This Woman Is Going Viral On TikTok for Her Hilarious Sleepwalking Videos

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Whenever a character in a movie or TV show suddenly wakes up in the middle of the night and begins to sleepwalk down the hallway, the situation typically looks pretty eerie. Their eyes are usually pulled wide open, their arms are outstretched, they're shuffling much more like a zombie than a real, living person. And, of course, they're probably muttering something that haunts you for the rest of the night.

Despite these spooky popular depictions, legit cases of sleepwalking tend to look pretty different. Case in point: TikToker @celinaspookyboo, aka Celina Myers, has been posting security-cam footage of her sleepwalking throughout the night, and it's probably the most hysterical thing you'll see all week. (ICYMI, TikTokers are also debating whether you should sleep in your socks for better rest.)

Myers — an author, beauty brand owner, and podcast host by day — first posted about her sleep condition back in December. In the now-viral, selfie-style video, she says she sleepwalked out of bed, locked herself out of the hotel room she was staying in, and woke up down the hall. The worst part: She said she was completely naked. (Shape has reached out to Myers and did not receive a response by the time of publication.)

In the months since, Myers has posted several other clips showing her sleepwalking escapades, all caught on tape by cameras she and her husband had set up throughout their house. In a January video, Myers is seen grabbing a Baby Yoda statue from her kitchen and shaking it to seemingly "salt the driveway," which in this case, is her living room floor. Later in the night, Myers wanders back into the living room, apparently sleepwalking again, and begins mumbling nonsense — such as, "I fought you, Chad," in an English accent — and pointing throughout the room. It's a scene that looks like it was pulled straight from Paranormal Activity, but it's hard to stop yourself from chuckling. (Related: This Sleep Disorder Is a Legit Medical Diagnosis for Being an Extreme Night Owl)

And that's just the start of it. Myers has also shared clips of her chugging chocolate milk (FYI, she says she's lactose intolerant), giggling like an evil villain in a Disney Pixar movie, wrestling with a stuffed octopus, and sprinkling pumpkin seeds on the living room floor — all while sleepwalking.

These knee-slapping TikToks may be too wild to believe, but Myers said in a late-January video that they are, indeed, genuine. "Once I started to see you guys liked the sleepwalking [videos], I started to trigger it," she explained in the video. "As I say in a lot of my videos, if I eat cheese or chocolate before I go to bed, like immediately go right to bed, [the sleepwalking is] usually going to happen, like 80 percent chance."

If you're planning on trying to trigger a sleepwalking episode yourself in hopes of becoming a viral sleepwalker like Myers, your chances are pretty slim. Sleepwalking is rare, though it's more common in children and in people with a family history of the disorder, explains Lauri Leadley, a clinical sleep educator and the founder of Valley Sleep Center in Arizona, who declined to comment on Myers' specific situation. Leadley says experts primarily diagnose two parasomnias, or sleep disorders that cause abnormal behavior while sleeping: sleepwalking (aka somnambulism) and rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (or RBD). And they each take place at distinct points in your sleep cycle.

Throughout the night, your body cycles through non-REM sleep (the deep, restorative type) and REM sleep (when you do most of your dreaming). Sleepwalking most often occurs during stage 3 of non-REM sleep, when your heartbeat, breathing, and brain waves slow down to their lowest levels, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. As the brain tries to shift from one stage of sleep to the next, there can be a disconnect, causing the brain to become aroused and potentially leading to sleepwalking, says Leadley. During a sleepwalking episode, you might sit up in bed and look as if you're awake; get up and walk around; or even perform complex activities such as rearranging furniture, putting on clothes or taking them off, or driving a car, according to the NLM. The frightening part: "Most people who sleepwalk don't remember or recall a memory of their dreams because they don't really wake up," adds Leadley. "They're in such deep stages of sleep." (Related: Can NyQuil Cause Memory Loss?)

On the flip side, people who have RBD — commonly found in men over 50 and people with neurodegenerative disorders (such as Parkinson's disease or dementia) — can remember their dreams when they wake up, says Leadley. In typical REM sleep, your major muscles (think: arms and legs) are, essentially, "temporarily paralyzed," according to the Cleveland Clinic. But if you have RBD, these muscles still work during REM sleep, so your body can act out your dreams, explains Leadley. "Whether you're sleepwalking or you have RBD, they're both very dangerous because you're unaware of your surroundings; you're in an unconscious state," she says. "If you're in an unconscious state, what's going to prevent you from walking out the door, falling into your swimming pool, and hitting your head on the way?"

But the physical, immediate dangers that come with sleepwalking and RBD are only half of the problem. Think of your brain like a cellphone, says Leadley. If you forget to plug your phone in before bed or it gets disconnected from the charger in the middle of the night, it won't have enough battery to make it through the entire day, she explains. Similarly, if your brain doesn't properly cycle through the non-REM and REM sleep stages — due to the interruptions or arousals that can cause sleepwalking or acting out your dreams — your brain doesn't fully charge, says Leadley. This can lead to fatigue in the short term, and if it happens frequently enough, it can even take years off your life, she says.

That's why managing your triggers is key. If you're prone to sleepwalking or have RBD, caffeine, alcohol, certain medications (such as sedatives, antidepressants, and drugs used to treat narcolepsy), physical and emotional stress, and inconsistent sleep schedules can all increase your odds of an episode, says Leadley. "We would normally counsel these patients to focus on making sure they're going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time, maintaining a routine, and managing stress levels [to prevent sleepwalking or RBD]," she adds. (Related: How to Sleep Better When Stress Is Ruining Your Zzz's)

While Myers hasn't yet shared if she's seen a sleep specialist or if she tries to keep her triggers in check, it seems as though she's making the most of her unique — and seriously entertaining — situation. "The world is a messy place, and, like, it feels good that people are getting giggles out of it," Myers said in a video last month. "Adam [my husband] always stays up, and I'm never in harm's way. Honestly, watching the videos back makes me laugh so hard because it's me, but like, not me, because I don't remember it. At the end of the day, yeah, they're real."