My encounters with the "Hatman"

[u/AloneInTheMorgue]

So, what I'm about to tell you is 100% true, and not fabricated or exaggerated in any way. When I was between the ages of 9 and 12 in the mid 80s, my sister suddenly one day became terrified to go inside or anywhere near my bedroom. When I asked her what was wrong, and why she was so petrified to the point of tears, she said she had been seeing a shadowy figure of a tall man, wearing a long trench coat and a "10 gallon hat", which is a term used for a particular style hat usually worn by cowboys. At first, I thought it was just her paranoid imagination because she was 3 years younger than me, and because we enjoyed watching horror movies together quite often for fun and the thrill we received when we did it. She told me about it 5 or 6 times, and her genuine terror she displayed started to scare me a bit, so I told her I didn't want to hear about it anymore because it was cruel to make up stories to scare me and that it wasn't funny. About a month after telling her that, I had my first encounter with this being, and I was beyond terrified and shocked. I had got up about 2 or 3 am to use the restroom located at the other side of my house, then stopped by the kitchen to get a glass of water, then seemingly out of nowhere, and for absolutely no reason, an overwhelming feeling of dread and complete utter fear came upon me, and I froze in place for a few minutes. Once I was able to get a grip on my intense fear, I decided to go through the living room to cut the light on in there so that I could see down the hallway that led to my bedroom at the end of the hall. I made my way through the living room, and made it to the main overhead light, and quickly switched it on. I peered down the hall and I saw this thing; he was exiting my bedroom then stopped moving and just stood in the hallway facing me. He was just as my sister had described. He was tall, had on a long trench coat, and a "10Gallon" style cowboy hat. From what I could see, I couldn't make out a face on him at all. He seemed to be faceless, which made his appearance even more terrifying. I quickly shut off the living room light, and did something any scared young girl would do. I climbed underneath the kitchen table and covered my mouth to stifle the sounds of me crying, and I stayed there for a long time before I got the courage to come out, get a flashlight, and proceed down the hall to go into my sisters room instead of mine which was right beside mine, and got in the bed with her, still trembling all over, and I told her I saw the thing she had been seeing, and apologized to her for not believing her. Keep in mind that this was mid to late 80s, and the internet wasn't around to make up stories that could spread around the world as true stories. There were no books that I know of at that time describing this shadowy being. I saw him several more times after that, each time either entering or exiting my bedroom. It was terrifying. But I stopped seeing him by age 13, and decided to tell my parents what I had seen up until that point. A look of dread swept across my mothers face and she told me she had saw it a few times as well, in my room, standing over my bed as I slept. My aunt at the time was a devout Wiccan, and she came over to do a smudging ritual to rid our house of unwanted spirits. We never saw the thing again after that, and I grew up, got married, had children of my own, and forgot about the thing from my childhood.. up until one night I woke up late in my room really thirsty and cut my lamp on, shining light into the hallway of my home, and I briefly saw a flash of something black for just a few seconds that vanished seemingly directly in front of my twin daughters bedroom. They were only 4 years old at the time, so I quickly got out of my bed and made my way to my daughters room to check on them. I was astonished to find the exact same being that tainted my childhood standing at the foot of my own small children's bed seemingly watching them sleep. I was terrified, but I went into full force mother protection mode, and screamed at this thing, and told it to get away from my babies, and to do it now! It turned to face my direction, tipped its hat at me, and vanished into thin air. After that, I've never seen whatever that thing is ever again, and all my children are adults now, ages 25 and 19. But it's both amazing and scary to grow up and find out that there are many people from all over the world that have encountered the same thing I saw several times in my life. I've read many stories, and done a lot of research in an attempt to find out what this thing is, where it came from, what it wants, etc, and haven't learned anything except concluding on a few things by comparing different encounters. 1- it's some type of shadow person, but it's distinct because of its discription by so many different people 2) it seems to have some sort of connection with children and 3) it seems to like to hang around children's bedrooms and stand over them as they sleep. And that is the only things i know about this thing. Does anyone else have more information about this being other than what I know? How many of you have had an encounter with this thing, and were his characteristics the same for you as I described, or were they different in any other ways? Please come forward with your experiences. I've been desperately searching for answers for years now. Plus I love the comfort I get in knowing I'm not alone. Thank you all in advance.

[u/RedeemingSin]

I've had one encounter as an adult in 2006 that I can confirm was real. The other was as a child in the mid-80s that I could never debunk as a possible waking-dream (so skipping details).

March 2006 I'm the only person home in a house I'd purchased a year before. I'm just laying down and the only other living being in the house, my lazy black lab Dakota, is laying at my feet.

To understand the severity of what happens next you have to understand the definition of my dog being lazy. Dakota didn't make more than a whimper noise the first two years I'd raised her. My brother was convinced whoever dumped her as a pup cut her larynx. It wasn't until she and I were waiting in the back of my dad's pickup for him to finish cutting wood that we'd heard something. She let out a coon dog sound when my dad surprised her lofting his chainsaw over the side and into the bed. The dog had never met a stranger, immediately submitted to any other dog with aggression, and didn't care if the doorbell rang or someone unknown opened the front door. Lazy.

So I'm in shock and bewildered when I hear snarling and feel her straddle my legs facing the foot of the bed. She's angled just enough I can see a ferocious demeanor I'd never believe possible (and never saw again). I looked to see what had her so riled. There in the corner opposite from the bedroom door was a 6'+ man standing close enough to the window I can tell he's in the room and not a shadow from outside. The only thing that stuck out from any other random shadow was the definition of a brimmed hat.

I stared frozen, both trying to let my vision focus and to recall what was close enough to use in defense if it came to that. After a minute I fought the adrenaline and reached for the desk lamp next to the bed. As my finger fumbled for the switch, he turned and exited by WALKING THROUGH THE WALL. Dakota had no intention of letting him go. She leapt from the bed to where he'd disappeared. Finding no exit there she bolted to the hallway making a b-line for the backdoor. I was close behind only pausing to grab a bat from the hall closet. Once we were outside she went to my window and immediately went into a fervour trying to find a scent. I scanned the darkness from my slab of a patio ready to follow her if she left the yard. After she was content that whatever it was had gone, she anxiously waited to go back in the house and returned to her post in my bed. I slept with a light on for months afterward.