What does it mean when you dream of someone trying to suffocate you?

This hallucination, or 'dream' you have experienced is a worldwide phenomemon. If you research a little bit, you'll find that this "black spectre" experience has been experienced by many people throughout the world and the times. Different cultures have different names for it, yet a clear rational explanation is yet to come forth.

From what I understand, this black spectre vision often appears hovering over people in the middle of the night, while the person is concurrently in a state of mental consciousness, but often can not physically move due to sleep paralysis. Sometimes people have reported experiencing a physical interaction with this black shadow, sometimes not.