It’s been over a decade since the original SCP-173, but the general format hasn’t changed much when creating new entries. These stories eventually became popular in other circles, leading to the creation of an SCP Wiki in 2008, where these stories are currently housed and the mythos continues to evolve. The detached, pragmatic approach to the writing and the idea of a Lovecraftian underworld filled with cursed objects and eldritch creatures was something that the internet hadn’t seen before, so everyone wanted to be a part of it. Naturally, folks loved this spooky description of otherworldly science and containment procedures, so it wasn’t long before other /x/ users produced more stories in this realistic format. SCP-173, as seen in SCP – Containment Breach. The post would then go on to describe the great lengths that this mysterious institution goes through in order to study and contain this metaphysical abomination, also including an eerie photograph of the supposed creature (though this would later be revealed to be a picture of a sculpture by Japanese artist Izumi Kato). The report was said to have been leaked from a secret organization, with SCP being an acronym for their motto: Secure, Contain, Protect. The post itself was written like a relatively convincing scientific report describing a spray-painted concrete statue that becomes aggressive when not being directly observed (similar to Doctor Who‘s Weeping Angels). We can actually trace the Foundation’s origins back to 4Chan’s /x/ board in 2007, when a user posted what would become the basis for a sprawling internet tradition, SCP-173. Of course, it would only be a matter of time before a group of online scary-story enthusiasts would truly harness the power of collective storytelling, and that’s how the SCP Foundation was born. We may know that a figure like Slender-Man was originally created by Victor Surge, but it’s this idea of collaborative fiction that helped the character evolve and achieve online infamy all over the world. This remains true even in the age of the internet, with digital stories taking on a life of their own as people share and add to the digital mythos over time. After all, even geniuses like Bram Stoker and Lovecraft found themselves adapting local legends and historical fears when creating the likes of Dracula or even Dagon. While we can often trace iconic horror stories back to a single creator, the fact is that most of our famous urban legends and monstrous folklore are the result of several generations of storytellers adding their own personal spin to age-old tales. Today, I’d like to talk about the infamous SCP Foundation, and see if we can come to appreciate these online scares and what they mean to us. From Creepypastas to killer memes, these sordid tales are as much a part of our culture as classic campfire stories, only on a much larger scale. That’s why I believe it’s time to discuss the Viral Horrors that surround us every day. Nowadays, however, many people don’t seem to realize that we spend most of our waking hours online, be it at home or work, on computers or phones, and our stories have adjusted accordingly. Since the dawn of civilization, human beings have been scaring the crap out of each other with horror stories inspired by their immediate environments.
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