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Russian Sleep Experiment

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"The Russian Sleep Experiment" is a creepypasta that tells the tale of five test subjects being exposed to an experimental sleep-inhibiting stimulant in a Soviet-era scientific experiment.[1]

Plot

The Russian Sleep Experiment purports to recount an experiment that took place at a test facility in the Soviet Union in the late 1940s. In a military-sanctioned scientific experiment, five political prisoners were kept in a sealed gas chamber, with a continually administered airborne stimulant for the purpose of keeping the subjects awake for 30 continuous days. The prisoners are falsely promised freedom if they complete the experiment.

The subjects behave normally during the initial days, talking to each other and whispering to the researchers through the one-way glass, though it is noted their discussions gradually become darker in subject matter. After nine days, one subject begins screaming uncontrollably for hours while the others have no reaction to his outburst. When a second begins screaming, the others prevent the researchers from looking inside by pasting torn book pages and their own feces on the porthole windows. A few days pass without the researchers being able to look inside, during which the chamber is completely silent. The researchers use the intercom to test if the subjects are still alive, and get a short response of a subject expressing compliance.

On the 15th day, the researchers decide to turn off the stimulating gas and reopen the chamber. Upon looking inside, they discover that the four surviving subjects have performed lethal and severe mutilation and disembowelment on themselves during the past days, including tearing off flesh and muscles, removing multiple abdominal internal organs, practicing self-cannibalism, and allowing four inches of blood and water to accumulate on the floor. The subjects also violently refuse to leave the chamber and beg the scientists to continue administering the stimulant, murdering one soldier and severely injuring another attempting to remove them. After eventually being removed from the chamber, all subjects are shown to exhibit extreme strength, unprecedented resistance to drugs and sedatives, super-human abilities to remain alive despite lethal injuries, and a desperate desire to remain awake and being given the stimulant. It is also found that any one of the subjects who fall asleep also dies instantly.

After being treated for their injuries, the surviving three subjects are being prepared to return to the gas chamber with the stimulant, with EKG monitors showing short recurring moments of brain death. Before the chamber is sealed, one of the subjects falls asleep and dies, and one researcher draws a gun and kills another subject as well as a staff member. With only one surviving subject, the researcher asks what he is, to which the subject identifies himself as an inherent evil inside the human mind that is kept in check by the act of sleeping. The researcher soon shoots him dead and he utters his final words.

Reception

The Russian Sleep Experiment became pen immensely popular upon its original publication. It is considered by some to be the greatest and most shared creepypasta story ever.[2] Much of the online and offline debate surrounds the belief held by many that the story is real rather than fiction, and many articles therefore seek to debunk this claim.[3] There is also much discussion of the viral nature of creepypasta stories more generally.[4][5]

Adaptations

The Russian Sleep Experiment's popularity has led to various adaptations over the years. A novella inspired by the original short story was published in 2015 but is now out of print.[6]

In early 2018, a psychological thriller based on the short story began production, directed by John Farrelly, and is scheduled to be released in 2019.[7]

Several other adaptations have been created, including a film based on the short story, with Chris Kattan starring and Barry Andersson directing.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ IReadCreepyPastas (2013-10-01), "The Russian Sleep Experiment" | IReadCreepyPastas, retrieved 2019-07-21
  2. ^ Fernando, Gavin (15 Jun 2016). "How the Russian Sleep Experiment became a global phenomenon". news.com.au. Retrieved 2018-07-29.
  3. ^ Mikkelson, David (28 Aug 2013). "Was the Russian Sleep Experiment Real?". snopes.com. Retrieved 2019-06-09.
  4. ^ Griffin, Andrew (20 Feb 2015). "Creepypasta: the digital campfires where the Slender Man was born". independent.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-06-09.
  5. ^ IReadCreepyPastas (2013-10-01), "The Russian Sleep Experiment" | IReadCreepyPastas, retrieved 2019-07-21
  6. ^ Rigney, Todd (1 Sep 2015). "Russian Sleep Experiment Creepypasta Becomes a Creepy Novella". Dread Central. Retrieved 2018-07-29.
  7. ^ l Love Limerick, John Farrelly Set to Release Debut Feature Film, ‘The Sleep Experiment’ February 22, 2019
  8. ^ Sprague, Mike (December 14, 2018). "Creepypasta's Russian Sleep Experiment Is Becoming a Horror Movie". Movie Web. Retrieved December 31, 2018.

Further reading

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