ORCID Identifier(s)

0000-0002-3717-7243

Graduation Semester and Year

2022

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in English

Department

English

First Advisor

Neill Matheson

Abstract

The SCP is a body of user-submitted fiction broadly classified as horror and often compared to other user-submitted horror such as Creepypasta. While these comparisons have been made in research and among the SCP community, the SCP seems to function differently than other such sites. Very little research has been done on the SCP and what exists examines it as a work of horror and as an example of emerging online folklore. This thesis further expands upon this research by examining how the unique community participating on the SCP Wiki shapes the text, how the SCP is not just a horror text but an example of digital horror that comments on the modern digital experience, and how and why the SCP and the members of the SCP community rely heavily on end-of-the-world scenarios in their storytelling. The first chapter of this thesis will examine the SCP community through the stories told in the SCP entries and the rules and structure of the SCP Wiki. The following chapters will each examine selected examples of SCP entries to read the text through the lens of digital horror and apocalyptic fiction, respectively. In doing so, this thesis not only provides a better understanding of an under-researched text but uncovers a society's anxieties surrounding online privacy, reliance on digital technology, and the changing means of sharing information. This thesis also draws attention to and provides opportunity for further research focusing on the increasingly prevalent act of audience participation through user-submitted fiction.

Keywords

SCP, SCP Foundation, SCP Wiki, Digital horror, Online horror, User-submitted fiction, Digital transmission, Apocalyptic fiction, Online writing communities, Digital folklore, Data horror

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | English Language and Literature

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

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