Shadow Man. United States

I stumbled upon your website this morning entirely by accident, and found the section about the black-eyed people that raised the hackles on the back of my neck.

One night, in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. around 1979 or 1980, I awoke in the very small hours of the morning, with a feeling of absolute dread, and in the darkroom, I could see nothing except a darker shadow standing not 3 feet away from the side of my bed. I could not see any definition of the shape; it was just a blacker shape of what I have always remembered as a human, perhaps in a black robe. No bare skin was visible, indeed, it was just darkness, nothing more, but in human shape.

I lay there absolutely terrified, and filled with absolute certainty that if I moved or even breathed, something horrible would instantly happen to me. I have no recollection of how long I lay there, taking shallow breaths in the hope it wouldn’t notice, but it seemed like several minutes. It never moved nor made any sound, but it radiated malevolent intent. Then, it slowly moved out of my room. (and here is a radical departure from the recurring theme of needing to be invited- it left through the bedroom doorway, which I left open only a few inches ajar each night). I lay there for a few minutes, straining to hear the sound of someone exiting the apartment (ground floor), but I heard nothing. When the feeling of dread lifted a moment or so later, I quietly got out of bed, took a long-bladed hunting knife, and scoured my apartment.

Nothing and no one was there except my sleeping roommate in his room. I slept with that knife under my pillow, unsheathed (!) for more than a month afterward because of the terror I felt that night, but nothing similar has ever repeated in all these years, and I earnestly hope it never will revisit me. Never before or since in my life have I ever been so certain I was face to face with pure evil; however, I cannot explain why I felt this in the core of my being. Just 3 years ago, for the first time in my life I got on the subject of the paranormal with a friend, a San Diego native who never moved from her hometown- i.e., an entire continent away from my experience, and she recounted a similar tale, although she awoke, could see a person who had black eyes and emanated evil.

However, she did not sense a horrible death, just the presence of evil. She, too, was recounting her story for the first time in her life. In her story, the being also left through a doorway, although neither of us placed any significance that detail in our re-telling to one another. I can say that I knew for certain if I acknowledged the presence by the slightest overt movement, I was certain I would be attacked. I guess that could be construed as a form of invitation, though to be honest, to me, it was an act of self-defense. Until now, I had no idea any other people had ever experienced anything similar. Until she and I shared our experience, I thought it was just something unexplained in my life. Now I am not sure if I should take comfort in my sanity, or worry a LOT about this being or beings.