I wonder if it's a gate test, like when Jung taught active imagination/shadow work, if you had something scary you held your ground and waited for it to change. Inevitably it changes, but if you run it chases.

Alexandra David-Néel created a tulpa based on Friar Tuck, that went amok and the Tibetan community experienced its antics before some monks took care of it. So, I certainly can't dismiss your tulpa idea... My experience with tulpas has been pleasant, though.

It seems to me, between here and the afterlife, there are quite a few unpleasant things... It would be nice to learn to navigate these things.