My True Encounter with a Shadow Man

   Art Bell, during his radio show Coast to Coast am, coined the word “Shadow People.” This was during on air conversations with people who claimed to have seen these beings. The reports were usually of fleeting shadowy figures, usually seen in the peripheral vision but occasionally noticed moving along a wall and rarely seen for more than a moment or two.

  Some of the descriptions that listeners gave were of wispy, undefined figures, others described inky black humanoid figures with top hats and glowing red eyes. Some thought they were demons, others said extraterrestrials and some guessed that they were ghosts. Most of the time, the beings seemed to be evasive.

  I listened to these stories with extreme interest because when I was a child, I too experienced one of these shadow people. It is still quite clear in my memory nearly 50 years later.  Sometimes events happen to us that are so traumatic that the imprint on our brains never goes away. This was one of those events.

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  Having grown up in southern California in the sixties, I was accustomed to living in a house surrounded by orange groves and not too many neighbors. Our home was small, only two bedrooms and one bathroom. It was a little snug but comfortable. My bedroom led out to a hallway and the opposite wall blocked the view of the living room. I always left my door open at night for some reason, even when I was older.

  I must have been about 5 years old or possibly 6. My parents had sent me to bed and the light was out in my room but my dad was still up watching TV, so some light from the living room gave me the ability to make out shapes in my room. My bed was situated against one wall and the closet was on the opposite side of the room. It was one of those closets with wooden doors that had wheels on a track so they were able to slide open and closed. It was open and it was dark inside. Why I didn’t close it is beyond me. Another important fact, my closet had plain doors, they were not mirrored.

  So I was laying there on my back staring into the darkness. There was movement in the direction of the closet and my eyes riveted. To my horror, I watched a huge silhouette of a broad shouldered man step out of the closet and waste no time walking silently across the room toward my bed. The room was small so it happened quickly. There were no discerning features, no signs of clothing or hat, just blackness. It was undoubtedly male because of the build. He seemed very tall, however I was very small so every grownup looked huge at that time.

  Then the worst thing happened. When he reached my bed and he stood over me, he began to slowly bend over with his index finger extended. I watched the black finger come toward my face and before he could touch me, I covered my head with the blankets. It was smothering under there but I was so scared. Strange thing is, I must have been more scared of my mother because I didn’t dare scream for fear of making her mad.

  Well finally after waiting for some time under the cover, I dared to look and the shadow guy was gone. Gone or invisible, who knows?

  Some days later, I remember telling my mother what happened and her answer was typical, “oh it was your imagination.” At that age, I didn’t know what an imagination was but my mother seemed comfortable with it so I accepted her answer. It didn’t seem as scary knowing that she wasn’t concerned.

  To this day I still wonder who or what visited me that night and for what purpose. I’m still extremely interested in the paranormal and everything associated with it. If anyone reading this has had a paranormal experience that they would like to share, please comment below. I would love to read your stories as well.