Microsoft has released a hotfix to resolve an issue, where a Windows 8 computer installation that is Unified Extensible Firmware Interface or UEFI-compliant and that has a UEFI/GPT configuration, restarts to a blank screen after a standard shutdown or hibernation.

If the Turn on Fast startup power option is  enabled and you restart Windows 8 or when you hibernate the Windows 8 computer – irrespective now whether Fast startup power option is enabled or disabled – when the computer restarts, Windows 8 computer gets forcibly turned off or reset.

At this point, if you try to restart Windows 8 again, the system freezes before the desktop is generated, the screen goes blank or only a blinking cursor would be displayed.

KB2756559 explains the cause as follows:

If you restart the computer after it is forcibly turned off, Windows 8 tries to use the fast startup method. When this occurs, the system determines that the previous restart attempt was unsuccessful, and then it tries to restart by using the full startup method. However, this full startup attempt fails because of an access violation that is caused by memory corruption.

If you are facing this problem on your Windows 8 computer frequently, you can download the hotfix from here and apply it