You wake up, eyes blurry. They quickly adjust and you peer at your phone screen while it charges. It’s 3:00 am. Other than the ounce of light your phone lends, its dark all around you. You’re alone. Or you’re supposed to be. But somethings off.
3 am seems to be the eeriest time of the night. A time that many of us are afraid to wake up to. But why exactly is that? What led any of us to believe that this was a time to fear?
There’s actually a few reasons, all of them pretty creepy. Just a fair warning..
Medical Reasoning
3 to 4 am is a peak time to die, apparently. This has been actively researched and its been found that during this time, you’re at your most vulnurable. Your blood pressure lowers, your heart beat drops as well as your body temperature. Even your immune system gets impaired.
Stress hormones also decline during the time, but the compounds in your body that cause spasms increases. This makes 3-4 the lowest and weakest point for your body and mind.
For a lot of us, this isn’t a great concern, just apart of how our body works during this time, freaky or not. But for those with concerning conditions like ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease, they are at a greater risk for death during this time: a huge find in why the death count is higher.
The conditions themselves are not the only reason why its dangerous for at risk indiviuals. If you needed to go to the ER at this time, it’s likely you’ll face troubling healthcare with the significantly lower staff, adding to the statistic for overall deaths during this hour.
Nightmares
I’m not one to typically have night terrors but I once had one when I was in highschool and it still haunts me. This painting still haunts me because of it. I’d been at my grandmothers house, her home was close to my school so often I’d stay the night to have an easy way to class the next day. But there was one night that was different. I had a nightmare that I was paralyzed, unable to move from the couch, I couldn’t move any part of me. But in the far corner above me was this thing. I can only describe it as a demon monkey thing. It was looking at me, just staring. It felt like hours had passed in this single moment. I wasn’t aware of the painting at this time. Then I came across it one day while researching nightmares after. Whatever was in my nightmare looked exactly like this demon in a 1781 painting.
If you’ve ever had a nightmare, night terror, or sleep paralysis, you know how terrifying they are. And in the hour between 3 and 4, the risk of having either is heightened dramatically due to REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. REM sleep is the stage where nightmares can occur because of your body’s natural sleep cycle.
The Witching Hour
Now apart from the medical side of it, there’s the paranormal side of it. Many call this the Witching Hour or the Devil’s Hour, where spirits and demons are more freely able to roam the earth. Where ‘the veil’ is the thinnest. Perhaps paranormal activity is at its peak and why you see investigators pulling all-nighters.
Witches are also said to have practiced their dark dances with the devil during 3am. This is, of course linked to an outdated version of a witch as depicted here in Witches’ Sabbath.
What’s your experience with 3 am? It’s my favorite time but I can’t imagine it’s the favorite of many…
Paranormal Addict 