Possess Me Macabre

Abu Ghattat

Credit to - Faissal Ouard

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes, 13 seconds

It has many names, the Scandinavians call it the mare, the Turkish call it Karabasan, from where I come from we call it Abu ghattat; however, I suppose you had probably heard of it under the name the "Sleep paralysis". First let me define it: Sleep paralysis is a phenomenon in which a person, either falling asleep or awakening, temporarily experiences an inability to move, speak or react. It is a transitional state between wakefulness and sleep characterized by complete muscle atonia (muscle weakness). It is often accompanied by terrifying hallucinations (such as an intruder in the room) to which one is unable to react due to paralysis, and physical experiences (such as strong current running through the upper body). One theory is that it results from disrupted REM sleep, which normally induces complete muscle atonia to prevent the sleeper from acting out his or her dreams. Sleep paralysis has been linked to disorders such as narcolepsy, migraines, anxiety disorders, and obstructive sleep apnea; however, it can also occur in isolation.

Hallucinations? Is that what those who do not believe in paranormality call an unexplainable phenomenon or its effects? There are many people who rely on science to clarify all phenomenons; yet there are mysteries that even science seems to fall in its shades. According to science, you can experience a certain hallucination between the phase of sleep and wakefulness. Still, just how can we all have the same hallucination? How can we all witness the exaxt same terror? To me this is an insult to all of those who have faced it; Abu Ghattat that is, and that is how I will always refer to it, not as a personification to a phenomenon but as the demonic spirit that it is. Most people will clearly change their minds about it if they had the same experience, and live in denial that it was nothing but a dream; even though, in that case it'll ease their mind. You see, once you encounter Abu Ghattat, you'll have every right to claim it was a nightmare, because if you realized its truth.. You'll most certainly never be the same again.

This brings me back to quite a tragic story; the story of a close friend and a neighbor of mine, his name was Adam. I remember him very well, just two years ago back on a Sunday evening, I remember heading back to the neighborhood together, he had that cheerful happy-go-lucky personality, as we used to hang-out every week-end. Adam you were such an amazing person! On that exact evening, I bid him farewell and left him with his usual smile; that was a smile he would never put on his face again for the rest of his life.

The next morning he didn't show up to school all day. It wasn't really that much of a surprise because we skipped school all the time, I couldn't ever visit him because his parents disliked me, for they deemed me as a bad influence on their child. It was all kind of regular, nothing to worry about up until now; but he skipped school the day after as well, and so on. He didn't answer his phone, he's never online on any social network, and he's nowhere to be seen. I became worried sick about him, I just had to know what is going on. So I waited until Friday when both his parents aren't home and visited him. But much to my surprise, both his parents were there. His dad had that creepy glare which he showed me everytime he saw me, but it was somehow different than before. I sensed that he wasn't angry.. he was sad. Then he spoke with a sorrowful tone: "Hello there, good thing you came honestly! Adam is in his room, if it's possible please talk to him for a bit" The situation was awkward enough for me, and I just couldn't ask what's wrong. So without further hesitation I went to his room.. The door was open, I stepped inside and saw Adam sitting on the floor. Dear God, the state he was in was indescribable. I greeted him but he didn't reply and he kept shivering from the moment I showed up, I felt like my presence won't help him through whatever he's going through, so I just went out with an optimistic faith that he probably just had too many mushrooms again, but that most certainly wasn't the cause for this. Anyway I decided not to visit him for a while, at least until he recovers a bit.