The story recounts an experiment set in a late–1940s Soviet test facility. In a military-sanctioned scientific experiment, five Political prisoners were kept in a sealed gas chamber, with a continually administered airborne stimulant for keeping the subjects awake for 30 consecutive days. The prisoners were falsely promised that they will be set free from prison if they complete the experiment. The subjects behaved as usual 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 became darker in the subject matter. After nine days, one subject begins screaming uncontrollably for hours while the others having no reaction to his outburst. The man screamed for so long that he tore his vocal cords. The man didn’t know why he was screaming. He was paralyzed. When the second one started screaming, the others prevented the researchers from looking inside by pasting torn book pages and their own feces on the porthole windows. A few days passed without the researchers being able to look inside, during which the chamber was completely silent. The researchers used the intercom to test if the subjects were still alive, and got a short response of a subject expressing compliance. On the 15th day, the researchers decided 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 disembowelmenton themselves during the past days, including tearing off flesh and muscles, removing multiple abdominalinternal organs, practicing self-cannibalism, and allowing of blood and water to accumulate on the floor by jamming pieces of flesh from the first subject into the drain, who was found dead on the floor as soon as the chamber was opened. The subjects also violently refuse to leave the chamber and begged the scientists to continue administering the stimulant, murdering one soldier and severely injuring another who were attempting to remove them. After eventually being removed from the chamber, all subjects were shown to exhibit extreme strength, unprecedented resistance to drugs and sedatives, superhuman abilities to remain alive despite lethal injuries, and a desperate desire to stay awake and be given the stimulant. It was also found that any one of the subjects who falls asleep dies instantly. After being somewhat treated for their severe injuries, the surviving three subjects were prepared to return to the gas chamber with the stimulant by the orders of the military officials, with EKG monitors showing short recurring moments of brain death. Before the chamber was sealed, one of the subjects falls asleep and passes away, and the only subject that could speak screams wildly to be sealed into the chamber right now. The military commander orders the chamber to closed along with three other researchers. One of them immediately draws his gun; killing the commander and the mute subject in retaliation by shooting both of them in the head, causing the other personnel to suddenly flee the room. With only one surviving subject, the terrified researcher explains that he will not allow himself to be locked in a room with monsters that could no longer be called people. He then desperately asked what the subject was, to which the subject smiles and identifies himself along the other fallen subjects as an inherent evil inside the human mind that is kept in check by the act of sleeping. The researcher suddenly shoots the prisoner in the heart after a brief pause, and with his dying breath on the floor, the subject mutters his final words; "So...nearly...free..."
Popularity
The Russian Sleep Experiment became immensely popular upon its original publication. It is considered by some to be the greatest and most shared creepypasta story ever. 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. There is also much discussion of the viral nature of creepypasta stories more generally. The creepypasta is often shared alongside an image of a grotesque, demonic figure, implied to be one of the test subjects. The image is actually of a life-size animatronic Halloween prop called "Spasm".
Adaptations
The Russian Sleep Experiment's popularity has led to various adaptations over the years. A novel inspired by the original short story was published in 2015 but is now out-of-print. In early 2018, a psychological thriller based on the short story began production, directed by John Farrelly, and is set to be released in 2020. Several other adaptations have been created, including a film based on the short story, with Chris Kattan starring and Barry Andersson directing.
