The Night Hag: Sleep Monsters
Sleep is a universal experience, and many of us struggle with finding a restful and peaceful sleep. Nightmares, sleep paralysis, and folklore surrounding dreams and what happens in the night have been a part of human life since before we even called ourselves “humans.” This means that there is a rich, expansive body of beautiful and spooky tales that we’ve told ourselves about sleep. Here I’ll tell you about one of the more upsetting sleep demons that I’ve come across in my studies: Pisadeira or “The Old Hag.”
Pisadeira hails from Brazil, and is sometimes called the Night Hag. She is said to appear just as you would expect someone called “the Old Hag” to appear. She resembles the sterotypical, cartoonish “hag.” Bent, old, thinning gray hair, a curved nose, and long, yellow fingernails that look like claws. What sets her imagery apart from other hags in folklore is that her body is actively rotting. Her flesh is turning gray and green, falling from her bones. Her skin is sagging and falling off of her, and he talon-like nails are chipping away.
Due to her rotting flesh, it is said that you will often smell her before you see her. The stench of decay will fill your nose in the night. If you don’t first notice the reek of putrid meat permeating the room, you may feel her presence standing beside you. Or perhaps a presence across the room, watching you.
