The Hat Man

A little while ago, I was clicking around on the Internet and came across a thread for people speaking on supernatural experiences. One person described an encounter with an apparition that was tall, wearing all black, wore a trench coat, was faceless, and wore a wide-brimmed hat. A number of people chimed in, saying that they had seen the same figure. There wasn't a ton of consistency surrounding the circumstances that he had been seen. Some people had seen him at night, during an episode of sleep paralysis, while others had seen him in broad daylight. Many people had seen him as children, but a number of people had seen him during adulthood, and some near their time of passing. Most people felt a sensation of terror on seeing him, but some people felt that he was a friend.

Obviously you don't take stuff like that at face value; a bunch of anonymous people on the Internet. It did intrigue me enough though, that I did a Google search. If you Google "The Hat Man" or "The Man with the Hat" he will be the lead hit.

He's been frequently seen enough that a book has been written about him "The Hat Man: The True Story of Evil Encounters" by Heidi Hollis. He was also the lead inspiration for The Grey Man, the lead antagonist from the video game "LSD Dream Emulator".

He was also an inspiration for Slenderman and he must have influenced The Babadook. 

He's mentioned in the Shadow People section of Wikipedia and has his own entry on Cryptids wiki.

He's been reported across the globe, usually visiting people who have experienced significant trauma. Usually he just stares. Some people say he has attacked them, some people claim to have talked with him. Sometimes he's seen with a golden pocket watch, which he occasionally looks at. Sometimes his eyes glow red.

But there are so many outlandish ideas that kick around the globe that it didn't really draw my attention.

Until a team meeting at WALES.

Do you remember the fellow I spoke on, who passed away before started my new job? He was minimally verbal, had invited me to a life-planning session, and was determined that I should come back to WALES before unexpectedly passing the day after I was accepted back.

During my student placement, he would pace back and forth and shout "Leave me alone!" and "Stop following me!". He also attended Summer Program and never said these things.

I always took his negativity at WALES to mean he was ill-suited to the higher energy, forward-focused environment, and that he was simply at a stage in life where a more relaxed focus like the Summer Program better suited his needs.

But during a recent team meeting, we talked about him. Apparently he thought that a man was following him around, and he was telling it to stop following him and to leave him alone. One of the facilitators said it was sad, but it seemed like he was trying to protect the rest of WALES from it. She said he'd at one time tried to explain what this man looked like.

I asked her what he had described.

She said it was "Someone tall, with a big hat, wearing a trench coat, with no face".

I shouted, "That's the Hat Man!" and we looked him up. Later, one of my coworkers asked around, and she found a friend claiming to have witnessed The Hat Man.

I have now purchased the book "The Hat Man".

Unfortunately, the book is very poorly written. Every second sentence ends with an exclamation point, she uses all caps for emphasis and occasionally uses an emoji!

But at the same time, the consistency of the reporting, including several sightings near to where I live, has me sufficiently spooked.