Sleep Paralysis: Spooky Art Images

Sleep Paralysis Still

Sleep Paralysis film

(Image credit: Carla MacKinnon)

A still from an upcoming short film on sleep paralysis by filmmaker Carla MacKinnon about sleep paralysis, a phenomenon where people wake up with frozen muscles and, often, scary hallucinations.

Sleep Paralysis Still

Sleep Paralysis film

(Image credit: Carla MacKinnon)

MacKinnon's film, set to screen in May, is funded in part by the Wellcome Trust.

Frozen in Sleep

Sleep Paralysis film

(Image credit: Carla MacKinnon)

Actress Anne-Sophie Marie plays a sleeper beset by paralysis in Carla MacKinnon's upcoming short film on the spooky sleep disorder.

Sleep Demon

Sleep Paralysis film

(Image credit: Carla MacKinnon)

As part of her sleep paralysis film project, MacKinnon researched cultural myths about demons and ghouls often blamed for the condition.

Hallucination

Sleep Paralysis film

(Image credit: Carla MacKinnon)

Sleep paralysis is often accompanied by the sensation of suffocation or an attack by a malevolent force.

Sleep Paralysis Event

Sleep Paralysis film

(Image credit: Carla MacKinnon)

The Sleep Paralysis Project event at the London Short Film Festival in January, 2013.

Stephanie Pappas
Live Science Contributor

Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. She was previously a senior writer for Live Science but is now a freelancer based in Denver, Colorado, and regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.