Russian Sleep Experiment#Popularity and reception
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{{Short description|Creepypasta and urban legend}}
File:RussianSleepExperimentLab.jpg
The Russian Sleep Experiment is a creepypasta which tells the tale of 5 Soviet-era test subjects being exposed to an experimental sleep-inhibiting stimulant, and has become the basis of an urban legend.{{Cite news |last=Considine |first=Austin |date=2010-11-12 |title=Bored at Work? Try Creepypasta, or Web Scares (Published 2010) |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/fashion/14noticed.html |access-date=October 20, 2020 |archive-date=2015-09-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925061624/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/fashion/14noticed.html |url-status=live }} Many news organizations, including Snopes, News.com.au, and LiveAbout, trace the story's origins to a website, now known as the Creepypasta Wiki, being posted on August 10, 2010, by a user named OrangeSoda, whose real name is unknown.{{Cite news |last=Emery |first=David |date=December 31, 2018 |title=The Russian Sleep Experiment Urban Legend |work=LiveAbout |url=https://www.liveabout.com/the-russian-sleep-experiment-3299532 |url-status=dead |access-date=October 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524104745/https://www.liveabout.com/the-russian-sleep-experiment-3299532 |archive-date=May 24, 2019}}
Plot
File:RussianSleepExperimentGuy.png
The story recounts an experiment set in 1947 at a covert Soviet test facility, where scientists gave political prisoners a stimulant gas that would prevent sleep for fifteen days. As the experiment progresses, it is shown that the lack of sleep transforms the subjects into violent zombie-like creatures who are addicted to the gas. At the end of the story, every character dies except one scientist.{{Cite web |date=2016-12-16 |title=Сон или механизм остановить нечто?! — Сообщество «Мальчики и Девочки» на DRIVE2 |url=https://www.drive2.ru/c/461398510797849926/ |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=www.drive2.ru |language=ru}}
Popularity and reception
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 made and Dread Central's Josh Millican has called it "one of the most shocking and impactful urban legends of the Internet Age".{{cite news |last1=Millican |first1=Josh |title=Video: The Infographics Show Explores THE RUSSIAN SLEEP EXPERIMENT |url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/323397/video-the-infographics-show-explores-the-russian-sleep-experiment/ |access-date=4 November 2021 |work=Dread Central |date=6 April 2020 |archive-date=25 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200425174616/https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/323397/video-the-infographics-show-explores-the-russian-sleep-experiment/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Fernando |first=Gavin |date=June 15, 2016 |title=How the Russian Sleep Experiment became a global phenomenon |work=news.com.au |url=https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/social/how-the-russian-sleep-experiment-became-a-global-phenomenon/news-story/b1705cc2fb46082e98ea13581ec4be0a |access-date=July 29, 2018 |archive-date=March 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320195418/https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/social/how-the-russian-sleep-experiment-became-a-global-phenomenon/news-story/b1705cc2fb46082e98ea13581ec4be0a |url-status=live }} 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.{{Cite news |last=Mikkelson |first=David |date=August 28, 2013 |title=Was the Russian Sleep Experiment Real? |work=Snopes |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/russian-sleep-experiment-orange-soda/ |access-date=June 6, 2019 |archive-date=November 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119235810/https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/russian-sleep-experiment-orange-soda/ |url-status=live }}
The creepypasta is often shared alongside an image of a grotesque, emaciated figure, which is implied to be one of the test subjects. The image is actually of a life-size animatronic Halloween prop called "Spazm".{{Cite web|title=Ten Infamous Creepypastas Based on a Single Terrifying Image|url=http://www.the13thfloor.tv/2016/07/27/ten-infamous-creepypastas-based-on-a-single-terrifying-image/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221073437/http://www.the13thfloor.tv/2016/07/27/ten-infamous-creepypastas-based-on-a-single-terrifying-image/|archive-date=21 February 2020}}
Literary criticism
In the chapter "Horror Memes and Digital Culture" in The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Gothic, Tosha R. Taylor wrote that the creepypasta "reflects residual political anxieties as it purports to reveal a top-secret effort by Russian scientists in World War II."{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=Tosha R. |chapter=Horror Memes and Digital Culture |date=2020 |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-030-33136-8_58 |title=The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Gothic |pages=985–1003 |editor-last=Bloom |editor-first=Clive |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-33136-8_58 |isbn=978-3-030-33135-1 |s2cid=226618766 |access-date=2020-10-30 |archive-date=2023-10-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231031204336/https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-33136-8_58 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}
Sonali Srivastav and Shikha Rai drew comparisons between "Russian Sleep Experiment" and the 2018 miniseries Ghoul, noting that the series took inspiration from the creepypasta.{{Cite journal |date=2019-12-05 |title=Metanarratives of Identity in Web-series: A Narrative Analysis of Netflix's Ghoul (2018) |journal=International Journal of Media and Information Literacy |volume=4 |issue=2 |doi=10.13187/ijmil.2019.2.50 |doi-access=free |url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/metanarratives-of-identity-in-web-series-a-narrative-analysis-of-netflix-s-ghoul-2018/pdf }}
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.{{Cite news |last=Rigney |first=Todd |date=September 1, 2015 |title=Russian Sleep Experiment Creepypasta Becomes a Creepy Novella |work=Dread Central |url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/123155/the-russian-sleep-experiment-creepypasta-becomes-a-creepy-novella/ |access-date=July 29, 2018 |archive-date=July 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190725030954/http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/123155/the-russian-sleep-experiment-creepypasta-becomes-a-creepy-novella/ |url-status=live }}
The 2019 play Subject UH1317 - When Science Traces A Deadly Turn is based on the short story.{{Cite news |title=The war between science and human race - Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/spotlight/the-war-between-science-and-human-race/articleshow/68303804.cms |access-date=2020-10-30 |website=The Times of India |language=en |last1=Sah |first1=Purnima |archive-date=2021-04-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210430150226/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/spotlight/the-war-between-science-and-human-race/articleshow/68303804.cms |url-status=live }}
In early 2018, a psychological thriller based on the short story began production in Ireland, directed by John Farrelly.{{Cite web |date=February 22, 2019 |title=I Love Limerick, John Farrelly Set to Release Debut Feature Film, 'The Sleep Experiment' |url=https://www.ilovelimerick.ie/the-sleep-experiment/ |access-date=March 12, 2019 |archive-date=December 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215084537/https://www.ilovelimerick.ie/the-sleep-experiment/ |url-status=live }} The film was subsequently released in November 2022.{{Cite web |last=Navarro |first=Alexander |date=2022-11-02 |title=The Sleep Experiment Review: A Hair-Raising & Shocking Adaption of the Legendary Internet Urban Legend |url=https://movieweb.com/the-sleep-experiment-review/ |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=MovieWeb |language=en}}
In July 2019, horror author Jeremy Bates published The Sleep Experiment, a novel closely based on the original short story.{{Cite web |date=2019-07-24 |title=The Sleep Experiment (1988091381): Jeremy Bates: Books |url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1988091381 |website=Amazon.com |access-date=2021-03-18 |archive-date=2022-01-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118023206/https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1988091381/ |url-status=live }}
Several other adaptations have been created, including a film based on the short story entitled The Soviet Sleep Experiment, with Chris Kattan starring and Barry Andersson directing.{{Cite web |last=Sprague |first=Mike |date=December 14, 2018 |title=Creepypasta's Russian Sleep Experiment Is Becoming a Horror Movie |url=https://movieweb.com/soviet-sleep-experiment-movie-chris-kattan/ |access-date=December 31, 2018 |website=Movie Web |archive-date=July 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706064850/https://movieweb.com/soviet-sleep-experiment-movie-chris-kattan/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Squires |first=John |date=2018-12-14 |title=That Crazy Disturbing "Russian Sleep Experiment" Urban Legend is Getting Its Own Horror Movie |url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3538215/crazy-disturbing-russian-sleep-experiment-urban-legend-getting-horror-movie/ |access-date=2020-10-30 |website=Bloody Disgusting! |language=en-US |archive-date=2020-11-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102114658/https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3538215/crazy-disturbing-russian-sleep-experiment-urban-legend-getting-horror-movie/ |url-status=live }} Filming for the movie took place in Lakeville, Minnesota during 2018.{{Cite web |date=2018-12-28 |title=Blood, guts and lots of coffee: 'Soviet Sleep Experiment' finishes shooting in Lakeville |url=https://www.twincities.com/2018/12/28/blood-guts-and-poop-its-all-a-part-of-movie-making-at-this-twin-cities-set/ |access-date=2020-10-30 |website=Twin Cities |language=en-US |archive-date=2020-11-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105200327/https://www.twincities.com/2018/12/28/blood-guts-and-poop-its-all-a-part-of-movie-making-at-this-twin-cities-set/ |url-status=live }}
See also
References
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External links
- [https://www.creepypasta.com/the-russian-sleep-experiment The Russian Sleep Experiment] on creepypasta.com
- {{YouTube|id=zr4C_cLgXR0|title=The Russian Sleep Experiment (Framed Pictures, 2017)}}
- {{IMDb title|title=The Russian Sleep Experiment|id=tt3856410|description=(Timothy James Smith, 2015)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russian Sleep Experiment}}
Category:Fiction about cannibalism
Category:Fiction set in the 1940s
Category:Human experimentation in fiction
Category:Internet memes introduced in 2010
Category:Works set in the Soviet Union