The Windows to Hell in Siberia

The “Windows to Hell in Siberia” is a set of thirteen rumored photographs taken by a man named Seraphim Chertov in the late nineties. The photographs contain imagery from a currently abandoned summer cottage just outside of Novosibirsk, Russia. The photographs seem to display the activities of what appears to have been a cannibalistic band of four sadistic maniacs. The nature of the imagery recorded in the photographs seems to carry some sort of an occult and cultic flavor.

Chertov is reputed to have written down a short description, or a title on the back of each photograph. That is, according to the few individuals who have actually seen the images. They will be detailed per said titles.

“Hold Him by the Hands” – (the term translated as “hands” also means “handles”) A photograph of a man in the snow by the cottage with two chainsaws lodged within his body. One inside the head and the other inside his chest.

“A Man’s Necklace” – A row of marinated phalluses strung together on a fishing line. They seem to be hung on a door frame.

“The Equestrian” – the photograph shows a naked woman on top of some saddle contraption. Blood is coating the contraption, the woman’s legs and the floor. She must’ve died from blood loss. Small hints of feces are visible on the backside of the contraption. The woman’s internal organs seem to have prolapsed onto the contraption's surface. Her eyes are missing. Their extraction was crude and left behind two glaring bloody sockets. The woman’s mouth is sewn shut.

“Hell of a Cement” – A photograph of what is presumably the bathroom wall. Regular tiles take up a sizable portion of the wall. Some of the tiles appear to be missing thus exposing some sort of mushy, fleshy organic matter. The matter seems to be stuffed into the entire length of the wall. Clearly seen in the exposed section of the wall. A fetus seems to be lying at the foot of the wall, a lumbrical cord still connected to the body.

“That Nearly Fell on Me” – A picture was taken from a close distance, looking down at a half-flayed person of an unclear sex, due to the body lying on its front side. The lower half of the body is intact while the upper half is flayed in a seemingly horizontal fashion. Internal organs seem to be untouched, apart from the brain, which is very clearly missing. Pulled out through the back of the skull, which was smashed with brute force. The visible hand shows a hole cut through its center. Potentially fell from the ceiling, nearly hitting Chertov. Perhaps it was nailed to the ceiling.

“Happy Mishka” – (“Mishka” is an affectionate term for Bears in Russian, similar to Teddy Bear.) The photograph was taken through the cottage’s window of a large Eurasian brown bear waving around the remains of a child in its mouth.

Looks Like an Orgy – a photograph of six headless naked figures huddled together. The figures appear to be covered in blood and bits of internal organs. They are riddled with bullet holes, and what appears to be like condoms stuffed in said bullet holes.

Spiderweb – A photograph of a room completely occupied by an intricate web of intestines stretched between all walls and the ceiling. Three feminine torsos are hanging by their outstretched digestive systems in the center of the intestinal web. The floor is covered by traces of bloodied fecal matter.

“Eyeonase” – A picture of a pickle jar filled with six eyeballs swimming in some whitish liquid. No further description can be given.

“The Final Supper” – A photograph of a table on top of which is a naked man. His limbs are partially eaten off. An apple stuffed in his mouth and nose, missing. Eyes gouged out violently, leaving behind bloody sockets. The torso of the man is cut open entirely, ribs are broken outward and opened apart. Heart and lungs missing. Plates with rice, potatoes, and vegetables are lined up around the corpse. Four bottles of wine are standing empty across the table. The genitals of the man are missing. Two forks are lodged into his intestinal region. The photo was taken from above.

“Kitties” – A photograph of a tabby female cat and her young feasting on what appears to be the remains of a newborn child. Taken in a relatively dark part of the cottage, perhaps the basement.

“What the Fuck?!” – A tank is photographed, inside the tank a crudely constructed chimeric entity. A flayed torso of a woman attached to a headless horse. The woman’s arms are placed behind her back, still in possession of their skin. The head of the horse is attached upside down to the torso. The horse’s flayed phallus attached to the head like a horn. Tendrils made up of intestinal matter hang loosely around the torso and crude makeshift wing-like structures are attached to the horse’s sides. They’re made up of skin. Presumably the woman’s removed skin. The photograph is a little blurred. The sight probably spooked Chertov and made him unable to keep the camera steady.

“Head” – A photograph of a standard Russian living room at the time. Rugs covering the floors and the wall, a television set facing a couch with a table. On top of the table rests a remote control and an emptied bottle of alcohol. The room appears fairly normal until one notices the head buried between the pillows in the furthest corner of the couch.

“Russian Roulette” – The final photograph, four dead men seated around a small table with gun wounds to the head. A half-emptied bottle of vodka stands at the side of the table. A couple of broken shot glasses can be seen on the floor around the table along with a revolver lying beside one of the men. The man's head is thrown back and has a hole in his chin.

There is no available information on what Chertov’s venture into the cottage was like, and his whereabouts after the venture. Nothing about his background is public in any way either. However, Seraphim Chertov is familiar to the Russian authorities and reportedly is currently locked up in an undisclosed mental facility. It is said a small group of close confidants of Chertov who refuse to speak on the matter saw the photos. Investigations into the abandoned cottage did not find the murderous band or their victims. The overall structure of the building seems to fit the one in the photographs. Even the saddle contraption was found in one of the rooms. The one found was found clean – with two drill bits screwed on top of the dildos attached. Moreover, some traces of organic remains were indeed found in the cottage. They were too decayed to be unidentified.

The locals who are aware of the incident and the photographs maintain their silence about the whole ordeal. Although some claim that Chertov had burned the photos after a psychotic episode and swallowed the remaining film.

Who is to say what is truly the Windows to Hell in Siberia? Perhaps it’s the internal hell of a single man, or maybe it’s something bigger, perhaps bigger than us all.