Hypnagogic Hallucinations?

I read up on "Hypnagogic Hallucinations" and it sounds pretty similar to what I have experiences many times. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I wake up and actually sit up in bed, and I see things. They're usually people, however sometimes they are animals. Either way, it's never inanimate objects.

One example of this is I woke up, and I remember seeing my friend Darren standing in the middle of my room. I was not startled at all, or scared in any way. I asked him what he was doing there, and he just replied "whats up man?" The thing is, it wasn't auditory. I just knew, in some way, that he replied "what's up man?" Then I remember looking at my window, and more figures were climbing through it (again, not scared. A vibe told me that they were my friends, although I did not know who they were to look at)

Another example is I saw Smeagle (from Lord Of The Rings) at the end of my bed, and he tried to attack me. I woke up in the middle of punching my bed in the area that I saw him.

Is this a Hypnogogic Hallucination? I am aware that there is another type that is auditory, however I do not get anything Auditory. It's all visual. I often get these in the middle of the night...not as I'm falling asleep, or as I wake up....just in the middle.

Anyone have any idea what this is? thankya!

It could have been that you were dreaming. If your saying that you woke up from it, then you were probably just in a dream, HI occurs when you begin to go through the process of entering a dream and happens with the eyes closed

Okay, I gotcha. Yeah the images go away quickly. I rub my eyes a few times, and they're all gone. Kind of weird, huh?

You may have been dreaming, but having a false awakening (FA). Basically that means you think you are awake and in bed (or just getting out of bed, getting ready for you day, etc) but are really dreaming.

However it is also possible to have HI during the middle of the night if you have woken up and are drifting back to sleep.