This man suffers horrendously with the creepy affliction that is sleep paralysis, so he does what any normal person would do and recreates the horrific scenes…
New York photographer, Nicolas Bruno has suffered with this terrifying form of nightmare since he was 15, but now uses his work as an outlet to deal with the frightening occurrences.
Disturbingly, Viral Thread reports the weird hallucinations can include anything from ghostly hands grabbing at him from the dark or spooky apparitions lurking in the corner by his bed…
The creepy night terrors lead Nicolas to fall into bouts of insomnia and depression and even to suicidal thoughts.
One of his teacher’s suggested he document his terrors, as a way of dealing with the unnerving images they unleashed into his mind.
He initially started to write down his scary experiences, but they developed into sketches and then finally into his photography.
He told CNN:
It’s a great experiment, to take things from your own head that you’ve experienced, to take something terrible and turn it into something tangible.
The photographer shares his eerie shots on Instagram, which has earn’t him a following of over 14,000 fans.
He explained to CNN:
I’ve gotten so many responses from people who have had these dreams and didn’t know what they meant. I think it’s my little mission to spread the word of this condition.
Not much is known about the bizarre condition of sleep paralysis, which apparently fools the brain into thinking they’re awake when in fact, they’re still fast asleep…
Sufferers report feelings of being frozen in terror and unable to move their bodies, or make a sound in order to ‘escape’ whatever they’re faced with.
The brain is apparently ‘awake,’ but the system it uses to keep the body still – so as not to literally enact your dreams – is still in place, rendering the person completely helpless.
The strange phenomena can take place in seconds or minutes and in really severe cases may feel like it’s lasted for hours.
Bruno explained to CNN:
For people who haven’t experienced it, and say they want to – they really don’t. You’ve never woken up being choked out by shadow hands. You’ve never had a looming figure floating above your bed, screaming into your ear.
I would go to bed and I would wake up immediately right into one of those dreams. I wouldn’t sleep for two days at a time because I was so afraid to go to bed. I thought I was possessed by demons.
As a result, his work is undeniably creepy and truly reflects the stuff of the most tormented of nightmares.
He told FStoppers:
My work is embedded with to give my viewers the ability to openly interpret the story line and concept of each piece. Individuals who have experienced sleep paralysis will be able to pick up on specific symbolism that I implement within my work, but I do not create my artwork specifically for them. I aim to give the viewers who have not experienced these night terrors a visual taste of what lies within the in between realm of sleep and consciousness.
These pictures are utterly petrifying, but weirdly alluring and kind of beautiful at the same time.
I’m seriously glad I don’t have to deal with monsters and ghouls every-time I shut my eyes, but at least this guy is dealing with it in the most creative of ways.
Sleep tight…
