Ghosts
The Hat Man

An artist’s depiction of the Hat Man, a shadowy figure who haunts thousands of people around the world.
Photo: Real Life Cases & Research
Around the world thousands of people have reported seeing an entity known as the Hat Man while falling asleep. Is the Hat Man a shared hallucination or some kind of spiritual entity?
Encounters with the Hat Man
Many people around the world have similar stories about encountering the Hat Man. A typical story involves the person suddenly waking up in the middle of the night. As they peer out into the darkness they see a figure in their doorway.
The entity is a dark silhouette of a person wearing a wide brimmed hat. The person is unable to move or scream for help.
Sometimes seeing the Hat Man is accompanied with an extreme feeling of fear or impending doom.
Eventually the Hat Man fades away into nothing and the person is able to move again.
Thousands of people around the world have reported seeing the Hat Man watching them in the night. Timothy M. Brown Jr has dedicated himself to documenting encounters with the Hat Man on his blog: The Hatman Project.
The Hat Man project has hundreds of stories of people’s encounters with the Hat Man. They range from terrifying encounters to stories where the Hat Man seems to be trying to protect the person.
In recent times people have been sharing their encounters with the Hat Man on Tik Tok with a whole new generation sharing their experiences with the entity.
One man’s story gained particular traction. You can watch here:
Patrick James’ encounter with the Hat Man
Patrick James’ encounter with the Hat Man Part 2
Patrick James’ encounter with the Hat Man Part 3
Possible Explanations for the Hat Man
The Quartz Documentary about the Hat Man
Hat Man encounters almost always happen when the victim is falling asleep or waking up. This has lead some people to believe the Hat Man is just a commonly occurring hallucination caused by sleep paralysis.
Sleep paralysis is when someone partially wakes up during the REM stage of sleep, when the most vivid dreams occur.
During REM sleep the body relaxes all of it’s muscles to the point where they can’t be used. If someone wakes up during this point of sleep they will be conscious but unable to move. They may also see their dreams merge with the real world around them.
There are other theories that the Hat Man is some kind of spiritual or interdimensional entity that feeds off of the fear of humans. This would explain why so many thousands of people around the world see the same thing.
How to Get Rid of the Hat Man
Regardless if whether the Hat Man is a spiritual entity or just a symptom of sleep paralysis it seems if you can prevent sleep paralysis you can avoid seeing the Hat Man.
The NHS recommends getting 6-8 hours sleep, going to bed at the same time every day and getting plenty of exercise as ways to prevent sleep paralysis.
Avoid sleeping on your back or having a big meal, alcohol or nicotine right before bed.
If you are worried about negative spiritual energy you could try a banishing ceremony or lighting some incense to clear out any bad juju.
What do you think causes the Hat Man encounters? Let us know in the comments.
If you enjoyed this article you may also enjoy reading about hypnagogic hallucinations or shadow people.
Ghosts
Walking Sam: The Suicide Spirit of Pine Ridge

Walking Sam: The Suicide Spirit. Photo: Ranker.
In 2015 a spree of suicides took place in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Some believe these were caused by an evil spirit called Walking Sam.
Who is Walking Sam?
An artist’s depiction of Walking Sam. Photo: Ranker
Walking Sam is known by various names, including “Tall Man” and “Stovepipe Hat Bigfoot.” He is a towering figure standing at seven feet tall and has eyes but no mouth, sometimes wearing a stove-pipe hat.
When he raises his arms, people can see the bodies of his past victims hanging beneath him. Walking Sam is said to call out to teenagers and try to convince them that they are worthless, urging them to take their own lives. Some believe that he targets young people because they are more vulnerable to his manipulations.
According to Native American legends, Walking Sam is an ancient being closely linked to “Stick Indians,” who are dark and shadowy spirit entities.
Kids grow up hearing spooky stories about these evil forces that haunt reservations and try to lure unsuspecting victims to their doom. They’re always followed by a creepy cloud of death that just hangs around them.
If you hear whistling, it might be one of these Stick Indians nearby. But if you follow the sound, you could get paralyzed, hypnotized, or even lose your mind completely.
If you disrespect them, they’ll hold a grudge and seek revenge no matter what. Some tribes are so scared of them that they won’t even talk about them, so we don’t know everything about these beings. But Walking Sam is supposed to be one of the most powerful ones.
There are those who believe that Walking Sam represents the pain and trauma that the Lakota Indians endure on a daily basis. Given the deep spiritual connection that the Lakota people have with their land and heritage, some see Walking Sam as a physical embodiment of this suffering.
The Pine Ridge Suicides
A video telling the story of Walking Sam
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is located near the Black Hills of South Dakota and is home to the Oglala Lakota tribe. It’s one of the largest Indian reservations in the US. Sadly, Pine Ridge has a sad past as hundreds of Lakota Indians were killed during the Wounded Knee Massacre.
It’s one of the poorest counties in the US. In 2015, a number of young people committed suicide on the reservation, and some people thought that supernatural forces like the legendary Walking Sam were to blame.
From December 2014 to March 2015, there were a staggering 103 suicide attempts, with nine of them being successful, and tragically, none of the victims were older than twenty-five.
The majority of those who died had used hanging as the method of suicide. Although there had been other clusters of suicides in previous years, this was the largest. As the community struggled to understand and deal with the crisis, some looked to traditional Native American beliefs for answers.
Lakota children are raised hearing stories about “suicide spirits,” “stick people,” and shadow people who try to lure young people away from their homes at night. These stories may have evolved over time, influenced by the popularity of Slender Man, into the figure now known as Walking Sam.
Walking Sam Sightings
During meetings of reservation officials, one of the topics that often comes up is Walking Sam. These officials advise reservation members to avoid walking on the streets at night as it would be an ideal time for Walking Sam to approach his victims.
Several residents have expressed concern and requested the police to keep a lookout for Walking Sam. Many residents have reported seeing his shadow and have shared their encounters with the police. Some residents have even reported hearing whistling sounds coming from nowhere.
Have you ever seen Walking Sam? Let us know in the comments.
If you enjoyed learning about Walking Sam you might also be interested in Diao Si Gui: Chinese Hanged Ghosts or La Ciguapa: The Woman with Backwards Feet.
Ghosts
Diao Si Gui: Chinese Hanged Ghosts

A Diao Si Gui or Hanged Ghost. Photo: Cryptid Wiki
According to Chinese legend, Diao Si Gui are the souls of those who took their own lives or were executed. These spirits may manifest as a body with a protruding, lengthy red tongue and attempt to persuade those who cross their path to join them in the world beyond.
The Legend of the Diao Si Gui
Diao Si Gui, or Hanged Ghosts can be created in two ways: when a person takes their own life by hanging or when they are executed by hanging as a punishment for their crimes.
The more prolonged and painful the death, such as by slow suffocation instead of a quick snap of the neck, the greater the likelihood of them becoming a Diao Si Gui.
These ghosts are said to haunt the vicinity of the location where they committed suicide and are often depicted with a noose around their neck, dangling feet, and long red tongues hanging from their mouths.
It is believed that one should avoid making eye contact with a Dio Si Gui as they may lure you into a hypnotic state and persuade you to hang yourself.
In some versions of the legend, if the ghost successfully persuades someone to hang themselves, that person becomes a Hanged Ghost while the original ghost goes free.
Other versions suggest that a Hanged Ghost is not limited to a specific location and can torment a person for days, gradually convincing them to take their own life. When the time is right, the ghost will appear to the person in a high place and lower a noose to them.
Stories About Diao Si Gui
In the Chinese Fairy Book by Dr. R. Wilhelm (1921), there is a story known as The Hanged Ghost, which tells the tale of a soldier seeking refuge for the night in an old, run-down temple.
While there, he witnesses a female ghost descending from the rafters, unaware of his presence in the shadows. Intrigued, he follows her to a farmhouse where he discovers the ghost urging a young mother and her child to hang themselves. The soldier intervenes, saving the woman’s life and causing the ghost to flee.
On his way back to the temple, the soldier takes the rope left behind by the ghost, but she appears on the road and demands that he give it back.
He refuses and wraps the rope around his arm, causing the ghost to transform and attack him. The soldier defends himself by flinging his own blood at the ghost, causing her to retreat. He continues his journey with the rope now part of his arm, unfazed by the encounter.
A video telling the tale of Diao Si Gui or hanged ghosts
Possible Explanations for the Diao Si Gui
It is possible that the legend of the hanged ghost came about as a way to help families come to terms with the unexpected suicides of their loved ones. It’s easier to believe that a loved one may have been manipulated in to killing them self by a spirit than it is to believe that they wanted to die.
Have you ever seen a Diao Sui Gui or Hanged Ghost? Let us know in the comments.
If you enjoyed learning about the Diao Sui Gui you might also be interested in the mysterious stain left behind by the body of Margaret Schilling or how the ghost of Teresita Basa solved her own murder.
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