Getting a full night’s sleep without any interruptions is surprisingly uncommon, yet it’s crucial for feeling refreshed and functioning at your best the following day.
Many assume that heading to bed at a reasonable hour guarantees quality rest. But despite this, a large number of people find themselves waking—often like clockwork—between 3:00am and 5:00am. This can be frustrating, especially if falling back asleep proves difficult.
But this frequent wake-up time isn’t just random or due to poor sleep habits. There may actually be a deeper reason behind this common experience.
The hours between 3:00am and 5:00am have earned the nickname “the hour of the wolf,” a term popularized by Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman in his psychological horror movie of the same name.
Bergman described it as “the hour between night and dawn… when sleep is deepest, nightmares feel most vivid, and many people die. It’s also when those who lie awake are tormented by their worst fears, and when ghosts and demons are strongest. It’s also the hour when the most babies are born.”
Professor Birgitta Steene explains that the name comes from Scandinavian folklore, which views this early-morning window as a time of heightened birth and death rates. It’s also a point in the night when the body enters its most profound state of rest, making any disturbance to this phase particularly noticeable.
In traditional beliefs, this timeframe is often referred to as the “witching hour” or “devil’s hour”—a period said to be dominated by supernatural forces. It’s thought to be the time when spirits, demons, and witches are at their most active.
So, what does this mean for your sleep?
For those who remain asleep, this stretch of time is when rest reaches its deepest, most restorative phase. But for those who wake, it can coincide with heightened anxiety and emotional vulnerability.
This is because the body’s internal clock, or circadian rhythm—a natural cycle influenced by daylight—causes physiological processes like temperature, metabolism, and blood pressure to dip significantly during the night.
These biological levels are at their lowest around 4:00am, marking the body’s peak rest period. However, if you’re prone to anxiety, this dip can intensify those feelings, possibly triggering premature waking during these early hours.