Item #: SCP-097
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-097 is contained within the limits of the property where it was initially discovered, Zone-SCP-097. The property is surrounded by an 8 metre tall concrete block fence, fitted with barbed wire and security camera systems. Satellite images of Zone-SCP-097 are to be doctored, removing all traces of the area.
Any and all new plant growth outside the containment area suspected to originate from within the SCP is to be sterilized through application of boiling saltwater and/or incinerated. Absolutely all abnormal behaviour is to be reported to Doctor Bridge within ten minutes of occurrence. If any personnel or their families experience hallucinations or thematically related dreams outside of containment, they are to contact Doctor Bridge to schedule treatment.
Localities surrounding SCP-097, specifically [REDACTED], are to be monitored from the first of April until the first of November every year for affected civilians. Medical establishments dealing with sleep abnormalities are to be monitored for signs of SCP-097’s influence. Civilians below the age of 16 encountered alone within 1 square kilometre of Zone-SCP-097 are to be taken into Foundation custody and are to be treated with a Class B amnestic and returned home, or the nearest police station. Personnel tasked with the return of civilians are to avoid public exposure; each Agent is to be assigned a cover story to follow if they do encounter civilians en-route to their destinations. See Level 3 staff for details.
The morning after the first frost of the year, a team of twenty-five Agents armed with agricultural tools are to enter SCP-097 and clear away the outer plant matter. This process is not to continue past dusk.
Description: SCP-097 is a ten acre area of land in the state of [REDACTED], in the Midwestern United States. It is the abandoned remains of the [REDACTED] County Fair 1969, an area of approximately 2.3 km2 (approx. 5.4 sq. mi). Structures within the SCP area exist in a state of moderate disrepair, consistent with the expected age and environment.
At the centre of SCP-097 lie the remains of a 1956 GMC pickup truck, majority of which is crushed beneath a colossal pumpkin of unknown subtype, henceforth SCP-097-01. SCP-097-01 stands approximately 7.4 metres (24.3 feet) tall and 8.1 metres (26.8 feet) in diameter at its widest. Current estimates put SCP-097-01 at approximately 15,000 kilograms (approx. 33,070 pounds). This pumpkin remains roughly spherical in shape, instead of spreading out under its own weight as would be expected of a plant of its size.
The remaining portion of SCP-097 (approx. 2 km2) is overgrown with several dozen varieties of pumpkins, with over seventy subspecies yet identified, and many previously unknown to agriculture. Many of these pumpkins have been shown capable of growing to enormous sizes, the average estimated weight being around 250 kilograms (avg. 550 lbs). These pumpkins, along with the assorted other crops, grow with, on and around the remains of the 1969 fairgrounds, creating a mazelike arrangement of plant life. The average height of the “walls” within SCP-097 is 1.6 metres, though this may vary from year to year.
Between April and November each year, the area within SCP-097 has produced a number of anomalous phenomena ranging from benign to implicitly aggressive. To date, seventeen Agents have been severely maimed within SCP-097, eight having died. See Event Log SCP-097 for a brief listing of recorded phenomena.
Addendum - Historical Note: Prior to the construction of SCP-097's containment wall, instances of what are now known as SCP-2171-1 were occasionally observed to form fragmented 'walls', and at one point a near-complete ring, of 2171 around SCP-097's area of effect. This behavior ceased following the containment wall's completion. The purpose and implications behind this interaction are as of yet unknown.
Effects of SCP-097 on Children: In addition to its immediate effects outlined in Event Log SCP-097, SCP-097-01 appears to produce an undetectable signal towards children in an undetermined range. For clarity, “children” will refer to individuals up to the age of 8 10.
Beginning in early April, civilian children within SCP-097’s undefined range may be overcome with somnambulism on clear nights. Affected children will move around their homes, stopping to face closed doorways for several seconds before moving to the next nearest doorway, eventually returning to bed. At first, this behaviour will occur only once a week, beginning with only the doors on a single floor. This sleepwalking will become more frequent, by mid-August happening every night. If forcibly awoken at any time during these episodes, they will scream for several seconds before succumbing to a degree of confusion. After an affected child is awoken in this manner, the effect will cease, and the child will never show any further signs of SCP-097’s influence.
Over the course of two to three months, these episodes will become more thorough, affected individuals seeking out each doorway inside their home, as well as those on their household’s property, such as garages, car doors, and fence gates; eventually, they will begin visiting the front doors of neighbours. Beginning in September, affected children who have remained undisturbed during these episodes will begin to remain outside at sunrise, laying on grass near their homestead and returning to full REM sleep. Affected children may recall dreams centering around autumn activities.
Between September 1st and November 1st, if the affected children have not been awoken during the preceding sleepwalking episodes, they will cease the previously established activity during the sleepwalk, and instead begin to walk directly towards SCP-097’s location. They will travel over fields and down secondary roads, steadily moving towards SCP-097. Local geography consists mostly of undeveloped Foundation-owned property, facilitating uninterrupted travel. Upon arrival at SCP-097, an affected child will sit down before SCP-097-01 and begin singing unidentifiable gibberish as music begins to play. While a number of instruments have been recorded, simple drums and pipes are the most consistently encountered.
After several minutes, childlike entities will crawl out from tangled flora, or break out of larger pumpkins within SCP-097. The children will be wearing whatever they were last seen with, most often pyjamas or similar clothing. Many of these entities match those children known to be lost to SCP-097-01.
The entities will surround the affected civilian child, dancing and singing in a circle as SCP-097-01 begins to emit dim light. The affected child will awaken, normally expressing a great deal of terror; the instant any vocalization is produced, the entities will swarm and kill the child. Methods used are different in each instance, but usually involve dismemberment or strangulation. At this point, any and all efforts to interrupt the entities will fail, whether through breakdown of equipment, sudden intangibility of the subjects, or express violence on the part of SCP-097.
After the death of the affected child, SCP-097-01 will split open and the entities will hurl the remains into it, before climbing in themselves. SCP-097-01 will then close, and the music will stop.
Before the containment wall was erected, at least ██ children between the ages of 3 and 10 are known to have been lost to SCP-097. See Event Log SCP-097 for current examples of SCP-097’s behaviour.
