The Russian Sleep Experiment — Holly Ice

If you are promised freedom, how long would you endure a nightmare?

Siberia: the height of Stalinist terror. Four political prisoners from all corners of the Soviet Union, exiled to the frozen wastes, and sentences to ten years hard labour, are promised their freedom if they endure 30 days without sleep, fuelled by gas 76-IA.

Soviet researchers look on, neutral, and take careful notes on this new wonder drug as insomnia causes words and pleasantries to break down. Only Luka, a junior researcher, believes the experiment needs to be stopped. A lone voice of reason, he is shot down. However, when this experiment ends, one thing is clear: the nightmare has only just begun.

Part 1 explains how the political prisoners were recruited from the POW camp.

Part 2 is told from the POV of an experimentee with interspersed reports from the lead scientist. The major action of the original tale is fleshed out and occurs in real time. The novella delves into the mind of the prisoners from inside the cage of the experiment.

Part 3 is told from the POV of a scientist involved in the experiment. He continues the story after the experiment has concluded. The consequences of the experiment are played out among the isolated log cabins of rural Siberia.

This volume features iIllustrations by award-winning graphic artist Daniel Tyka.

(No part of this novella features any part of the CreepyPasta tale. This is an original work.)