A Ghost or A Dream?

This experience occurred back in 1988. At that time I was a college student in Ann Arbor, MI. I was renting a room in an old house with four other guys in one of the neighborhoods at the south side of town. The house was probably about forty years old, and was big enough for the five of us. The house had plenty of potential for a living space. It was big, close to campus, and the other guys were pretty friendly. Nevertheless, the house ended up being sort of creepy. For one thing, the living room always felt cold. Those guys would crank up the heat to about eighty during the wintertime, and still, there was an undesirable feeling in that living room, like a chill to your bones. The basement was another thing. Our laundry machines were down there, so we had to go down there (at least once a week!). In the basement there was this little room, that in many ways reminded me of the red room in that house in the Amityville Horror movie. That basement did not feel friendly at all. Anyways, sometime during that winter, I had one of my 'nightmares'. Let me explain. Once in a while I get these nightmares in which I can open my eyes, but for the most part, I just cannot wake up. I am paralyzed during this terrible episodes, and sometimes I continue dreaming. I know it sounds bizarre, but it does happened to me. (As a child I also observed my dad having these episodes, unable to wake up and moaning). So, I have one of these nightmares one night in this house and then, there is a shadow of what look like a man, standing at the foot of my bed. Of course, I tried in vain to wake up (being aware at that time of being "stuck' in one of my bizarre nightmares), but to no avail. The shadow started walking towards the head of the bed until it stood next to me. Then, it extended its hand towards me, and as far as I can remember, I think I woke up. I was terrorized! Anyways, I kept it to myself, thinking that it was one of my usual nightmares, and did not tell my housemates. What happened next, then really changed my attitude to that house. One of my housemate's girlfriend, a Phillipino girl, came over the weekend from Toronto to spend some time with him. According to her, one of those nights, she fell asleep in the living room, while watching TV, while being by herself. Then, she had a similar experience to what I had. A shadow 'sat' on top of her, and she became unable to move. She described it as 'something electrical' pushing on her chest. Well, she managed to break free, and rushed upstairs where her boyfriend was studying. Next morning she talked about her experience, and then I shared mine, with the rest of the guys. After that, some of the guys started sleeping with the lights or their TV sets on. I became more conscious about my presence after that experience. Eventually, during spring break, when everybody was gone, I got a priest to come and blessed the home. I don't think he believed my story. Anyways, the blessing must have worked, 'cause I never had another experience like that in that house again. Of course, I moved out when my lease was up.