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.

Event Log SCP-097:

This is a general incident log for SCP-097 for the cycle between 09/01/████ and 11/01/████. This is an abridged version; please requisition full individual reports from Dr. Bridge. During this time, four civilian children were captured and returned to their families.

Month/Day/YearTimeEventNotes

09/03/████09:39Cameras 3b, 4a, 4c, 5b view child, approx. 4 years of age, walk between tangles of plant matter toward SCP-097-1 over an 8 minute period. Child appeared to be dragging a stuffed animal.Child appeared on footage during review period. No figure was viewed at the time of recording.

09/05/████17:33Human scream heard from within SCP-097, heard throughout the site. On-site personnel described it as possessing a small child's voice. Sustained for approx. 3 minutes before stopping abruptly.Staff reported feeling as if they were being watched during the event.

09/08/████-Several "bed sheet ghosts" are seen through various security feeds throughout the day. Would only appear for approx. 1-3 seconds before vanishing again. Staff did not report seeing any anomalous entities first-hand.Patrols doubled for the remaining time in the SCP's cycle.

09/13/████22:19Unidentifiable singing is heard throughout the Site, persisting for three hours before becoming silent. Recordings reveal songlike gibberish, with up to 30 individual children's voices singing at any time.Recordings archived for future study.

09/19/████14:27Agent McRoy cuts a pumpkin's vine with machete; severed vine proceeded to bleed approx. 50 litres of human blood before shriveling.Blood type AB-, no DNA match.

09/24/████-Overnight, two separate pumpkin patches grew into the rough approximations of humanoid figures, lying on the ground.Destroyed without incident.

09/25/████05:17Agent Long found decapitated, neck against a pumpkin.Disappeared en-route to a restroom break.

09/27/████02:50All light bulbs on-site burn out within a 2 minute period.Critical areas repaired before nightfall.

09/30/████12:16Sudden shift noted in the location of several dozen gourd plants.Time and nature of actual event unknown.

10/01/████14:29Agent Cole accidentally damages and breaks pumpkin during weekly examination of SCP-097. Pumpkin splits open, revealing a complete human child's skeleton in the fetal position within.Female, approx. 5 years old. No DNA match.

10/02/████-Twenty-nine (29) freshly decapitated crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) found outside SCP-097's containment wall.None.

10/06/████06:37Matured pumpkin plant found to have replaced a potted plant growing inside Dr. Bridge's office.Indoor plants banned from the Site. Pumpkin incinerated immediately.

10/07/████16:50Agent Matthews falls unconscious during patrol and cannot be awoken until removed from property.Agent reported dreaming of autumn colors and the smell of leaves. Full recovery. Reassigned to desk work pending examination.

10/11/████07:38Research Assistant Sturm reports overwhelming taste and scent of pumpkin permeating her senses. No other personnel report anomaly.Transferred off-site, examination pending.

10/13/████-Sounds of steady drums playing throughout the day, from 00:00 to 23:59.Source of sound unknown. Recordings archived for future study.

10/17/████03:19Male child, approx. 6 years of age and clad in pyjamas, seen climbing through cornstalks on the eastern end of SCP-097, moving towards SCP-097-01.Lost to SCP-097-01. How the child was able to escape notice by personnel until after he was lost to the SCP is unknown.

10/20/████13:07All personnel within 3.6 kilometres of SCP-097-01 report hallucinations of orange haze and children's laughter.Personnel evacuated to a distance outside the area of effect. Personnel screened for mental interference.

10/23/████00:01All power and backup power to the area failed. Upon recovery, ███ pumpkins within SCP-097 were found to have changed into carved lanterns.It is unknown how SCP-097 generated and lit candles. Team-097-alpha and -beta tasked to destroy lanterns after sunrise.

10/23/████08:13Team-097-alpha reports seeing and hearing children playing among the flora within SCP-097. Recordings lack the entities expected from the reports.Children noted to be clad in pyjamas. Teams pulled from SCP. Screened for mental interference.

10/25/████11:49Zea mays indurata kernels fall from the sky around SCP-097. Does not fall within containment walls.Area cleansed with flame units and replanted with non-native grasses. Pavement of outside area pending.

10/26/████21:13Research Assistant O'Toole overcome with nausea and vomits pumpkin seeds. O'Toole did not eat pumpkin seeds previous to vomiting.Research Assistant O'Toole transferred to Site ██ for examination. Seeds incinerated with prejudice.

10/27/████10:03Research Assistant O'Toole reported to have died overnight. Autopsy reveals thoracic cavity was filled with pumpkin seeds.Body incinerated at Site ██. All personnel scheduled for full physical examination.

10/28/████-Unintelligible whispering gibberish heard by fertile female personnel throughout the area when in view of SCP-097. Phenomenon continues throughout the day, continuing for the duration of SCP-097's cycle, i.e. until Nov 1.Associated personnel removed from duty and scheduled for examination.

10/28/████17:45Headlights of vehicle underneath SCP-097-01 light and stay lit until daybreak.None.

10/29/████-Fruit trees within SCP-097 blossom over the course of 5 hours beginning at roughly 07:00. Flowers wither and fall soon after.None.

10/29/████08:07Pumpkins near south entrance to SCP-097 began spontaneously bleeding from the stem. Each continued bleeding for three hours.Blood type AB-, no DNA match.

10/31/████03:10Several dozen unidentified spheres of red light viewed drifting above SCP-097 and surrounding area. When light was shone directly on the spheres a piercing shriek was heard.Personnel called into the main building until the spheres dissipated at dawn.

10/31/████12:00Sounds of steady drums are recorded from within SCP-097. Drums persist for the following 12 hours.No source identified. Recordings archived for future study.

10/31/████14:19All strawberry plants within SCP-097 wither in unison.None.

10/31/████17:43Between twenty-five and thirty animate human skeletons of varying size are recorded breaking out of larger pumpkins within SCP-097. Skeletons traverse through SCP-097's flora to the north-east peach tree and hang themselves from its branches using lengths of grape vine, electrical cable, and decaying rope. Skeletons ceased anomalous behaviour after pantomiming death by hanging; death throes continued for approximately 23 minutes.Skeletons recovered after first frost; all appeared under 12 years of age, no DNA matches. Skeletons incinerated after examination.