Georgia McGovern, 28, Newmarket, Qld
When I was 24, I moved into a share house directly across the road from a cemetery. It was downright creepy returning home to it at night, but the rent was cheap.
For the first couple of months, everything was fine. Then one night, I woke up and to my shock, I was standing in the driveway, looking out towards the graveyard.
Not only had I let myself out of the house in my sleep – I’d locked the door behind me! I was stranded outside, in the dark, in my pyjamas.
Luckily, a housemate arrived not long after and let me in. Everyone in the house thought it was hilarious.
Two nights later, I woke up in the driveway once again, staring across the road.
This time I had to knock on all the doors and windows until someone woke up and let me in.
Once was funny, but twice was getting creepy. After that, I started wearing my keys around my neck.
Somehow it just made me behave even more strangely. Sometimes I’d wake just as I’d locked myself out.
Other nights I’d have entire conversations with housemates that I had no recollection of. It wasn’t until the others started bringing up the strange talks they’d had with me that I realised it had been happening.
Then things got even stranger. On the nights I wasn’t walking towards the graveyard, I’d wake up completely paralysed. Other times I’d wake up gasping for breath, as though I was being crushed to death.
It felt like I was being shown what it was like to be a resident of the graveyard!
It got to the point where I was scared of sleeping. I’d stay up all night watching TV until I was too exhausted to keep my eyes open.
After a year, I moved out. To my relief, I never experienced another bout of sleep walking again.
This story first appeared in that’s life! Issue 9, 2017.
