Shadow People
Like you'll never get rid of your shadow... you'll never get rid of me!
Vague, Stygian forms of people prowling around the old haunts you know, tracing the path of your nightly walk, clawing their way out of the darkness that eats away at familiar spaces, uninvited guests pacing the place you call home, the place that should feel so secure, daring further to intrude on the fringes of your very dreams, dragging those dreams to life, paralyzing you in fear... Nowhere is safe from the illusory shadow people!
As you can tell, these inky silhouettes have a frightening ability to show up just about anywhere and are notoriously difficult to get rid of! They seem to come and go as they please, emerging and returning to the darkness at random, approaching or observing but never physically attacking or even speaking. Their presence alone is said to be enough of an assault, inspiring heart-stopping terror simply by being there! Their most horrifying reports are of their presence in dreams, shocking the dreamer awake only for them to find that their room has been invaded, quickly finding themselves unable to move or even breathe until the silent visitors make their sudden departure.
Shadow people are often considered to be spirits since they appear as ghostly humanoid forms, but they deserve to be differentiated due to having more consistent and specific details than the wild range of possibilities for apparitions in general. Could be a square and rectangle thing, you know? Their appearances in dreams also connects them to the Hat Man, though I think their general lack of notable clothing and inability, or unwillingness, to speak makes them pretty clearly distinct! This nature also also leaves some ambiguity on whether or not they might even be a type of demon, attempting to send people mad and drive them to sin! Whew, whole lot of dream invaders out there, huh? Makes me wanna stay up again tonight...
Still, as grim as the situation may seem, I don't think things are ever as cut and dry or scary as they first appear. At least with shadow people, there are a hundred different possible explanations for why they might exist! Some rational, such as the science behind sleep paralysis, minor hallucinations, or even serious psychological disorders like schizophrenia, while others are more fantastical... For instance, what if the shadow people are the result of some higher dimensional beings attempting to communicate or observe? Or the distorted forms of time travelers looking back on us with fond curiosity? Their passive temperament makes me believe that maybe, just maybe, the terror they inspire is nothing more than an unintended side effect of the situation they find themselves in, whatever it may be.
The next time I see a shadow person, I hope we both can learn a lot.
Last Edited by quasi-phantom on September 13, 2008.
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