Well yes, there's that. It seems to me to be Sheol by another name, so I tend to be personally less disturbed by the concept than some are. There is enough disagreement to go around regarding just what is experienced after we give up the ghost, so to speak.
Soul sleep? Plenty believe that, with a scriptural basis. To be absent the body is to be present with the Lord? Plenty believe that too, with even more scriptural basis.
I accept the truth of the Bible, and so apparently there is a truth that we're not all grasping here. That truth might appear to be that we, ourselves are triune beings, body, soul and spirit. The soul is in the blood, according again to the Bible. It would cease to exist until resurrection, then. That is a plausible way of accommodating "soul sleep," because the soul and the spirit are not one and the same. The spirit returns to Him from whence it came, and so to be absent the body is to be present with the Lord it all holds together and the seeming conflict evaporates. Just food for thought, I don't know that I accept this fully myself, but I've heard and read it before and it makes more sense than the various disputed interpretations.
I honestly see no place for a Purgatory or some sort of continuation of Sheol there as a Christian myself, but I'm not going to get too caught up about that specifically, since there is room for disagreement and there is quite a bit of it, even among Protestants. What it leads to, however, is a problem. Praying for the dead, etc., which are clearly not supported in scripture.
I believe, on the other hand, that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin - past, present and future. And that when a true Christian dies, he/she goes immediately into Heaven. No spiritual car-wash needed. We are found “in Christ” not having our own righteousness, but the righteousness of God in Christ (Phil. 3:9).