clue what was going on, but I was too scared to turn around. I wasn’t sure why until I was finally able to turn my head to side and saw him: the Hat Man. At the time I had no clue who it was; all I saw was a tall figure with a hat standing in the corner of my room. It shook me to my core, and I instantly dashed to my bed (which was on the opposite side of the room from the Hat Man.) My eyesight was blurred for a few moments as I stared into the corner of my room. During these few moments the man just stood there. It was almost like he was staring at me, even though I couldn’t see any eyes on his face. Then he disappeared, as if he was just mist. I wasn’t able to get much sleep that night. The fear was still inside of me… What did I just see? Is he still in the house? Eventually I was able to go to bed, but I never forgot that first encounter. The next encounters are a bit of blur, but only because it seemed to be happening more often. I eventually nicknamed him “the Shadow Man” and assumed that I was the only person who saw him. I didn’t even tell my therapist about these encounters out of fear that she’d think I was insane. Anyways, I eventually decided to look this up, because convincing myself I was insane definitely wasn’t helping my mental health. It turns out that a lot of people actually have seen the Hat Man and have experienced the same fear I have. But why have I been seeing him so often? I have started to fear it’s some bad omen, like the Hat Man is some Grim Reaper-esque telling me I’m gonna die soon. I doubt that’s the case though, since all I have experienced is just a huge feeling of dread whenever I am in his presence. That doesn’t really make all the anxiety disappear, though. I still feel like I’m gonna see him again.
Submitted by Louis D