Nothing better than a good campfire story.
Photo of SCP-3776 instance, prior to incineration.
Item №: SCP-3776
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: Campgrounds in the Appalachian region of the United States are to be continually monitored for SCP-3776-related activity. Containment is to be performed by Mobile Task Force Eta-11 (“Savage Beasts”).
SCP-3776 instances may not be contacted with bare skin. All instances must be incinerated, and their ashes are to be scattered over [DATA EXPUNGED]. Individuals affected by SCP-3776 are to be interrogated, treated with Class F amnestics, and permanently relocated to a region outside of Appalachia.
Description: SCP-3776 is the collective designation for objects (typically articles of clothing, postcards, or photographs) that, if touched, induce memories of "Camp Nimrod", a summer camp that reputedly operated in Appalachia during the 1970's. Though subjects invariably describe these recollections as being vivid and highly emotionally significant, they cannot describe the camp itself with much detail, nor are they able to recall where it was located, or which year(s) the memories occurred.
SCP-3776 instances commonly manifest in attics or basements, among stored belongings and memorabilia. In the days immediately following contact, subjects find themselves increasingly fixated on the urge to relive Camp Nimrod experiences, resulting in regular trips to local campgrounds, parks, or other wildlife areas. When this proves insufficient, subjects ultimately resort to seeking out the camp itself. [DATA EXPUNGED].
As individual memories generated by SCP-3776 are highly resistant to amnestic care, the only known treatment is the wholesale removal and fabrication of the subject's childhood, followed by relocation from the Appalachian region.
Addendum 3776-1: The following logs are excerpts from interviews performed by Agent Lee Hillerman, as part of a wider investigation into similar anomalous phenomena.
SUBJECT: Penny Reynolds
| HILLERMAN | What did you think of Camp Nimrod, while you were there? |
|---|---|
| REYNOLDS | Oh, I loved it! I was something of a wallflower when I was a child, but that place really helped me break out of my shell. |
| HILLERMAN | In what way? |
| REYNOLDS | All sorts of things. I'd never really been out in nature before Nimrod, and the other girls in my cabin were so kind. But most of all, I think it was… One of the counselors led these big camp singalongs with his guitar every night. I used to be too shy to even sing in the shower, but by the end of the summer I was belting out lyrics without an ounce of shame. Of course, I still wasn't much compared to… |
| Reynolds trails off, eyes briefly unfocusing. | |
| HILLERMAN | Ms. Reynolds? |
| REYNOLDS | I'm sorry, what was I saying? Completely lost my train of thought. |
SUBJECT: Jonathan Clark
| HILLERMAN | Did you ever experience anything at Camp Nimrod that you'd describe as supernatural, paranormal, or inexplicable? |
|---|---|
| CLARK | Hmm. I heard a lot of weird stories, but that's typical at a summer camp, right? Nothing better than a good campfire story. Keeps your mind off all those mosquito bites. |
| HILLERMAN | What sort of stories did you hear? |
| CLARK | Well, there was Hatchet-Hand Henry, he was a dead woodsman with an axe for a hand. They said he went around at night hacking up anyone that broke curfew. And Cabin 13, everyone always said that was cursed or haunted, probably on account of its number. And the counselors were always telling us that the woods was infested with Hidebehinds… |
| Yeah, and there was a little shack right on the edge of camp. The counselors told us it was just a supply shed, but some of the older kids were convinced it was only there to hide the stairs. | |
| HILLERMAN | Stairs? |
| CLARK | To the other camp, under [DATA EXPUNGED]. |
| Clark pauses. | |
| Funny story, actually. One time, I woke up just after dawn to take a leak. When I went outside I saw a… I think it was a woman. | |
| She was all the way up in the sky, over the tips of the pines, and she was sort of… walking up something I couldn't see. I never knew what to make of it. | |
| HILLERMAN | Is that the only supernatural event you experienced? |
| CLARK | What? No, I never saw anything out of the ordinary at Camp Nimrod. |
SUBJECT: Elliot Barton
| HILLERMAN | When you think of Camp Nimrod, do any memories in particular jump out at you? |
|---|---|
| BARTON | Me and a few others snuck out of our cabins some nights. I still think a lot about then. |
| HILLERMAN | You didn't come across any men with hatchets for hands, did you? |
| Barton laughs. | |
| BARTON | No, I don't remember any axe murderers. |
| HILLERMAN | What did you do when you snuck out? |
| BARTON | Usually, we'd get as close as we could to [DATA EXPUNGED] without getting caught. It was easier to hear when it was dark, y'know? |
| HILLERMAN | Easier to hear? |
| BARTON | The music. I mean, everyone could hear it at camp, even when they couldn't, but when you got close at night and really listened hard, you could almost make out some of the words. |
| I don't remember how any of it went but… I remember it was beautiful. |
SUBJECT: Rosa Walker
| HILLERMAN | Why did you decide to seek out Camp Nimrod? |
|---|---|
| WALKER | Because it was better. |
| HILLERMAN | Better than what? |
| Walker shakes her head. | |
| WALKER | All of it. The sun was brighter there. The air was cleaner. The water was more invigorating. The food tasted better. We all loved each other more easily. Nothing hurt quite so much. |
| I… I just need to find it. This summer doesn't have to end if I don't want it to. |
Addendum 3776-2: On September 18th, 2005, Foundation personnel intercepted reports of an unidentified individual claiming to be a former Nimrod camp counselor (Person of Interest 3776) entering Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia.
Agent Hillerman, accompanied by Agent McNamara and Agent Pace of MTF Eta-11, made contact with PoI-3776 in the Red Creek Campground on September 20th, 2005. In anticipation of potential audio cognitohazards, MTF Eta-11 operatives were equipped with sophisticated noise-cancelling equipment and were instructed to nonfatally incapacitate Agent Hillerman if he became compromised.
The following footage was recovered from Agent Hillerman's bodycam.
Incident Log 3776-04
| It is night. PoI-3776 is hunched over on a crude log bench, staring into a campfire. He appears to have sustained a number of superficial injuries. His clothes are dirty and disheveled. | |
| Agent McNamara, Agent Pace, and Agent Hillerman approach. | |
| HILLERMAN | Excuse me, sir? My name is Lee, I'm a ranger with the US Forest Service. |
| Agent Hillerman steps forward and sits on a log bench across from PoI-3776. | |
| Do you have a moment to answer a few questions? | |
| POI-3776 | <unintelligible mumbling> |
| HILLERMAN | I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. Can you speak up? What's your name? |
| PoI-3776 shakes his head, continuing to stare into the fire. | |
| POI-3776 | Burned, boiled away <unintelligible>. |
| HILLERMAN | What? |
| POI-3776 | Couldn't hear us <unintelligible>, 'til it went up in smoke. We made <unintelligible> and called it "camp." Called. Call. You can't call your parents, sweetie. |
| HILLERMAN | Are you talking about Camp Nimrod? Do you remember going there? |
| POI-3776 | We took the little ones and taught them <unintelligible>. Told them terrible stories. Bad songs, to <unintelligible> like s'mores. |
| PoI-3776 begins to silently weep. | |
| S'mores. Some. More. Some. <unintelligible> More. We had to. We didn't know. | |
| In the background, a child with a heavily disfigured face emerges from the darkness. Agent Hillerman does not appear to notice this. | |
| HILLERMAN | Sir, can you hear me? Do you understand anything I'm saying? |
| POI-3776 | I still see it, behind <unintelligible>. Drowns like a dream. Don't you want to hear a campfire story? |
| HILLERMAN | Sir, my friends and I are going to take you to a place where you can get some help, is that okay with you? |
| Agent Hillerman stands and makes a gesture indicating that PoI-3776 is to be taken into custody. Nothing happens. | |
| POI-3776 | Up in smoke. |
| Agent Hillerman turns, discovering that Agent McNamara and Agent Pace are gone. He draws his sidearm. | |
| HILLERMAN | <speaking into radio> We need backup, McNamara and Pace just disappeared into thin air! |
| Agent Hillerman points his sidearm at PoI-3776, who remains motionless. More children without facial features come into view, moving silently. | |
| Where are they!? | |
| PoI-3776's head slowly turns to look at Agent Hillerman for the first time. His tear-streaked eyes glint in the firelight like an animal's. | |
| POI-3776 | Summer is over. I think we're going to have a great year. |
| Agent Hillerman's bodycam ceases functioning. |
Reinforcements arrived 102 minutes after Agent Hillerman's bodycam ceased operation. During the ensuing search, the remains of an acoustic guitar were discovered in PoI-3776's campfire. The word "Syncope" was etched into its neck.
Agent Hillerman was found in the woods surrounding Red Creek Campground 18 hours later, severely dehydrated and trying to cut off his left hand with his own pocket knife. He was forcibly sedated by MTF Eta-11 and transported to a Foundation medical facility, where he received emergency care. Upon waking, Agent Hillerman claimed not to have any memory of events following his arrival at Monongahela National Forest.
Agent McNamara and Agent Pace have been declared missing in action. Investigation into a possible correlation between SCP-3776 and unsolved missing children cases in Appalachia is currently underway.