The Russian Sleep Experiment
Widely regarded as one of the most popular and widest spread Creepypastas ever written, The Russian Sleep experiment is notorious as much for the gruesome nature of its content as for its plausibility. To this day, a large portion of the articles written about the story are attempts to investigate its validity or to debunk it as a hoax, something that speaks not only to the story’s effectiveness but also to the deeper societal anxieties to which the story appeals. For those who don’t know, The Russian Sleep Experiment is a supposedly factual account of experimentation acted out on subjects by the Soviet government and military in the wake of world war 2. The experiment, ostensibly meant to explore the effects of sleep deprivation on the human body was also used to test a new gas that could keep people awake for days at a time. The ‘report’ documents the degeneration of those experimented upon, individuals commonly referred to within the Creepypasta community as ‘The Test Subjects’. The horrifying results of these experiments and the crazed almost subhuman or demonic creatures it produces are often illustrated alongside the story with one image in particular being representative of the entire myth. Russian researchers in the late 1940s kept five people awake for fifteen days using an experimental gas based stimulant. They were kept in a sealed environment to carefully monitor their oxygen intake so the gas didn’t kill them, since it was toxic in high concentrations. This was before closed circuit cameras so they had only microphones and 5 inch thick glass porthole sized windows into the chamber to monitor them. The chamber was stocked with books, cots to sleep on but no bedding, running water and toilet, and enough dried food to last all five for over a month. The test subjects were political prisoners deemed enemies of the state during World War II. Everything was fine for the first five days; the subjects hardly complained having been promised (falsely) that they would be freed if they submitted to the test and did not sleep for 30 days. Their conversations and activities were monitored and it was noted that they continued to talk about increasingly traumatic incidents in their past, and the general tone of their conversations took on a darker aspect after the 4 day mark. After five days they started to complain about the circumstances and events that lead them to where they were and started to demonstrate severe paranoia. They stopped talking to each other and began alternately whispering to the microphones and one way mirrored portholes. Oddly they all seemed to think they could win the trust of the experimenters by turning over their comrades, the other subjects in captivity with them. At first the researchers suspected this was an effect of the gas itself… After nine days the first of them started screaming. He ran the length of the chamber repeatedly yelling at the top of his lungs for 3 hours straight, he continued attempting to scream but was only able to produce occasional squeaks. The researchers postulated that he had physically torn his vocal cords. The most surprising thing about this behavior is how the other captives reacted to it… or rather didn’t react to it. They continued whispering to the microphones until the second of the captives started to scream. The 2 non-screaming captives took the books apart, smeared page after page with their own feces and pasted them calmly over the glass portholes. The screaming promptly stopped. So did the whispering to the microphones. After 3 more days passed, the researchers checked the microphones hourly to make sure they were working, since they thought it impossible that no sound could be coming with 5 people inside. The oxygen consumption in the chamber indicated that all 5 must still be alive. In fact, it was the amount of oxygen 5 people would consume at a very heavy level of strenuous exercise. On the morning of the 14th day, the researchers did something they said they would not do to get a reaction from the captives, they used the intercom inside the chamber, hoping to provoke any response from the captives they were afraid were either dead or vegetables. They announced: “We are opening the chamber to test the microphones step away from the door and lie flat on the floor or you will be shot. Compliance will earn one of you your immediate freedom.” To their surprise, they heard a single phrase in a calm voice response: “We no longer want to be freed.” Debate broke out among the researchers and the military forces funding the research. Unable to provoke any more response using the intercom it was finally decided to open the chamber at midnight on the fifteenth day. The chamber was flushed of the stimulant gas and filled with fresh air and immediately voices from the microphones began to object. 3 different voices began begging, as if pleading for the life of loved ones to turn the gas back on. The chamber was opened and soldiers sent in to retrieve the test subjects. They began to scream louder than ever, and so did the soldiers when they saw what was inside. Four of the five subjects were still alive, although no one could rightly call the state that any of them in ‘life.’ The food rations past day 5 had not been so much as touched. There were chunks of meat from the dead test subject’s thighs and chest stuffed into the drain in the center of the chamber, blocking the drain and allowing 4 inches of water to accumulate on the floor. Precisely how much of the water on the floor was actually blood was never determined. All four ‘surviving’ test subjects also had large portions of muscle and skin torn away from their bodies. The destruction of flesh and exposed bone on their finger tips indicated that the wounds were inflicted by hand, not with teeth as the researchers initially thought. Closer examination of the position and angles of the wounds indicated that most if not all of them were self-inflicted. The abdominal organs below the ribcage of all four test subjects had been removed. While the heart, lungs and diaphragm remained in place, the skin and most of the muscles attached to the ribs had been ripped off, exposing the lungs through the ribcage. All the blood vessels and organs remained intact, they had just been taken out and laid on the floor, fanning out around the eviscerated but still living bodies of the subjects. The digestive tract of all four could be seen to be working, digesting food. It quickly became apparent that what they were digesting was their own flesh that they had ripped off and eaten over the course of days. Most of the soldiers were Russian special operatives at the facility, but still many refused to return to the chamber to remove the test subjects. They continued to scream to be left in the chamber and alternately begged and demanded that the gas be turned back on, lest they fall asleep… To everyone’s surprise, the test subjects put up a fierce fight in the process of being removed from the chamber. One of the Russian soldiers died from having his throat ripped out, another was gravely injured by having his testicles ripped off and an artery in his leg severed by one of the subject’s teeth. Another 5 of the soldiers lost their lives if you count ones that committed suicide in the weeks following the incident. In the struggle one of the four living subjects had his spleen ruptured and he bled out almost immediately. The medical researchers attempted to sedate him but this proved impossible. He was injected with more than ten times the human dose of a morphine derivative and still fought like a cornered animal, breaking the ribs and arm of one doctor. When heart was seen to beat for a full two minutes after he had bled out to the point there was more air in his vascular system than blood. Even after it stopped he continued to scream and flail for another 3 minutes, struggling to attack anyone in reach and just repeating the word “MORE” over and over, weaker and weaker, until he finally fell silent. The surviving three test subjects were heavily restrained and moved to a medical facility, the two with intact vocal cords continuously begging for the gas demanding to be kept awake… The most injured of the three was taken to the only surgical operating room that the facility had. In the process of preparing the subject to have his organs placed back within his body it was found that he was effectively immune to the sedative they had given him to prepare him for the surgery. He fought furiously against his restraints when the anesthetic gas was brought out to put him under. He managed to tear most of the way through a 4-inch wide leather strap on one wrist, even though the weight of a 200-pound soldier was holding that wrist as well. It took only a little more anesthetic than normal to put him under, and the instant his eyelids fluttered and closed, his heart stopped. In the autopsy of the test subject that died on the operating table, it was found that his blood had triple the normal level of oxygen. His muscles that were still attached to his skeleton were badly torn and he had broken 9 bones in his struggle to not be subdued. Most of them were from the force his own muscles had exerted on them. The second survivor had been the first of the group of five to start screaming. His vocal cords destroyed he was unable to beg or object to surgery, and he only reacted by shaking his head violently in disapproval when the anesthetic gas was brought near him. He shook his head yes when someone suggested, reluctantly, they try the surgery without anesthetic, and did not react for the entire 6-hour procedure of replacing his abdominal organs and attempting to cover them with what remained of his skin. The surgeon presiding stated repeatedly that it should be medically possible for the patient to still be alive. One terrified nurse assisting the surgery stated that she had seen the patient’s mouth curl into a smile several times, whenever his eyes met hers. When the surgery ended the subject looked at the surgeon and began to wheeze loudly, attempting to talk while struggling. Assuming this must be something of drastic importance the surgeon had a pen and pad fetched so the patient could write his message. It was simple. “Keep cutting.” The other two test subjects were given the same surgery, both without anesthetic as well. Although they had to be injected with a paralytic for the duration of the operation. The surgeon found it impossible to perform the operation while the patients laughed continuously. Once paralyzed the subjects could only follow the attending researchers with their eyes. The paralytic cleared their system in an abnormally short period of time and they were soon trying to escape their bonds. The moment they could speak they were again asking for the stimulant gas. The researchers tried asking why they had injured themselves, why they had ripped out their own guts and why they wanted to be given the gas again. Only one response was given: “I must remain awake.” All three subject’s restraints were reinforced and they were placed back into the chamber awaiting determination as to what should be done with them. The researchers, facing the wrath of their military ‘benefactors’ for having failed the stated goals of their project considered euthanizing the surviving subjects. The commanding officer, a former KGB agent, instead saw potential, and wanted to see what would happen if they were put back on the gas. The researchers strongly objected, but were overruled. In preparation for being sealed in the chamber again, the subjects were connected to an EEG monitor and had their restraints padded for long term confinement. To everyone’s surprise, all three stopped struggling the moment it was let slip that they were going back on the gas. It was obvious that at this point all three were putting up a great struggle to stay awake. One of the subjects that could speak was humming loudly and continuously; the mute subject was straining his legs against the leather bonds with all his might, first left, then right, then left again for something to focus on. The remaining subject was holding his head off his pillow and blinking rapidly. Having been the first to be wired for EEG most of the researchers were monitoring his brain waves in surprise. They were normal most of the time but sometimes flat lined inexplicably. It looked as if he were repeatedly suffering from brain death, before returning to normal. As they focused on paper scrolling out of the brainwave monitor only one nurse saw his eyes slip shut at the same moment his head hit the pillow. His brainwaves immediately changed to that of a deep sleep, then flatlined for the last time as his heart simultaneously stopped. The only remaining subject that could speak started screaming to be sealed in now. His brainwaves showed the same flatlines as one who had just died from falling asleep. The commander gave the order to seal the chamber with both subjects inside, as well as 3 researchers. One of the named three immediately drew his gun and shot the commander point blank between the eyes, then turned the gun on the mute subject and blew his brains out as well. He pointed his gun at the remaining subject, still restrained to a bed as the remaining members of the medical and research team fled the room. “I won’t be locked in here with these things! Not with you!” he screamed at the man strapped to the table. “WHAT ARE YOU?” he demanded. “I must know!” The subject smiled. “Have you forgotten so easily?” The subject asked. “We are you. We are the madness that lurks within you all, begging to be free at every moment in your deepest animal mind. We are what you hide from in your beds every night. We are what you sedate into silence and paralysis when you go to the nocturnal haven where we cannot tread.” The researcher paused. Then aimed at the subject’s heart and fired. The EEG flatlined as the subject weakly choked out, “So… nearly… free…” Whilst there are a number of images associated with The Russian Sleep Experiment and the story is of an event rather than about an individual or character, there is one image that is most well known and commonly linked to the story and which most fans will instantly recognise. The image, shows a humanoid creature staring blankly into the camera. The figure is horribly emaciated, a fact that is further emphasised by the extent to which the eyes are sunken back into the sockets, the brow and cheekbones protruding to an unnatural extent. The teeth meanwhile are of an unusually large size and forced forward by the thinees of the subject into a maniacal looking grin. The subject’s hugely exaggerated features enlarged head and huddled posture first with the concept of them being as much a victim as a threat. The image is in black and white, which lends irt some authenticity considering the period in which it is alleged to be taken. Thankfully, the image is a fake, and rather than being a human being is in fact a photograph of a halloween prop named ‘spasm’ created in 2005 by Morbid Enterprises. There is some disagreement as to where the story first originated. Whilst  some sources claim that the tale’s first appearance can be linked back to a user known only as ‘Orangesoda’ who posted the story to the creepypasta website on august 10th 2010, others trace its origins to an August 8th 2009 post on the Rip747 WordPress blog, pointing out that the story was also posted to the misc board of Bodybuilding Forums by a user named Falconpunch on August 20th 2009 which would again pre-date OrangeSoda’s post on Creepypasta. It is also worth noting that the post on the Rip747 blog claimed that the story has been shared with him by his brother, and whilst this may just be a narrative device intended to distance the author from the piece it could also be regarded as evidence that the story existed prior to this post. Whilst some believe British author Ice to have written the original creepypasta, based upon the fact that she produced a book of the same nme, she has clarified that she was simply inspired by an earlier work and is not the myths originator. Following Orangsoda’s post on Creepypasta a page was set up for the story on August 16th 2010, the story was then picked up and read aloud on the MrCreepypasta channel in November of 2011. After being shared by Griffin23 and receiving favourable reactions on the /r/wtf subreddit in October of 2012, the story got a dedicated site RussianSleepExperiment.com on  ‘March 7th 2013. The story was read aloud on Youtube over black and white images by IReadCreepyPastas in a video uploaded on 1 October 2013. This may be the first time that the narrative was linked to the images so famously associated with it and in its first year alone the video garnered over 11 million views. Scholars of folklore who have examined and written about The Russian Sleep Experiment myth have pointed out how the story’s effectiveness and viral spread can be attributed not only to its apparent believability, but more pointedly to  lat nbt anxieties within society around issues such as the horrors of war and the atrocities committed during world War two, but also with apprehension about the capabilities of foriegn militaries. It has been noted that across the spectrum of creepypasta stories the majority of stories concerning scientists and nefarious or experimentation are linked wither to Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia. Whilst many Creepypasta stories have clear influences from older folkloric traditions, what makes the The Russian Sleep Experiment story so unsettling and horrifically plausible is its proximity to the truth. Whilst many words and article inches have been dedicated to debunking this myth, it is simply a fact that similar horrors have indeed been committed by governments on their own people and that these incidents were undoubtedly influential in the formation of this particular mythology. By suggesting that the events recounted took place in the late 1940s  and with the addition of black and white and period photographs, the authors and posters place these fictional events within the same decade as the real life atrocities of the holocaust. Whilst the sleep experiment narrative might seem far-fetched in most contexts with most readers questioning the ethical and moral validity of such research, they remain within the realm of possibility when one considers that similar and perhaps greater crimes against unwilling subjects were committed in the name of advancement during this period. Though exaggerated to the point of monstrosity, the photograph of the halloween prop ‘spasm’ skirts the line of being plausible when one is reminded of the photographs of the near starved victims of the death camps under the Nazi regieme. In a deeply disturbing way, the hollow cheeks, sunken eyes and blank stares are nakedly reminiscent of real life footage and images from the time. Furthermore, when one considers the forced experimentation and medical research performed on unwilling subjects including the disabled by the nazis,(most infamously by Josef Mengele, who for example, saw fit to stitch pairs of living twins to one another) it becomes clear why readers have a hard time dismissing this story off hand. The Russian Sleep Experiment remains one of the most impactful and haunting creepypasta creations not only because of the effectiveness of its fiction, but because it skirts a little too close to the horrifying truth. We still await the day we get to see this classic creepypasta turned into a Russian Sleep Experiment movie More classic Creepypasta stories can be found here:Jeff The KillerSlendermanSmile Dog Copyright Statement: Unless explicitly stated, all stories published on Creepypasta.com are the property of (and under copyright to) their respective authors, and may not be narrated or performed under any circumstance.