Previously: The Stagecoach.
Type: MO (Malevolent Object).
Period/location of origin: The earliest collected account of subject, known as the Red Piano (Красное пианино), the red piano urban legend, or the mystery of the red piano, which has been located by this researcher dates back to 1983. It is not known whether this year is subject’s precise date of origin; given that the account was considered worth collecting at the time, subject likely became active sometime earlier. Regardless, subject is Russian in origin — which, paired with the period in which it apparently emerged, places it specifically within the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as the Soviet Union, was active between 1922 and 1991.)
Appearance: Subject appears to be, as its moniker implies, a red piano — specifically, a red acoustic piano. The precise variety of piano is not typically specified by individual reports; however, given the era in which subject is known to have been active, it is likely an upright piano, rather than a larger grand or baby grand. Subject may be described as either brand new or having been acquired second-hand; accounts do not agree.
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Subject has, as is to be expected of any piano with a full-sized keyboard, 88 keys, 52 of which are white and 36 of which are black. However, these keys are also equipped with a feature not usually found on a standard piano keyboard: Tiny needles — needles so small as not to be visible to the unaided eye… unless one were to look very, very closely.
Deep within the piano, there is also a liquids collection system tied to the needles connected to the keys.
There is more than one reason this piano is referred to as the “red piano” — and it does not only have to do with the actual color of the instrument.
Modus operandi: Subject is first presented to potential targets as an item for sale in a retail environment. Targets are therefore self-selecting: Those in the market for a piano for home usage will view the red piano within this retail environment and, if the price is right, subsequentially purchase subject and bring it into their home.
Subject is not capable of operating on its own. Subject, in fact, may be viewed more as a tool to a second — although not necessarily secondary — subject, referred to hereafter as Subject 1A.
Subject 1A is typically described as an old woman or grandmother, although further details regarding her appearance are not otherwise furnished within any individual accounts or reports. Subject 1A’s contact information is provided to targets who have purchased subject, under the understanding that Subject 1A is the only person within the local area capable of servicing or repairing subject, should subject break or otherwise become unplayable.
Targets who have purchased subject and begin playing it regularly once they have brought it into their home will, over time, begin to feel a persistent pain in their fingertips; they may also complain of constant exhaustion, experience a loss of physical strength, begin to feel “foggy” or have trouble maintaining focus or concentration on even the smallest of tasks, and/or develop a pale or wan countenance. These symptoms will persist — and, indeed, will worsen over time — as long as targets continue to play upon subject.
Subject will eventually break, at which point targets will likely contact Subject 1A to arrange for repairs. Upon arrival at targets’ home, Subject 1A will inform targets that she can repair the piano, but that she must be left alone, undisturbed, and unwitnessed in order to do so. Should targets do as Subject 1A asks, Subject 1A will close the door to the room in which subject is located, perform the required services, and then leave the premises.
Subject, once repaired, may then be played upon again. However, the symptoms previously experienced by targets will continue to persist — and eventually, subject will break once more, requiring Subject 1A to be summoned again.
This cycle will repeat for as long as targets continue to play the red piano… up until a certain point. Targets may eventually expire due to prolonged use of the piano.
The cause of the expiration is, of course, the red piano — for, should targets secretly observe Subject 1A while she is performing maintenance on the piano, they will see that, each time she appears, Subject 1A reaches inside the piano and retrieves a glass jar full of red liquid. She then proceeds to drink the contents of the jar before replacing it within the piano and performing the rest of the repairs necessary to bring the piano back into working order.
This liquid has been gathered by the needles hidden upon the keys: Each time a key is pressed, the needle pricks the fingertip used to play it. The piano is designed to break every time the jar inside it becomes full to capacity.
There are only so many pinpricks a target may survive receiving.
Containment: Subject has reportedly been destroyed following the events recounted below (see: Additional notes), although the manner of destruction is not entirely clear: According to some reports, it was taken apart using an axe, while according to others, it was burned.
Then again, still other reports do not specify whether subject has, in fact, been destroyed.
Subject 1A was reportedly arrested following these same events (see: Additional notes), although her current whereabouts remain unknown.
Additional notes: Subject’s most well-known target was, reportedly, a small girl who was gifted the red piano by her parents — possibly as a birthday present, although possibly not (accounts vary). After she began her daily practice with the instrument, however, she began experiencing the symptoms previously described. She was told that her fingertips hurting was to be expected; she was, after all, new to the piano, and her fingers were not used to playing the keys.
The first time the red piano broke, the girl’s parents contacted Subject 1A, who carried out the repairs with her usual stipulations. After the piano was repaired, the girl continued to play it, and continued to grow weaker as she did so.
The second time the red piano broke, the girl’s parents contacted Subject 1A once again. This time, however, they observed the “repair” process through the keyhole of the room in which the piano was kept — and witnessed Subject 1A retrieve the jar from within the piano and consume its contents.
The parents immediately called the authorities, and Subject 1A was subsequently arrested.
At this point, the piano was more closely examined, and the needles attached to the keys discovered.
At this point, subject may have been destroyed, as previously. The fate of Subject 1A after being taken into custody remains unknown.
Subject 1A’s true nature also remains unknown. It is not immediately clear whether she consumed the liquid harvested by the piano out of necessity, or out of pure enjoyment.
The precise level of involvement of the shop which stocked subject and the shopkeeper who supplied the target family with Subject 1A’s contact information similarly remains unknown. It is not known if this shop and/or shopkeeper were aware of subject’s unique collection system, or of Subject 1A’s curious proclivities — or whether they actively facilitated Subject 1A’s liquid collection procedure through the use of subject, or whether they were simply innocent pawns.
It is worth noting that subject is not the only piano identified by its color which enacts terrible deeds upon its owners; another piano — black, rather than red — is known to have displayed similar qualities. This black piano, however, was found to have housed not just a liquid collection system, but an actual creation: A sentient skeleton periodically crawled out of the body of the piano and demanded a donation of blood from its targets. After it was destroyed using an axe, the health of its last known target — similarly a small girl — returned, allowing her to make a full recovery.
Whether or not the red piano and the black piano have a more tangible connection beyond their shared liquid collection efforts — such as whether they have a creator in common, or whether the skeleton and Subject 1A are aware of each other’s existence, etc. — remains to be seen.
Collected reports of subject date back to at least 1983, according to the Lobachesky State University of Niznhy Novgorod’s online folklore archive. These reports have subsequently been passed around in a wide variety of forms, ranging from oral storytelling to creepypasta-style internet repetitions. Reports of subject gained a renewed interest in the 2000 and 2010s (see: subject circa 2002; subject circa 2006; subject circ 2008; subject circa 2011; and subject circa 2012).
Reports of subject also began circulating English language online sources in the early 2010s, and may still be found today, both as text and as video content.
Recommendation: Do not play the red piano.
Ever.
Resources:
“The Mystery Of The Red Piano” at the Lobachesky State University of Niznhy Novgorod’s online folklore archive. (In Russian.)
“The Black Piano” at the Lobachesky State University of Niznhy Novgorod’s online folklore archive. (In Russian.)
“Red Piano” at scarykids.ru. (In Russian.)
“Soviet Scares” at the New East Digital Archive.
“The Red Piano” at The Scare Chamber.
“The Piano” at the Creepypasta Wiki.
“The Red Piano” on TikTok.
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