Helsinki, the seaside capital of Finland, holds a wide array of tunnels under its busy streets, some even going right under the seafloor. Some are abandoned, some semi-active, and some freshly carved and used daily. Most often, their objective either pertains to traffic, logistics, or maintenance - but I believe that there’s something besides just trucks and workers in those tunnels. Something sinister.
My interest in the subject was sparked at my previous job, wherein I had to frequently access a maintenance tunnel shared between a complex of buildings - the underground tunnel being gargantuan in size, and wholly creepy. There, I experienced things moving out of their own accord, faces appearing in the walls and ceilings, and faint whispers echoing in the halls. After I quit the job (for unrelated reasons, I might add), I started researching the subject further. And wouldn’t you know it, soon I held my first interview with someone who had a strange encounter in one of these tunnels!
My fascination only grew deeper, and soon I’d produced somewhat of a compendium regarding the subject. Call it a conspiracy, the mindless drivel of an unemployed young man, or just a hyperactive imagination, either way; I’ve got some stories to tell you.
The first account I’d like to share with you is from Kaisa. She is, or at least was at the time of the interview, a skeptic, who had experienced something bizarre. Her account is harrowing, weird, and all around creepy, and for those reasons I thought it’d make a great introduction to the things that lie beneath Helsinki. She has approved the translation, adaptation and publication of the original interview in full for the purposes of this post.
You can even tell from the interview how her skepticism was more a result of circumstance rather than any genuine doubt as to the reality of what happened, and that talking about her experience produced some catharsis. As I’ve come to conduct more interviews, I’ve noticed that it is actually one of the core reasons why I still keep doing what I do; to give people a safe place to air their experience. Sometimes people just need someone to listen to them.
As I’ve chronicled more and more accounts, I’ve begun implementing some basic categorization as well as background information regarding the sighting, which is added as a sort of header to the actual interview. So, without further ado, here’s Kaisa’s account of a summer night in Sveaborg, the sea fortress off the coast of Helsinki.
-
ID: 021-002
MONIKER: “The Spider”
SUBJECT: Kaisa [REDACTED]
AGE: 26
INTERVIEW DATE: 17/02/2022
TUNNEL IDENTIFIER: 17-Pr
NAME: Sveaborg (Suomenlinna) Maintenance Tunnel
LOCATION: Underneath sea floor, between Kaivopuisto and Suomenlinna
LENGTH: 1300m (0.8 miles)
CONSTRUCTED: 1981
CONNECTING TUNNELS: None
NOTES: The Sveaborg Maintenance Tunnel’s primary usage is to connect sewage, gas, water, and electrical access for the residents living in Sveaborg, thus connecting the island to mainland Helsinki. Built in 1981, the tunnel has also been used as an access point for emergency services since 1992, providing a faster alternative to the ferry, which is the only public way to move in and out Sveaborg. The tunnel lies beneath the sea, and its distance to the sea floor ranges between 20 and 60 meters. Its height is approximately 3 meters, providing just enough room to drive a car through.
The tunnel has become severely rusted, and it has been subject to multiple renovations. Water leakages and structural problems have been copious throughout the tunnel’s lifetime. Cracks and leaks have often been patched with concrete, and some areas have been entirely built anew, as large boulders have come crashing down. The presence of seawater has spiked the amount of radon, the radioactive material, found in the air. This has directly hindered the renovation efforts of the tunnel, since workers cannot spend too much time inside the tunnel until the radiation starts affecting their health.
In 2017, the tunnel had new asphalt flooring put in, and in the winter of 2021 the city of Helsinki began a larger renovation, which omitted the tunnel’s use for emergency vehicles for the duration of the renovation.
COMMENTS: Sveaborg (Suomenlinna) is a sea fortress built on an island off the coast of Helsinki. It is publicly accessible by ferry, and is often considered one of the main tourist attractions of the city, garnering around one million visitors each year. Its construction began in 1748, and it has become a staple of Finnish culture. Besides the fortress, the island contains shops, restaurants, and residential areas. Around 800 people live in the district of Suomenlinna. Besides the ferry, the Sveaborg Maintenance Tunnel is the only direct route from the mainland to the island.
INTERVIEW IDENTIFICATION: Interviewer: J / Interviewee: K
[Interview begins]
J: Thank you so much for talking to me, and letting me interview you about your experience.
K: No problem, no problem. Uhh, so, where should I start?
J: Let’s start with you. If you could introduce yourself a little bit.
K: Sure. Umm, I’m Kaisa [REDACTED] and I live in [REDACTED], but I used to live in central Helsinki. I’m twenty six years old, and I work as a consultant for a tech company. What else, what else… Oh! Perhaps it’s good for me to announce that I don’t really believe in the paranormal, or anything like that.
J: Do you believe that what you experienced in the tunnel was paranormal?
K: I mean, who knows. It happened, like, ten years ago. That’s to say it’s quite a distant memory at this point. But I do believe that something happened, or otherwise I wouldn’t be here talking to you. Do you need any more background introduction, by the way?
J: I think that’s plenty, thank you very much. You said this happened ten years ago - can you be more specific?
K: I think I was fifteen. Yeah, definitely fifteen. I’d just finished a stint at my first ever summer job working at an ice-cream kiosk. The job sucked, so I never returned, so that’s why I remember it. So that’s the year, uhh, twenty twelve?
J: Twenty twelve. Got it. So, tell me what happened. In your own words.
K: Okay. So, yeah, I was fifteen, just got out of my shitty job at the kiosk, and all I wanted was to spend some time with my friends, I mean, it was summer after all. And spend my hard earned cash on the dumb shit that teenagers like to spend money on, of course. So, one weekend, me and my friend Sofi decided to go on a day-trip to Suomenlinna. Even though I lived in the center [Colloquial for central Helsinki], the last time I had gone was when I was just a kid, like, five years old, or something. Anyway, we met up in the afternoon, took the ferry, and hung out until the sun started setting. We just laid on some cliffside near the sea and talked. And ate ice-cream, ironically enough. It was really nice, actually, now that I think about it.
J: And how did you end up in the tunnel?
K: Well, we ended up there because we were stupid; we missed the last ferry, by like an hour. We didn’t realize that they don’t traverse through the night, and the next one would come sometime in the early morning. It was getting dark, and I knew my mom would kill me if she heard I was stuck there for the night. But Sofi knew about the maintenance tunnel. She said that one of her friends had broken his leg in Suomenlinna, and the ambulance had come and taken him through the tunnel into Helsinki. It sounded a bit suspicious, but I agreed to at least take a look at it. It took us a while, but we finally found the entrance.
J: Was it locked, or guarded, or anything like that?
K: It was locked, yeah. And maybe there was a security camera there, I don’t quite remember. But there was nobody else around.
J: And how did you get in?
K: The lock was sort of shitty and rusted, so Sofi just took a big rock and hit it a couple times until it cracked open. So, yeah, that’s how.
J: And then you went into the tunnel?
K: Yeah. I mean, once we got the door open, I started to chicken out. It looked creepy as hell. There were these weird, square lights that didn’t illuminate the place all too well. It smelled like rust and damp and saltwater. I asked Sofi how the hell could we know that the door at the other end isn’t locked, but she just said that she’ll figure it out when the time comes. She sort of bullied me into it, really. That’s one of the reasons we’re not friends anymore, actually. And something about the tunnel just seemed off, you know? You know how when you go somewhere and you just know you’re not supposed to be there? Kind of like that. And walking over a kilometer through that place seemed a worse idea than my mom finding out I was stuck out there, which is saying a lot.
J: Can you describe the tunnel as you entered?
K: Sure. So, there was this dim lighting that went throughout the tunnel, but it was barely operational. The lights flickered and at points were completely out, producing these sections of pure darkness in the tunnel. Above us were a slew of rusty pipes, which seemed to constantly drip water. I’m not sure if the water came from the pipes, or if it was the sea pushing through the rock above. There were more pipes next to us, running through as well. And that’s pretty much it. Once we got to walking, it didn’t really change. Just meandered in this weird, half-straight line.
J: So you started walking through?
K: Yeah. Like I said, Sofi bullied me into it. But I guess I trusted her enough. She didn’t get spooked easily.
J: And then what happened?
K: Well, uhm. Sorry, do you have any water?
J: Sure. Just a sec… here.
K: Thanks.
J: Anything else?
K: I think I’m good. Okay. So, where were we?
J: You started walking down the tunnel.
K: Yeah, okay. Yeah, so we walked down, and for a while nothing happened. It felt like walking through a rollercoaster ride, you know? Like something in Linnanmäki [A popular amusement park located in Helsinki]. It was damp and our steps echoed really loud, and there was constantly something dripping. The smell got really bad, and I felt like I was about to pass out, but I kept a straight face so Sofi wouldn’t give me shit. So, we just walked in silence. I think she must’ve felt a bit uneasy as well. She’d always talk and talk and talk, never shut up, but there she was dead quiet.
J: Did you get to the other side?
K: No, we never did.
J: Can you tell me what happened?
K: Okay. So, yeah, maybe at the halfway mark, we started to hear something weird. Like steps or something. We thought they were guards or workers, and we’d be in big trouble if they found us. You know how it is; kids just get scared by any sort of authority. But yeah, we were in one of those dark sections where the lights didn’t work, so we hid under the pipes next to us and started to wait. We whispered to each other, and I could hear from her voice that Sofi was scared as well. As the steps got closer, Sofi shushed me and I put my hand over my mouth so I wouldn’t breathe so hard.
J: And did they find you?
K: No. I mean, not ‘they’. It.
J: It? What was it, then?
K: Just a sec. Let me think.
J: Sure, no problem. Take your time.
K: Uhh… well, look. I don’t have a clear answer to your question, and to be frank, I don’t really like to think about it. It makes me feel stupid, even describing it. Like I’m one of those kooks who think they’ve seen a ghost.
J: I understand. And, I mean, you were very young when all this happened. Here, how about this: just describe your memory as is, and let me worry about what it might’ve been. Memories are fickle, and I’m just trying to gather them as subjective experiences. Would you be okay with that?
K: Okay, okay, yeah. I think I can do that. But just for the record, and a disclaimer, and a warning: I don’t think what I saw was real. I was young and stupid and scared. If you’re about to hire me, dear future employer, I’m not crazy.
J: Awesome. Whenever you’re ready.
K: So, we were under those pipes, and I felt like I could barely breathe. The air in there tasted so bad, and it felt like it had crawled all the way inside me, shuddering my bones. And Sofi looked scared as well, and she never looked scared, which essentially doubled my fright.
The steps started coming closer, but they echoed really weirdly. Like they weren’t on the ground, but instead coming from above. But everything there echoed like that, I guess. And those steps, or then it sounded more like shuffling, came closer, and closer, and closer, until it was right next to us. I couldn’t see anything in the dark, but suddenly, one of the square lights flickered, illuminating that section of the tunnel for just a brief moment.
Up there, on the roof, were… arms. They rested on the solid rock and some on the pipes, tucked together like blades of grass. They connected to each other in these weird, fleshy, bony bits, like knees but bigger and more twisted and sharp. And those arms scuttled around frantically, moving the monolith of limbs along the sticky, damp surface of the tunnel. And those arms weren’t human. I mean, they had the normal amount of fingers and the general shape of human arms, but they were longer, the forearms spanning at least a meter in length. Now that I think about it, I think they were completely hairless, as well. They looked pale and a little bit gray, like they had been there for a long time.
Upon seeing this, Sofi yelped. I was so scared, but at that point I became furious at her, and wanted to shush her right back. But it was too late. The light started to flicker, then. From between those arms, like it had been tucked away, emerged a long, gray face, which dangled on a thick neck of pure muscle. Its nose was just two black slits, and its eyes were the size of tennis balls, black like rotten eggs, with no eyelids. It inched itself closer to us, like a snake. I looked into its black eyes, and I felt like it was going to devour me, that those hands would just reach down and pull me into the earth itself…
Then Sofi tugged my arm. I turned my gaze to her, and she was already starting to unfurl her legs. With a saline seriousness, she said “Run.”
And I did. We both fumbled our way out from under the pipes and started to run back towards the entrance. Sofi was in front of me. I didn’t look back, but I could hear a thousand fingers scuttling along the roof. I felt those black eyes on my back. Right as we were coming up on the main door, the thing chasing us gave a high pitched screech that sent nails through my ears. Sofi fumbled with the door, and finally got it open. We emerged into the warm, dry night, and Sofi kicked the door shut.
J: You must have been terrified.
K: More than I’d ever been, or have been since. It was just so… weird. I think maybe we’d sniffed the damp air too much and were just seeing things.
J: What did Sofi think of the whole experience?
K: She refused to talk about it. She sort of became twice as mean, after that. We were teenagers, you know, so Sofi had always been a bit bitchy, but half the time she was really sweet. But after that, she just started lashing out at everything and everyone. She would start mocking me or change the subject if I brought up the ordeal.
J: Gotcha. So, what happened once you were out of the tunnel?
K: We were both just sorta… stunned. Sofi was like, numb, and didn’t basically say anything. I called my mom and told her that I’d gotten stuck in Suomenlinna, but didn’t tell her about the tunnel. It’s funny - she was actually quite okay with us staying the night there. Apparently she’d rather have us there than out in the city. So we just went to the port and waited for morning. Mostly we kept quiet. When we did talk, it was about something else entirely.
J: So whatever you saw didn’t follow you outside of the tunnel?
K: No.
J: And have you seen that creature, or thing, after?
K: No, I haven’t. And if I do, you can call the insane asylum to come pick me up.
J: Gotcha. Anyway - anything else you’d like to add?
K: Do you think it’s real?
J: What do you mean?
K: Well, since you’re interviewing me for such a weirdly specific thing, I thought you might perhaps know something. Have others had similar experiences?
J: Well, I can’t disclose too many details, but yes. I believe that your experience was real, insofar as it wasn’t imagined or dreamed or anything like that. And you’re not the only one with this type of experience.
K: Well… I don’t know if that’s relieving or fucking terrifying.
J: That’s exactly how I feel.
K: If you publish these somewhere, be sure to tell me.
J: Of course. And thank you so much for your time, I really appreciate it.
K: No problem. It’s actually a bit relieving to get some validation for this story.
J: I’m glad I could provide that.
[Interview ends]