3AM, The Devil's Hour: Find Out Why 3AM is Scary

Have you ever found yourself suddenly awake and you check the time and the clock says 3 am and a shiver ran down your spine? Perhaps you became uneasy by the feeling that someone was watching you, even if you were sleeping alone?

Folklore suggests that 3 am is the Witching hour. It is believed that in these 60 minutes, the forces separating the living from the dead is the weakest. Allowing evil spirits to travel into this world. Another theory insinuates that during this time, witchcraft and communication with the other worlds are open. Therefore, strong links to the deceased allow people to see or hear strange things.

They were both sound asleep when she woke up randomly. She picked up her phone and checked the time. It was around 3:15 when suddenly the drawer of their dresser mysteriously slid open and fell onto the floor. Her husband woke up with the sound startled. They both stared at each other but didn’t want to consider paranormal explanations. In the morning, they were putting the drawer back in its place. The wife saw that the drawer contained her copy of the Bible along with a cross necklace gifted to her by her grandmother. 

One night, her child came into her room and woke her up at around 3 in the night. Concerned for his health, the mother asked her son what had woken her up. He replied with “Dad. “. The child’s father had passed away before the poor widow had even known she was pregnant. He had never seen his father in real life. But what haunted her was that her son said that dad was with Rosie. Before his death, she had suffered a miscarriage and the baby was named Rosie. Her son had no idea about the miscarriage as she wanted to tell him after he had grown up.

Living in the dorms of a college in Scotland, a young boy posted his strange experience on Twitter. The sound of some gentle humming from the other room woke him up. At night, he didn’t think much of it as his flatmate lived in the next room. The next morning he found out that his roommate had left to live with his family for the weekend the day before. He had no other explanation for the clear humming

She woke up restlessly at 3:30 am and decided to step out of her house for a breath of fresh air. On her porch, she felt something near her foot. She looked down to see not one but three birds. She reports that they were badly squished and very much dead. She went back inside to wake up her father and when they came outside a minute later, the birds had disappeared.

He returned to his bed and put on his blanket. Immediately a weird surge of electricity passed through his body. When he opened his eyes, it was pitch dark, so he got up and switched on a lamp. The room was empty. He told his daughter in the morning that it felt as if something heavy was holding down the blanket.

The 3 am challenge started early in 2017 and went viral. A lot of people with large fan bases started engaging in weird activities at 3 am in the night. The purpose of the activities was to, in some shape or form, engage with a spirit or ghost. The YouTube stars dialed so-called spooky numbers, went to “haunted” empty buildings, and tried the Bloody Mary challenge.  With the popularity of fidget spinners in 2017, people even tried to summon paranormal activity by spinning fidget spinners in strange ways. The videos gained a lot of popularity and brought in a lot of capital for the influencers.

While a major portion of people believe the time between 3 and 4 am to be one of negative energy and terrifying, some people have a more religious perspective. They hint that if you mysteriously rise at this time in the early morning or late night, it may be a sign from something more profound. You could be experiencing a spiritual awakening according to people with a belief in energy and its variation with time. Your mind is in a state between sleep and consciousness. Therefore, it is more receptive to guidance, clarity, and clairvoyant thoughts. Do not go back to sleep.

You may have heard the term “sleep hygiene”. This means maintaining regularity in the time when you go to bed and when you wake up to start the new day. If you are falling asleep at midnight one day, pulling an all-nighter the next day and then going to bed at 9 pm the third, you can’t expect to have healthy sleep. The quality of your sleep is significantly affected by timing. Consistency is essential in sleep hygiene. This will hopefully train your brain to stay awake for only specific hours. Only with a steady sleep cycle and circadian rhythms, one can achieve REM sleep.

Waking up at 3 am regularly may be the result of poor dietary habits. If you are used to eating very spicy or heavy foods before going to sleep, your digestive system might be the one waking you up and not the devil. Some people’s sleep is disturbed by having to use the bathroom at an odd hour. Moreover, drinking alcohol can relax you but you may still find yourself awake at 3 am again. This is because alcohol before sleep can lead to sleep apnea and you will wake up gasping or struggling to breathe.

Lastly, if you are in the habit of consuming caffeinated beverages before hitting the sack, how can you even expect to have a quality nighttime rest? Put an end to it!

If nothing else works, a tried and tested sleep improvement technique is meditation. Layout a yoga mat and practice deep mindful breathing. Put on a relaxing playlist of your favorite tunes and attempt some easy yoga poses. For some people, listening to affirmations can also improve this cycle of rising at 3 am. After a long and tiring day, let your body unwind and your muscles relax.

Ease up all that tension built up in your shoulders from stress and responsibilities and you will guaranteed experience a better night’s sleep.

As a generation who uses their technology and electronic gadgets to get through every part of our day, it can be hard to put it down for some time.

Scrolling through Instagram or binging some Netflix is not the best before bed activity. But we encourage you to switch off your phone at least one hour before you plan on falling asleep. Instead replace this habit with reading a book, practicing some self-care, or as suggested before meditation.

The reasoning behind this is that social media keeps your brain engaged and ready to keep absorbing more information. Shutting it off will help your mind slow down and prepare to rest.

The last thing that you can incorporate into your routine to stop waking up during the devil’s hour is exercise. Exercising right before bed will give your body more energy post-workout which is not ideal. Thus, try establishing a workout schedule to do during the day. Exercise does wonders for your body and is a vital part of not only a healthy sleep but a general health-conscious lifestyle. It will also aid in tiring out your body physically so at the end of the day it has no desire to wake you up suddenly without any reason.

Certain theories advocate that particularly 3 am is considered such an evil hour as the three mocks the Holy Trinity. Yet another aspect is that Christ was crucified at 3 pm. So, the inverse is of course a haunting time i.e. 3 am. Whether you think it’s the devil, a guiding spirit, or just some sleep apnea, we can all agree that 3 am is a strange time in the night. It may just be an old wives’ tale that has made its way into modern myths no one wants to oppose. If you think your curiosity can’t be tamed, go ahead and attempt the 3 am a challenge to get it out of your system. But remember we’ve warned you.