Grass Daddies Podcast - Halloween *BONUS* Episode: The Russian Sleep Experiment

Episode Date: October 31, 2024

Happy Halloween! Enjoy this spooky story as a treat for listening to the Grass Daddies Podcast. SHANKITGOLF.COM Code:grass Follow us on Social Media! Youtube: grassdaddiespodcast Instagram: @grassdaddiespodcast @kamdenwellmann @jakekillham Tik Tok: @kandenwellmann (yes that's how it's spelled) @jakekillham11

Welcome to the I found a razor blade in my Snickers bar podcast. I'm Jake and I'm a grass daddy and today you are all being treated to a bonus episode. Last year for Halloween we released a bonus episode and friend of the pod, Ben came on, not Ben. That's usually on here, not Ben, my sister's husband, but, uh, Ben Schmeling. And we ranked all our favorite scary movies. And, uh, we made it kind of a competition to see if we could guess the other persons. And I ended up winning. And I got this as a prize. This Spooktober barstool sweatshirt.

And for whatever reason, I think it came like a month late or something. Because I haven't been able to wear it until right now. So with that being said, I wanted to read one of my favorite internet scary stories for you all. If you have heard it, you would know that it's pretty creepy. And if you want to listen to it again, I'm going to read it for you all. And if you haven't heard it, boy, are you in for a treat. So you all know what this is going to be because you clicked on the title of the video. The website says estimated reading time, 12 minutes. And I don't think they know that I just finished Harry Potter like last year. So I'm pretty sure that means I'm still reading it like an eighth grade reading level. I guess I'll read the overview. With that being said, I hope you guys enjoy this bonus Halloween

episode. It's kind of a rainy day outside and it's a perfect day to read a scary story. So sit down, shut up, actually stand up, go get a snack, then come back, then sit down, then shut up, and enjoy this story. I guess I'll read the overview first, just for you guys, for any of you that don't know, you want a little background of it. So, again, I'm not a narrator, okay? So, just cut me some slack a little bit. I'm going to try not to do a bunch of ums and uhs, and hopefully I don't have to do any editing. So, the Russian Sleep Experiment. Widely regarded as one of the most popular and widespread 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 II. 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 produced are often illustrated alongside the story, with one image in particular being representative of the entire myth. If you want to walk out of the room now, if that sounds a little too much for you, I know this is supposed to be a comedy podcast, and I will warn you, for those that are squeamish, there are some pretty gory and gross parts of this story, so just fair warning off the top, although I would hope you would all be able to handle it, but with that being said, get your kids out of the room right now because it's about to get real.

Anyways, Russian researchers in the late 1940s kept five people awake for 15 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 with no bedding, running water, and toilet, and enough dry 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 a darker aspect after the four-day mark. After five days, they started to complain about the circumstances and events that led 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 that they would 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 a fact 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 three 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 two 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 three more days passed, the researchers checked the microphones hourly to make sure they were working. Since they thought it was impossible that no sound could be coming with five people inside, the oxygen consumption in the chamber indicated that all five must still be alive. In fact, it was almost the amount of oxygen that five people would consume after very heavy level of strenuous exercise. On the morning of the 14th day, the researchers did something that 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 that 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 or 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 15th day. The chamber was flushed of the stimulant gas and filled with fresh air and immediately voices from the microphones began to object. Three different

voices began begging, as if pleading for the life of a loved one, to turn the gas back on. The chamber was open, 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 five had not been so much as touched. There were chunks of meat from the dead test subjects' thighs and chest

stuffed into the drain in the center of the chamber, blocking the drain and allowing four 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 the flesh and exposed bone on their fingertips 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 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 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 working, digesting food. It quickly became apparent that they were digesting their own flesh 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 began begging and demanded that the gas be turned back on lest they fall asleep. Well, that was fucking scary. Can tipped over. 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 with one of the subject's teeth. Another five 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 bled out almost immediately. The medical researchers attempted to sedate him, but this

proved impossible. He was injected with more than 10 times a human dose of morphine derivative and still fought like a cornered animal, breaking the ribs and arm of one doctor. His heart was seen to beat for a full two minutes after he had bled out, to the point where there was more air in his vascular system than blood. Even after it stopped, he continued to scream and flail for another three minutes struggling to attack anyone in reach and just repeating one 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 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 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 four-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 tripled the normal level of oxygen. His muscles that were still attached to the skeleton were badly torn,

and he had broken nine bones in his struggle to not be subdued. Most of them were 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 six-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 impossible for that patient to still be alive. One terrified nurse assisting the surgeon 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 with struggle. 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 been 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 subjects' 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 to be 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 the pillow and blinking rapidly. Having been the first to be wired for EEG, most of the researchers were monitoring his brainwaves in surprise. They were normal most of the time, but sometimes flatlined 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 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 three 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 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 freed at every moment in your deepest animal mind. We are what you hide from in the 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 flatline of the subject choked out Weasley. So nearly free. Thank you guys all for watching and listening. I hope you enjoyed that spooky

story. Like I said, it's one of my favorite internet stories. I remember when I first heard that, I thought it was fucking terrifying. So I hope you all enjoyed it. Spotify and Apple Podcasts for audio only. Subscribe and comment on YouTube. Go follow The Grass Daddy's TikTok because I've been posting some pretty funny shorts on there, so you don't want to miss out on that. With that being said, thank you guys all for watching, and until next time, Happy Spooktober!