Checked 18 August 2026
We checked
Claim: People swallow spiders while they are sleeping
No — this doesn't happen; there are no documented cases, and spiders' aversion to vibration plus normal sleep behavior make it exceedingly unlikely. The claim checks out as false, and it settles the question directly rather than leaving room for a reasonable underlying concern.
Claim: People swallow spiders while they are sleeping
No — the evidence is against itArachnologists and biologists find no evidence of this happening; there are no documented cases in medical or scientific literature, and spider/human sleep behavior make it exceedingly improbable given spiders' aversion to vibration and the fact that most people sleep with mouths closed.
ReferencesA real book, 'Insect Fact and Folklore,' is later cited as the source of the spider-swallowing claim, but the book's actual text says nothing about it, as Snopes confirmed by checking the page cited.
A magazine article supposedly by 'Lisa Holst' in 'PC Professional' is credited with inventing the '8 spiders a year' line as a fake fact meant to expose email gullibility — though the magazine and writer cannot be independently verified to have existed.
Snopes published its fact-check repeating the Holst story as the claim's origin, calling it "one of the most widely-circulated bits of misinformation to be found on the internet."
Snopes later revealed the Holst anecdote itself contained a hidden "easter egg": her name is an anagram of "this is a big troll," a wink planted for longtime readers rather than a verified historical source.
The claim spread independently through email chain letters, a listicle called "50 Top Pieces of Trivia," and reportedly a Snapple bottle cap fact, cementing it as folk trivia disconnected from any real study.
No — there's no documented case of anyone swallowing a spider in their sleep, and biologists say it's essentially impossible: spiders detect breathing and vibration and flee sleeping humans rather than crawl toward an open mouth. The famous '8 spiders a year' statistic traces to a supposed 1993 magazine article by a 'Lisa Holst,' but that origin story is itself murky — the magazine and author can't be verified, and Snopes has acknowledged the tale was partly an in-joke ('Lisa Birgit Holst' is an anagram for 'this is a big troll') planted in its own coverage. So the number has no real source at all; it's a fabricated statistic wrapped in a fabricated origin story.
ReferencesReviewed 1 October 2026 — nothing had changed.
Claims on this page are re-checked periodically; any change of finding is reviewed by a person before it appears here.