Apologies for the unannounced hiatus...posts will be getting a little irregular now and then due to my unfortunate April schedule.
This week I'll be going over one of my favorite creepypastas, The Russian Sleep Experiment. Its a classic, one thats stood the test of time. The creepypasta describes an experiment carried out by Russian researchers in the 1940s (post WW2 time period), which involved keeping five test subjects using a gas.
Lets get straight to the point. This creepypasta doesn't mince words at all, beginning with a forward introduction of the topic: The experiment. It tracks the course of the experiment by mentioning observations after one day, three days, ten days...etc (the full course of the experiment was intended to span a month; It instead lasted fifteen days). As always, the horror element kicks in pretty quickly in these "experiment/urban legend" pastas. In this case, it begins around the fourth paragraph, and after that point, is blatantly horrific.
On that subject, allow me to cover the author's execution of the aforementioned "horror aspect". As is widely known, there are two main areas of horror, one being the "gross-out, splatter film", and the other being the more creepy, spooky feels. This pasta incorporates both, with interesting degrees of success, The blunt description of wounds (as well as the overall direct tone) eliminates any flamboyance that would detract from the gross-out factor, without making the mental imagery any less graphic (Example: "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 creepy aspect of this pasta occurs much closer to the end of the fic, with the subject's behavior and words.
You probably don't need me to tell you again that realism is the most crucial point in creepypasta, but I'd like to stress that this is critical to more realistically based pastas (Think Russian Sleep as opposed to Slenderman). As the fic itself provides little explanation as to very technical, specific points of the experiment (such as the name of the gas, scientific justifications...), it loses a bit of credibility. On the other hand, this provides a catalyst for the mystery and "creepy factor" I discussed earlier. But on more of a preference note, I would have appreciated more scientific backup (or bullshit, whichever you prefer).
Have you read The Russian Sleep Experiment? Tell me what you think of it in the comments. Which creepypasta should I review next? I'm thinking of just working my way through the classic ones first, then the most highly rated ones.
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