It’s not unusual to have brief hallucinations right before falling asleep. It’s happened to me on occasion. That’s another possible explanation.
what? I’ve never heard of that can someone put a study or something please? (btw ik this sounds rude but I’m actually curious)
What sounds like a scream could also be an episode of “exploding head syndrome” (the most hilariously dramatically named relatively mundane sleep phenomenon)
I’ve experienced it a handful of times in my life and it is very startling! Especially the 2 times where it sounded like someone shouting my name from inside my skull. Brains are so weird