 Item number 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 8 meter 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 growths 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 behavior is to be reported to Dr. Bridge within 10 minutes of occurrence. If any personnel or their families experience hallucinations or dramatically related dreams outside of containment, they are to contact Dr. Bridge to schedule treatment. These surrounding SCP-097, specifically ██████, are to be monitored from the 1st of April until the 1st 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 one square kilometer 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. C-Level 3 staff for details. The morning after the 1st frost of the year, a team of 25 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. In the description, SCP-097 is a 10-acre area of land in the state of ████████ in the Midwestern United States. It is the abandoned remains of the ██████ County Fair in 1969, an area of approximately 2.3 km2, approximately 5.4 square miles. Structures within the SCP area exist in a state of moderate disrepair, consistent with the expected age and environment. At the center of SCP-097 lie the remains of a 1956 Buick pickup truck, majority of which is crushed beneath the colossal pumpkin of unknown subtype, henceforth SCP-097-01. SCP-097-01 stands approximately 7.4 m, 24.3 ft tall, and 8.1 m, 26.8 ft in diameter at its widest. Its estimates put SCP-097-01 at approximately 15,000 kg, approximately 33,070 lbs. 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, approximately 2 km2, is overgrown with several dozen varieties of pumpkins, with over 70 sub-species 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 kg, average 550 lbs. These pumpkins, along with the assorted other crops, grow with, on, or around the remains of the 1969 fairgrounds, creating a maze-like arrangement of plant life. The average height of the walls within SCP-097 is 1.6 m, though this may vary from year to year. In 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, 17 agents have been severely maimed within SCP-097, 8 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 indetermined range. For clarity, children will refer to individuals up to the age of 10. Beginning in early April, civilian children within SCP-097's undefined range may be overcome with synambulism on cleared nights. Affected children will move around their homes, stopping the face closed doorways for several seconds before moving on to the next nearest doorway, eventually returning to bed. At first, this behavior 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 a 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 neighbors. 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 to 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, child-like 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 pajamas 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 of SCP-097-01 begin 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 expressed 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 behavior. Event Log SCP-097 This is a general incident log for SCP-097 for the cycle between September 1st ██ and November 1st ██. This is in a bridge version. Please requisition full individual reports from Dr. Bridge. There in this time, 4 civilian children were captured and returned to their families. Month Day Year Time Event Notes October 3rd ██ Time ██-0939 Cameras 3B-4A-4C-5B view child, approximately 4 years of age, walked between tangles of plant matter towards SCP-097-01 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. October 5th ██-1733 Human scream heard from within SCP-097, heard throughout the site. On-site personnel described it as possessing a small child's voice, sustained for approximately 3 minutes before stopping abruptly. Staff reported feeling as if they were being watched during the event. September 8th ██ Several bedsheet ghosts are seen through various security feeds throughout the day. Would only appear for approximately 1 to 3 seconds before vanishing again. Staff did not report seeing any anomalous entities first hand. Patrols doubled for the remaining time in the SCP cycle. September 13th ██-2219 Unidentifiable seeing is heard throughout the site, persisting for 3 hours before becoming silent. Recordings reveal song-like gibberish without the 30 individual children voices singing at any time. Recordings archived for future study. September 19th ██-1427 Agent McRoy cuts a pumpkin's vine with machete. Severed vine proceeded to bleed approximately 50 liters of human blood before shriveling. Blood type AB-Negative, no DNA match. September 24th ██-2219 Overnight two separate pumpkin patches grew into the rough approximation of humanoid figures lying on the ground, destroyed without incident. September 25th ██-517 Long found decapitated, neck against a pumpkin, disappeared en route to a restroom break. September 27th ██-250 All light bulbs on site burn out within a 2 minute period. Critical areas repaired before nightfall. September 30th ██-1216 Sudden shift noted in the location of several dozen gourd plants. Time and nature of actual event unknown. October 1st ██-1429 Agent Cole accidentally damages and break pumpkin during weekly examination of SCP-097. Pumpkin splits open, revealing a complete human child skeleton in the fetal position within. Female, approximately 5 years old, no DNA match. October 2nd ██-29 Freshly decapitated crows found outside SCP-097's containment wall. None. October 6th ██-637 Matured pumpkin plant found to have replaced a potted plant growing inside Dr. Bridge's office. Indoor plants banned from the site. Pumpkin incinerated immediately. October 7th ██-1650 Agent 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 deskwork pending examination. October 11th ██-17 Research Assistant's term reports overwhelming taste and scent of pumpkin permeating her senses. No other personnel report anomaly. Transferred offsite. Examination pending. October 13th ██-1650 Sounds of steady drums playing throughout the day, from 0-100 hours to 23-59 hours. Source of sound unknown. Recordings archived for future study. October 17th ██-19 Male child approximately six years of age in clad and pajamas, seeing climbing through corn stalks on the eastern end of SCP-097, moving towards SCP-097-01. Lost to SCP-097-01, how the child was able to escape noticed by personnel until after he was lost to the SCP is unknown. October 20th ██-1307 All personnel within 3.6 km of SCP-097-01 report hallucinations of orange haze in children's laughter. Personnel evacuated to a distance outside the area of effect. Personnel screened for mental interference. October 23rd ██-0001 All power and backup power to the area failed. Upon recovery ██-15, 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. October 23rd ██-813 Team 097-Alpha report seeing and hearing children playing among de flora within SCP-097. Recordings like the entities expected from the reports. Children noted to be clad in pajamas. Team pulled from SCP, screened for mental interference. October 25th ██-1149 Z-Maze enderotic 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. October 26th ██-2113 Research Assistant O'Toole overcome with nausea and vomit 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. October 27th ██-1003 Research Assistant O'Toole reported to have died overnight. O'Toole reveals thoracic cavity with filled with pumpkin seeds. Body incinerated at site ██, all personnel scheduled for full physical examination. October 28th ██, an intelligible 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. Example, until November 1st. Associated personnel removed from duty and scheduled for examination. October 28th ██-1745 Headlights of vehicle underneath SCP-097-01 light and stay lit until daybreak. None. October 29th ██-1745 Fruit trees within SCP-097 blossom over the course of five hours, beginning at roughly 0700. Flowers wither and fall soon after. None. October 29th ██-807 Pumpkins near South entrance to SCP-097 begin spontaneously bleeding from the stem, each continued bleeding for three hours. Blood type A-B-Negative, no DNA match. October 31st ██-310 Several dozen unidentified spheres of red light viewed drifting above SCP-097's surrounding area, when light was shown directly on the sphere as a piercing shriek was heard. Personnel called into the main building as the spheres dissipated at dawn. October 31st ██-9 Sounds of steady drones are recorded from within SCP-097. Drones persist for the following twelve hours. No source identified. Recordings archived for future study. October 31st ██-1419 All strawberry plants within SCP-097 wither in unison. None. October 31st ██-1743 Between 25 and 30 animate human skeletons the varying size are recorded breaking out of larger pumpkins within SCP-097. Skeletons traverse through SCP-097's flora through the northeast peach tree and hang themselves from its branches using lengths of grapevine, electrical cable, and decaying rope. Skeletons ceased anomalous behavior after pantomimeing death by hanging. Death throats continue for approximately 23 minutes. Skeletons recovered after first frost. All appeared under 12 years of age. No DNA matches. Skeletons incinerated after examination.