Resources For Every DM: Horror Part 3

Today we are going to continue with the them of off-season horror.  As promised, here are three SCPs to fuel your nightmares, add to your game, and inspire you.  For those of you who don't know SCP stands for two things, both of which come from the fictional SCP Foundation's website.  The first is Secure, Contain, Protect; the mantra and mission statement of the Foundation.  Strange things are out there and the organization seeks to maintain normalcy in this world.  The second thing is stands for is how they do this: Special Containment Procedures.  That is what SCPs are all about.  SCPs are a form of creepypasta that are written in a (mostly) standardized format as would be found in the SCP Foundation's files.  They are assigned numbers, levels of danger, SCP, and description.  Often included are addendums, notes from Foundation doctors, and crossovers with other SCPs.  While not strictly horror, some of the best SCPs are based on strange and frighting creatures/objects, the type of things that can give some people nightmares if they spend too much time thinking about it.  The three here all come from the top rated list and are some of my favorite SCPs.


SCP-173:  173 is a terrifyingly simple SCP that has garnered the highest rating of all of them.  The reason for this can likely be attributed to the picture that goes along with the document.  SCP-173 is a creature made of cement and rebar, in a vaguely humanoid shape, with a face painted on.  This face is it self weird, and many fan drawings of the creature include a large vertical mouth full of sharp teeth.  The horror of this creature comes from the way it moves.  Much like Doctor Who's weeping angles, it can only move when not being observed.  Another horrifying aspect is the need to clean its containment cell, which gets covered in blood and feces from unknown sources.  This of course requires coordinated observation and blinking to make sure no one dies.  Did I mention it's a killer?

SCP-055:  55 is not so much horror in itself, but the idea of encountering it is creepy and potentially terrifying.  You see, SCP-055 is an object that is contained, but no one knows how.  Most of the document contains statements about how there is no way to figure out anything about the object or its history.  Data can be collected but not studied, as that too is forgotten.  An interesting addendum shows that things can be discovered about what it isn't, and this allows those who discuss what it isn't to remember SCP-055, but only that it exists and what they know it isn't.  Imagine that contradiction of thought and memory if you came in contact with such an object, to not know what you know or what happened.



SCP-2521:  This is one of my favorite SCPs because it makes you think.  There isn't a single word in the entire document.  It is a number of images that are designed specifically to reveal information and provide instruction on how to handle the creature.  The more you look into it the more you can decipher from it, but without concise sentences it is difficult to deduce how off you may be in interpretation.  To try to handle a creature with only this document is a terrifying prospect; keep your fingers crossed and hope you're doing it right.  People have trouble with Ikea furniture, which is built from picture diagrams, and that is something stable and unchanging.

As a note, this may be moved out of the horror category eventually.  While creepy, these tend to be more thought provoking than terror inducing.