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I'm sorry, but im kinda confused. Are shadow people pure black, different colors, or do they look like people?

Hmm.
I have had problems with shadow people before. I'll be walking fine, and then I get this horrible feeling, like something horrible happened, and I turn around and I see a shadow person. Usually I only see them for a second before they disappear.
It bothers me the feeling I get, sometimes they are behind me sometimes they are to the side, I have never had one in front of me.

I've seen a shadow person for the first time a month or so ago and like you, I was freaked.
The haunted dorm I always talk about was closed this semester and I'm in a brand new building. I was confused as to why I saw a shadow person infront of a brand new building. So I did some informal research about them.
One theory- a very obscure one mind you- said that shadow people are spirits and they show themselves to people who have a potential to develop sensitivity to spirits.
Another theory says that they are the manifestation of someone who is astreal projecting.
A third said that they are troubled ghosts.

But the thing that struck me in my research is that each site I looked at is the fact that people seeing spirit people is increasing drastically in numbers. The number of cases have gone from a few to the most frequent visual encounter.

Well since it seems to be a common theory at the moment that 'the Veil' between worlds will lift in 2012 maybe the increase of Shadow people is a reflection of this.

Either that or more people feel comfortable telling others about things they have seen and the sitings haven't gone up they just getting reported now.

I think that the reports are going up because people are more open about the paranormal these days but the whole armegedon 2012 is creepy too.
Out of curiosity, has anyone elaborated on the shadow people have red eyes thing or not? Does it make a difference?

On a semi-unrelated note, Shanna66, do the shadow people you see wear hats? I read somewhere that most of the people who report seeing a shadow person says it is wearing some sort of wide brimmed hat.
It doesn't seem like a crucial detail but I find it funny and was curious.

no eyes and no hats that i can tell
the ones i see are either tall skinny figures which move slow, or small fast ones about cat size. the small ones i will see on the walls and ceiling, while the tall ones i just see standing on the floor, most of the time i see them in mirrors whole the small ones i just see all the time at my house

<< sorry bout your friend there... ouch... >> well, as a start i must comment, i am happy that i have finally found more people to talk about shadow people with.
in my country, the guys have to go into the army during a period of time, there are many reports of shadow people on those islands, i have a friend who is about to go in, i hope he can shed some light on it. first hand reports are always the best.
Here's what i took from wikipedia;

According to folklore, they appear as dark forms in the peripheries of people's vision and disintegrate, or move between walls, when noticed.
Reports of shadow people occupy a similar position in the popular consciousness to ghost sightings, but differ in that shadow people are not reported as having human features, wearing modern/period clothing, or attempting to communicate. Witnesses also do not report the same feelings of being in the presence of something that 'was once human'. Some individuals have described being menaced, chased, or in some rare instances, attacked by shadow people. There have also been reports of shadow people appearing in front of witnesses and lingering for several seconds before disappearing. Witnesses report that encounters are typically accompanied by a feeling of dread.

weirdly i found one with a hat.

The color of the eyes, if any, is typically given as red. Their specific form is described variously as two-dimensional shadow to a vaporous or distorted three-dimensional body (as though made out of smoke or steam). Movement is often described as being very quick and disjointed. Some witnesses describe this movement as though the shadow entities they have seen "danced" from one wall to the next, or as moving around the room "as if they were on a specific track".
Rarely, they are seen "standing" in the middle of doorways or off the wall. Often they are described as being seen staring at the floor. Some accounts describe what appears to be the outline of a cloak, and in some instances the outline of a 1930s style fedora hat. This last type is referred as the "hat-man".

One proposal is that Shadow People represent a Thoughtform (egregore), ghost or demon that was created by events in which extreme physical/emotional stress/trauma has taken place, or which have been purposefully summoned through black magic or other occult practices. It has also been claimed [who?] that they are unattended shadows or shades, said in some cultures to be similar to that of a ghost: a flicker of a life unable to end for some reason

A second belief is that they are creatures from another reality whose "dimension" occasionally overlaps with ours, allowing them to be partially visible, or that they represent creatures that exist on a separate plane of existence.

A third belief is that they are in some way related to Grey aliens, or to the Reptilian humanoids found in conspiracy beliefs such as those promoted by David Icke.

BUT, there are a few scientific hypotheses--> Pareidolia, Hypnagogia, Electromagnetic fields, Neurological conditions.

YET, I am sure we are all perfectly fine. And I must say, I do see them too. Scares the living dog s**t out of me.

the first i saw, watched me sleep one night, i jolted up near past 3am and I saw it. Eurgh... I put my mp3 to full volume and refused to open my eyes. Then there's the times I stay up to work on projects, I see them. Then there was a time at my friends place, I was up till 5. My friend was asleep next to me, the other was in her room, asleep. And I saw one more.
I have seen many, and I don't like it one bit. Who does?

i enjoy seeing them sweatdrop ive gotten used to them being around and find it comforting that they are there