Ghost Stories & Paranormal Encounters

I first saw the Hat Man when I was in my early twenties. I had just moved into my first apartment in New York City. I had only been there for a week or two when I started hearing noises like rats running within the walls at night when I went to bed. Shortly after that I started seeing the Hat Man, standing in a far corner at the foot of the bed.

At first I tried to ignore the sight because he was  almost invisible, but, soon he became my most terrifying nightmare. He began to become more visible as the nights passed and along with the clarity came a dark, chilling fear.

One night when my infant nephew stayed over, I saw the Hat Man standing in the corner watching me. The light switch was across the room and I had no way to get to it without passing him. I watched until I started to fall asleep. As the last blinks came over my eyes, I saw the Hat Man move towards my direction. Suddenly I wasn’t sleepy anymore. In horror, I watched him come closer, not being able to move. He climbed on top of me and looked into my eyes. I couldn’t move one muscle in my body. I stared back into a blank face that didn’t have eyes or any other facial characteristics. It was just a shadow. My nephew cried, at that second the Hat Man vanished.

I never saw him again. However my personality changed. I stopped going to church, stopped leaving the house and stopped taking care of myself. Shortly after that I moved home to my mother who was a praying mother.

Thirty years later when I was at home alone, I saw him standing in the corner of my bedroom but this time it was more like a vision. I couldn’t make out if he was really there. It was the same shape and size and darkness. I was terrified. Suddenly he came rushing out of the corner, pushing me down on the bed, climbing on top of me, ripping away at my chest. He had claws, not fingers. As he ripped at me, I could feel my living soul tearing away from me. At that very moment, I cried out “Jesus help me! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!” The hat man disappeared.

The next day my husband of 29 years left me for another woman. I haven’t seen the Hat Man since. Pray to God, I never will again. When I saw the picture on the web site, I froze in horror. I thought all this time he was in my head.

Written by Patricia Henderson, Copyright 2010