- Hardcover: 352 pages
- Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press (Jan 1983)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0812278518
- ISBN-13: 978-0812278514
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,288,458 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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First Sentence
The Canadian province of Newfoundland is an island in the North Atlantic off the east coast of Canada. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The Canadian province of Newfoundland is an island in the North Atlantic off the east coast of Canada. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a stringent investigation into the folkloric phenomenon of 'The Night Hag', particularly as it manifests in Newfoundland. Mr Hufford thoroughly explains his investigative methods, and although necessary for his purposes, this can be a little frustrating when you're just waiting for the bits where the hairs on the back of your neck start to rise. And they do.
The fact that Mr Hufford approaches his subject so rationally makes the phenomenon his interviewees have encountered all the more frightening; as does the conversational tone in which the horrors are recounted.
This book was recommended to me by a friend, who, like me, is not easily scared. (In fact, for middle-aged men we spend an inordinate amount of time trying to find art that frightens.) You find yourself staring uncomfortably at open doorways, and checking your body for signs of incipient paralysis. If you want the extra frisson of reading it just before sleep, you get to enjoy a newfound reluctance in turning out the light. Then you lie there, convinced that your breath is not coming as easily as usual, and half-expecting a presence to coalesce from the waiting dark.
Mr Hufford maintains an admirable open-mindedness throughout, and his soberly delivered conclusion does little to comfort. As an incidental bonus, you also learn why mermaids are no longer seen.
Buy it, and wait for the night.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
58 of 59 people found the following review helpful
a great book for anyone suffering from sleep paralysis!
3 Oct 2000
Format:Paperback
If you have ever awoke to the sudden realization that you cannot move, and this experience has been accompanied by a convincing feeling that there is something with a sinister intention there with you in the room, or if you have felt, heard, or even seen something strange and haunting during this state of immobility, then this book is for you my unfortunate friend! I have suffered from sleep paralysis most my life, and this is the only book I have ever found that explores the subject. A very interesting read! Although I do not agree with some of the conclusions that the author suggests, it is nevertheless a well researched and informative book. By the way, if you do suffer from sleep paralysis or the "old hag" as Hufford calls it, it is completely harmless based upon my own experience, other than it can scare the bejeebers out of you. If you do suffer from the above mentioned symptoms, there are several BB's on the web where you can talk with others that suffer from SP, and don't get too worked up over it, it happens to a lot of us as this book skilfully demonstrates.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Wake Me Up When It's Over
17 May 2006
Format:Paperback
Well, if the title 'The Terror That Comes in the Night' doesn't immediately spark your interest how about that secondary subtitle, 'An Experience-Centered Study of Supernatural Assault Traditions.' Doesn't it sound like a book you'd like to have resting on your lap while riding the subway, or sitting in a busy doctor's office. I just love those weird looks people give you when they see what you're reading.
Being one of those people who have a long history of suffering from "Night Terrors" I had a personal interest in purchasing this book. I wanted to compare my own nightmarish encounters with what others had endured during those long and dreadful hours preceding dawn. For me it was a cathartic and affirming endeavor. Therapy you might say.
Since my primary attraction to this book was the first-hand accounts provided by the participants in this study, not the research or conclusions drawn by Mr. Hufford, it turned out to be a worthwhile read for me. However if you're looking for some world shattering conclusions or monumental breakthroughs you'll probably be disappointed.
An overall intriquing read for those fascinated by nightmares and the realm of dreams.
Being one of those people who have a long history of suffering from "Night Terrors" I had a personal interest in purchasing this book. I wanted to compare my own nightmarish encounters with what others had endured during those long and dreadful hours preceding dawn. For me it was a cathartic and affirming endeavor. Therapy you might say.
Since my primary attraction to this book was the first-hand accounts provided by the participants in this study, not the research or conclusions drawn by Mr. Hufford, it turned out to be a worthwhile read for me. However if you're looking for some world shattering conclusions or monumental breakthroughs you'll probably be disappointed.
An overall intriquing read for those fascinated by nightmares and the realm of dreams.
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Commendable, but needs an update
23 Nov 2003
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I applaud Professor Hufford for this ground-breaking analysis
of Night Hag (Phantomania) attacks. Nothing else quite like
it since its original publication over 20 years ago.
Though it begins, and occasionally bogs down, in typically tiresome academic prose, Hufford has the courage to allow the facts to speak for themselves - with the benefit of his methodical and objective reasoning. This eventually delivers his subject from the tediousness of too much jargon and equivocating.
And though he (wisely) resists arriving at any certain conclusions,his courage to at least acknowledge most of the possible correlatives associated with pavor nocturnus is to his credit.
of Night Hag (Phantomania) attacks. Nothing else quite like
it since its original publication over 20 years ago.
Though it begins, and occasionally bogs down, in typically tiresome academic prose, Hufford has the courage to allow the facts to speak for themselves - with the benefit of his methodical and objective reasoning. This eventually delivers his subject from the tediousness of too much jargon and equivocating.
And though he (wisely) resists arriving at any certain conclusions,his courage to at least acknowledge most of the possible correlatives associated with pavor nocturnus is to his credit.
Most of the eyewitness accounts (which, I think, could have been
improved by some editting), actually make for some scary and unnerving late night reading. If you have read Grave's End,
you will know what I mean - only multiple, and more believable, examples of the same sort of experience.
I only wish that the Professor had more thoroughly described the different stages of sleep, including brain wave Hz rates, length and periodicity of cycles and degress of REM activity.
It seems to me that an all inclusive scientific study of nightmares should result in some truly surprising insights into the nature of consiousness itself.
Likewise, Professor Hufford is way overdue for an update considering the limited sources his research was conducted
from and based upon.
In that regard, allow me to recommend to whomever might be
interested in pursuing an understanding of the Night Hag:
Carlos Castaneda's The Active Side of Infinity, particularly
the chapters on Inorganic Awareness and Mud Shadows.
Skeptical? Just take a look, you'll see what I mean.
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