Fear of the unknown in SCP Foundation
For the past several years I was drawn into this mysterious world of SCP Foundation. The the pseudo-scientific approach in describing extraordinary objects, found all over the planet and beyond, interested me from the first look. The anxiety and fear experienced while reading some of the "reports" and study logs is what keeps me interested up to this day. I was interested why the fact of being unable to explain things not only inspires imagination and desire to find answers, but at the same time: anxiety and fear. In my research I will explore and question how the fear is constructed through reports and endless lore of the foundation. What makes the fear of the unknown both intimidating and captivating. My adaptation will be focused on an object that is highly unstudied, however I will include necessary details to inspire readers’ imagination.
Annotated Bibliography
“Meet the secret foundation that contains the world’s paranormal artifacts”
The article is providing the basic knowledge of the SCP Foundation. The following paragraph contains the definition of common topics, brought by writers: “SCP writers seems to pride themselves on producing intensely odd, surreal, and often disturbing concepts, although very few rely on crass gore or shock value for their impact.” Baker explains the main writing style of the SCP writing community, most noticeable objects, and gives example of a “typical” SCP - SCP-1609.
“Like all good horror stories, it’s not necessarily the content of an SCP report that’s frightening, but the way it forces your imagination to wake up and start paying attention to the terrifying little details.” In this paragraph Baker defines the main horror defining aspects of the SCP reports. She clearly states that the core idea is imagination and lack of explaining information. The fear of unknown.
“Fear of the unknown: One fear to rule them all?”*
This research work answers a question is the fear of unknown is the dominant and basis of human fear. Identifying fundamental elements of anxiety and criterias of terror. Carleton constructs the hierarchy of human fears to determine the origins of fundamental fears. The concluding section (“Fear of unknown”) summarizes all the work done into a six-segment conclusion of the fundamental nature of the fear of known. “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” (6.1 Inherent)
“Enter the SCP Foundation’s Bottomless Catalog of the Weird"
The article examines the SCP Foundation website and its most notable objects. Author briefly summarize key ideas of SCP writing and some aspects of the core lore of the foundation.
Examining the topic, Eichler explains the concept of the website: "The central conceit of the SCP Foundation is that it's your basic shadowy multinational organization dedicated to the study and containment of all things paranormal. To that end, the stories take the form of case studies, incident reports, and lists of precautions, written in a clinical, detached tone that's impressively consistent."
The definition of fear in the provided context is that the less reads know, but more detailed the object is, being scientifically written, will cause an intended fear of unknown.
“How is Fear constructed?”*
The research is focused of the construction of fear in non-fiction and fiction narratives. Fear-inducing narratives are being examined for horror and dread aspects. Author analyzed three different narratives to determine the formation of fear and its importance in a specific context. The concluding paragraph summarizes the research by specifying fear formation factors and their use in those texts. The approach is connected with my research topic the way it is formulated: “The strategies of fear elicitation for horror and dread can and often do converge in a single work in very different ways...” (429)
The article is providing the basic knowledge of the SCP Foundation. The following paragraph contains the definition of common topics, brought by writers: “SCP writers seems to pride themselves on producing intensely odd, surreal, and often disturbing concepts, although very few rely on crass gore or shock value for their impact.” Baker explains the main writing style of the SCP writing community, most noticeable objects, and gives example of a “typical” SCP - SCP-1609.
“Like all good horror stories, it’s not necessarily the content of an SCP report that’s frightening, but the way it forces your imagination to wake up and start paying attention to the terrifying little details.” In this paragraph Baker defines the main horror defining aspects of the SCP reports. She clearly states that the core idea is imagination and lack of explaining information. The fear of unknown.
“Fear of the unknown: One fear to rule them all?”*
This research work answers a question is the fear of unknown is the dominant and basis of human fear. Identifying fundamental elements of anxiety and criterias of terror. Carleton constructs the hierarchy of human fears to determine the origins of fundamental fears. The concluding section (“Fear of unknown”) summarizes all the work done into a six-segment conclusion of the fundamental nature of the fear of known. “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” (6.1 Inherent)
“Enter the SCP Foundation’s Bottomless Catalog of the Weird"
The article examines the SCP Foundation website and its most notable objects. Author briefly summarize key ideas of SCP writing and some aspects of the core lore of the foundation.
Examining the topic, Eichler explains the concept of the website: "The central conceit of the SCP Foundation is that it's your basic shadowy multinational organization dedicated to the study and containment of all things paranormal. To that end, the stories take the form of case studies, incident reports, and lists of precautions, written in a clinical, detached tone that's impressively consistent."
The definition of fear in the provided context is that the less reads know, but more detailed the object is, being scientifically written, will cause an intended fear of unknown.
“How is Fear constructed?”*
The research is focused of the construction of fear in non-fiction and fiction narratives. Fear-inducing narratives are being examined for horror and dread aspects. Author analyzed three different narratives to determine the formation of fear and its importance in a specific context. The concluding paragraph summarizes the research by specifying fear formation factors and their use in those texts. The approach is connected with my research topic the way it is formulated: “The strategies of fear elicitation for horror and dread can and often do converge in a single work in very different ways...” (429)
Works cited
Baker-Whitelaw, Gavia. Meet the secret foundation that contains the world’s paranormal artifacts. 2017, https://www.dailydot.com/parsec/fandom/scp-foundation-paranormal-artifact-containment-horror/
Bantinaki, Katerina. The Paradox of Horror: Fear as a Positive Emotion. 2012, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,uid&db=edsgao&AN=edsgcl.307034764&site=eds-live
Carleton, R. Nicholas. Fear of the unknown: One fear to rule them all?. 2016, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0887618516300469
Eichler, Alex. Enter the SCP Foundation’s Bottomless Catalog of the Weird. 2010, https://io9.gizmodo.com/enter-the-scp-foundations-bottomless-catalog-of-the-wei-5476680
Jets, Kairi. How is Fear Constructed? A Narrative Approach to Social Dread in Literature. 2018, http://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/IL/article/view/IL.2018.23.2.16
Bantinaki, Katerina. The Paradox of Horror: Fear as a Positive Emotion. 2012, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,uid&db=edsgao&AN=edsgcl.307034764&site=eds-live
Carleton, R. Nicholas. Fear of the unknown: One fear to rule them all?. 2016, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0887618516300469
Eichler, Alex. Enter the SCP Foundation’s Bottomless Catalog of the Weird. 2010, https://io9.gizmodo.com/enter-the-scp-foundations-bottomless-catalog-of-the-wei-5476680
Jets, Kairi. How is Fear Constructed? A Narrative Approach to Social Dread in Literature. 2018, http://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/IL/article/view/IL.2018.23.2.16