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The SCP Foundation is one giant collaborative project made up of a community of amazing writers coming together to write some real scary shit. From urban legend-esque monsters that keep you up at night to horrifying body horror plagues, there’s no limit to the strange objects, monsters, people, illnesses, events, and all things in between that you can find on this site.

This is a list of some of what I consider to be the best and most terrifying SCPs.

I’m rating these SCPs on a number of different criteria: article rating (how well-written/enjoyable the article is), existential crisis level (how much this SCP makes me question our existence and the fragility and futility of it all), and whether or not painful deaths are involved. They often are.

Please note: As much as I’d love to be able to say I’ve read every single SCP there is, there’s just way too many for that to be the case. These are my favorites of those that I’ve read so far, but you may disagree, and that’s OK! If you have a favorite scary SCP that you wish had been included, I’d love to check it out, so be sure to leave it in the comments!

Let’s begin.

 

Object Class Guide for New Readers:

Safe: Objects classified as Safe are fairly easy to contain and tend to be less dangerous than their Euclid and Keter counterparts. That does not mean, however, that Safe objects are entirely safe; it just means that whatever danger they pose can be more easily prevented and contained, and anyone who comes into contact with these objects should still exercise caution. 

Euclid: Less predictable than Safe objects, Euclid objects tend to be harder to contain and deadlier. However, following proper containment procedures usually means these objects don't pose too much of a threat so long as you're careful. They'll still probably kill you at some point, though.

Keter: Unpredictable and extremely difficult to contain, Keter objects are also typically the most dangerous. In fact, in the event of a containment breach, if the Keter object in question is dangerous enough, nuking its entire containment site to neutralize it is not beyond the realm of possibility.

Note: It is possible for objects originally classified as one class to be ranked up or ranked down depending on their behavior. See SCP-1048 as an example, which was moved from Safe classification to Keter after a certain incident.

 

10. SCP-643: The Cannibal Chocolates

Top-down photograph of chocolate balls on a marble surface; SCP-643 concept
SCP-643
Object Class: Safe

What It Does: Anyone who eats these chocolates will become extremely appealing to those around them, and will be consumed.

Why It Gets Its Classification: It’s pretty easy to contain these. Just don’t eat them and you should be fine.

Article Rating: 6.5/10

Existential Crisis Level: 2/10

Painful Death? Being cannibalized alive sounds pretty painful, so I’d say yes.

If you are new to the SCP Foundation and (understandably) overwhelmed by the myriad of articles you can read through, I highly recommend watching Tats TopVideos. They occasionally do SCP roundups where they list out scariest SCPs, not only reading out the articles but including footage and interviews that make these SCPs feel eerily realistic. It was through watching their “Top 18 Food & Beverage SCPs” on Youtube that I came across SCP-643.

It’s a common misconception that the object class rankings for SCPs are intended to represent how dangerous the object is, with Safe objects being the least dangerous and the most useful. SCP-643 is a good example of why “Safe” doesn’t always mean, well, “safe.”

Imagine if chocolates like these were mass-produced, and unknowing civilians consumed them by the dozens. According to the article, the chocolates were originally discovered by the Foundation when several bakery employees cannibalized their co-workers and customers, which means these chocolates (or whatever method was used to create them) could pose a serious threat if left unchecked.

I also couldn’t seem to find whether or not the effects of SCP-643 ever wear off, so what if that means whoever eats these chocolates is condemned to becoming prey to literally everyone until they’re finally caught and die a gruesome, cannibalistic death?

These chocolates don’t make me question reality too much—hence the lower existential crisis rating—and they may not be seen as the best SCP out there to most, but they do manage to make one of my favorite desserts just a little bit less appetizing. That’s good enough for me.

 

9. SCP-409: The Unfriendly Crystal

Photo of a black quartz cluster against a white background; SCP-409 concept
SCP-409

Object Class: Keter

What It Does: Crystallizes anything that touches it

Why It Gets Its Classification: I checked out the comments on this one and saw some people say it should be classified as Euclid because it’s not all that difficult to contain. I agree with this, but also understand why it could still be classified as Keter since touching it even a little bit is basically a (horrific) death sentence. Not fun.

Article Rating: 7/10

Existential Crisis Level: 2/10

Painful Death? Yep

You remember that episode in Avatar: The Last Airbender where King Bumi puts a ring of Jennamite on Sokka and Katara’s fingers and it slowly begins to engulf and suffocate them? This is basically the rated-R version of that. Not only does it slowly envelop and suffocate victims—which is already terrifying in and of itself—but the SCP-409 process is a slow crystallization of the victim “inside and out” that is described as “extremely painful.” If that’s not bad enough, once the victim is entirely crystallized, they explode into thousands of fragments. Yep.

The article, while short, does a terrific job of describing the process in a horrifying and graphic way. It’s gruesome and painful enough that I definitely consider it to be one of the scarier SCPs out there. I ranked the existential crisis level pretty low, however, because while it is a terrifying SCP, it doesn’t make me dread the reality of our existence itself; just makes me kinda scared of crystals.

 

8. SCP-823: The Angsty Amusement Park

Photo of an old-fashioned horse carousel; SCP-823 concept
SCP-823
Object Class: Euclid

What It Does: Mysteriously kills anyone who enters its “Red Zone”

Why It Gets Its Classification: It’s responsible for the deaths of 231 park attendees and 7 SCP personnel by various gruesome and mysterious means, including, uh…eye penetration.

Article Rating: 9/10

Existential Crisis Level: 5/10

Painful Death: Yep

There’s something about abandoned places meant to be filled with joy and innocence and laughing children that makes them incredibly eerie, and this takes it to the next level. SCP-823 has an unfortunate tendency to kill its guests, from fusing two attendees together “after emerging from the ‘Tunnel of Love’ dark ride” to dismembering guests in its house of mirrors.

I consider this one of the more underrated SCPs. While, sure, abandoned theme parks have been seen in horror before, a part of this particular SCP that I’d overlooked when I read it the first time was the fact that its extremely dangerous, no-entry Red Zones are apparently growing over time. So what happens if it somehow grows out of control? Does that mean everyone could die a graphic, painful, and bizarre death at the hands of whatever entity made this amusement park so deadly? Does it turn places and objects meant to be fun and joyous like parks and arcades into horrifying death traps? It’s the mystery of this zone spreading that makes it such a scary SCP, and the reason I’m in the camp that thinks this one should be upgraded to Keter. Its classification, however, has so far stayed Euclid.

I absolutely love the morbid instances of civilian deaths included in this article because it’s one of those SCPs that remind you that any normal person in this universe could accidentally come across something as dangerous as this at any moment without realizing. You know, until they’re decapitated while riding a roller coaster or fused to their significant other while smoochin’ in the Tunnel of Love. 

The best and creepiest SCPs, I think, are the unpredictable ones. If such morbid death befalls those who enter this mysterious, supernatural location, what does it mean for the world that the zone is spreading and no one knows why?

I rated its existential crisis level higher because the zone spreads and that has horrifying implications, but it doesn’t give me quite the mind-numbing existential dread that makes me question my own existence the way some of the higher ones do. It just makes me fear that one zone.

 

7. SCP-201: The Overly Familiar IV Stand

Photo of an old IV stand; SCP-201 concept
SCP-201
Object Class: Euclid

What It Does: Transports anyone close to it to an alternate dimension where there appears to be no life anywhere.

Why It Gets Its Classification: It’s not too hard to keep it in one place once acquired. The problem is that it transports anyone who gets within 30 meters randomly.

Article Rating: 7/10

Existential Crisis Level: 8.5/10

Painful Death? No, but staying trapped long enough will probably make you wish you were dead.

I think this one was one of the first SCPs that actually gave me a deep sense of existential dread. So maybe it’s just nostalgia talking when I rank this as one of the best SCPs.

But consider this: imagine something as innocuous as a crappy old IV stand randomly transporting you to an alternate version of our world where life apparently existed at one point, but there are absolutely no signs of it anywhere and the world is draped in permanent darkness? The article notes that everyone trapped in this alternate dimension was eventually transported back, but the length of time varies “between a few hours and upwards of eight years.” Eight years. Can you imagine living in what is essentially a post-apocalyptic wasteland with no explanation as to why for as long as eight years? No one to talk to, nothing to do, no life at all other than your own? I would go insane.

This is another one that I found on Tats TopVideos, and maybe that’s why I wanted to put it here. The footage shown is incredibly eerie and disconcerting, and it’s very hard to imagine being trapped on a lifeless, lightless planet for as long as eight years, as one unlucky dude apparently did. And all because he was unfortunate enough to walk a little too close to an old IV stand.

Had to give this one a high existential crisis rating. I could go on and on about the implications of an alternate dimension existing where everyone simply vanished all of a sudden—no bodies and no plant life, yet the remains of major cities are present—but the one thing I’ll say that made me want to put this on the list is the fact that it’s not known what came of that version of our world or why that IV stand drags people from our dimension to it, and that’s more than scary enough.

 

6. SCP-2852: “Cousin Jonny”: The VERY Overly Familiar Cousin

By The Angry Noodle

Bryanna Gary is the founder of The Angry Noodle. She is very smol and noodly, and also dipped in pasta sauce.

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