SCP-2571
Cragglewood Park
Connected to: SCP-437
Artistic rendition of a tree featured in SCP-2571 ("The Old Craggle Tree").
Special Containment Procedures
A Foundation-operated bot (I/O-MANDELA) is to monitor online communities for discussions regarding SCP-2571. MTF Phi-7 ("The Laughingstock") is to investigate these discussions and make a determination for appropriate action on a case-by-case basis.
Description
SCP-2571 is a recurring childhood memory of a non-existent theme-park ('Cragglewood Park'). It is estimated that 0.05% of the world's population is affected by SCP-2571; however, recent evidence suggests this number may be growing. The primary vector for SCP-2571's spread is not yet known — notably, it appears to be most common among adults raised as an only child.
Afflicted subjects are initially responsive to amnestics, but memories regarding Cragglewood will typically resurface once treatment ceases. Although descriptions of these memories vary, several details remain consistent:
- Subjects were between the age of 4 and 12 when they visited.
- The park featured numerous characters, primarily centered around anthropomorphic variants of trees and plants.
- No adult supervision was present.
- Calliope music played throughout the park.
- Subjects attended the park with numerous other children, none of whom they knew.
- The park featured only one ride; a carousel (or 'merry-go-round'). Although children accompanying the subjects boarded this ride, the subjects themselves did not.
Investigations regarding the precise nature of both SCP-2571 and Cragglewood Park are ongoing.
INTERVIEW LOG
DATE: 2002/11/16
INTERVIEWER: Dr. Reiner
SUBJECT: Rupert Duccasoux
[BEGIN LOG]
REINER: What do you recall about 'Cragglewood Park'?
SUBJECT: Jesus. Is that what this is about? It's just this nightmare I used to have.
REINER: Can you elaborate?
SUBJECT: I mean, I think it's — it's probably based on some actual theme-park I went to as a little kid, y'know? Probably traumatized the shit out of me.
REINER: What happens in the nightmare?
SUBJECT: I enter this theme-park. It's like Disneyland, but smaller. There's no rides; just this long, winding road through the woods. Everything's bright and colorful, like in a cartoon. And there's these trees all around me, but…
REINER: Tell me about the trees.
SUBJECT: They've all got faces. And they're singing. They've got these dopey, cheerful looks, like in one of those old time cartoons, right? And they just sing and laugh and sing.
REINER: Can you tell me anything else?
SUBJECT: There's this music that's playing everywhere. It's like organ music, but not the kind you hear in a church. More like the sort you might hear in a carnival.
REINER: You mentioned before that there aren't any rides.
SUBJECT: Uh, no, wait. No, I'm wrong. There's rides — there's one ride. Just one ride. It's that thing with horses that goes around in circles. You know what I'm talking about?
REINER: A carousel.
SUBJECT: Right. That thing. It's where the organ music is coming from.
REINER: Were you there alone?
SUBJECT: No. There's other kids with me. They're not happy to be there, either. We're all smiling and laughing, but we're just doing it to stop ourselves from crying, y'know? To fool the trees. So the trees don't see how scared we are. To keep the trees happy.
REINER: Keep them happy?
SUBJECT: Yeah.
REINER: Is there anything else you can tell us?
SUBJECT: Um, fuck. I don't know. I haven't dreamed about this place in ages. Uh, I think… There's one bit, near the end.
REINER: Please, relax. Take as much time as you need.
(Subject closes his eyes.)
SUBJECT: Just as I'm getting ready to leave, I see something. A tiny tree, sprouting up near my foot. It looks up at me. It's smiling, smiling with that big, dopey, happy grin. When I see it, that's when I start screaming. That's when I wake up.
REINER: Why does that tree make you scream?
(Subject opens his eyes.)
SUBJECT: Because it has my face.
[END LOG]
INTERVIEW LOG
DATE: 2003/02/09
INTERVIEWER: Dr. Reiner
SUBJECT: Janine Yearling
[BEGIN LOG]
REINER: Did you ever ride the carousel?
SUBJECT: What? Hell no. Are you crazy?
REINER: What happened when you reached it, then?
SUBJECT: Some of the kids got on. Not me, though. The ones who did — some of them were smiling, some of them were crying. Some of them hugged the ones who didn't get on. Some of them hugged each other.
REINER: What happened then?
SUBJECT: They rode the carousel. Then we left.
REINER: What happened to them?
SUBJECT: (irritated) How should I know? We left.
REINER: You left them behind?
SUBJECT: (increasingly irritated) Yes, we left them behind. What, you think we should have stuck around? See how this was all going to turn out?
REINER: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to accuse you of anything. You were just a child. No one would have expected you to—
SUBJECT: That's right, I was just a goddamn child in the middle of a goddamn nightmare, and I — I just —
(Subject shakes her head.)
SUBJECT: I just, you have no idea what even talking about this is doing to me, or how it's making me feel. I don't want to talk about it. I just want to forget it. Why can't you just let us — let us —
(Subject begins to sob.)
SUBJECT: I'm sorry, I just —
REINER: You don't need to apologize, Ms. Yearling. You've clearly gone through a deeply traumatizing experience.
(Subject continues to sob.)
SUBJECT: I just, I just, I don't understand.
REINER: I can't imagine you would. Nothing about this experience makes much sense.
SUBJECT: (choked sobs) Not that, it isn't that. It's just…
REINER: What is it?
SUBJECT: One of the kids. One of the kids that got on.
REINER: Yes?
SUBJECT: Why? Why did he hug me? I didn't — I don't even know who he was —
(Subject sobs harder.)
[END LOG]
INTERVIEW LOG
DATE: 2004/06/12
INTERVIEWER: Dr. Reiner
SUBJECT: Randolph Blair
[BEGIN LOG]
REINER: I'd like to talk to you about the video cassette.
SUBJECT: Christ.
REINER: I understand that this is —
SUBJECT: You people just don't get it. I don't want to discuss any of this with you. Fuck. I shouldn't have told my therapist any of this, that fucking bitch —
REINER: Please, Mr. Blair. I need you to focus.
SUBJECT: (sighing) Get on with it.
REINER: This cassette. Where did you get it from?
SUBJECT: I don't know. I don't fucking know. I found it in my attic when I was cleaning shit out. I thought it was just an old copy of Ghostbusters or something.
REINER: Do you recognize any of the images on it?
SUBJECT: I don't know. Yeah. From nightmares. Bullshit like that. Maybe someone showed me the tape as a kid.
REINER: Have you lived in this house your whole life?
SUBJECT: Yeah.
REINER: You were raised in this house by your parents?
SUBJECT: Yeah. This going somewhere?
REINER: The front bedroom —
SUBJECT: Look, I don't want to talk about this shit, okay?
REINER: I understand. But we need to understand what's going on, Mr. Blair. Why is the front bedroom —
SUBJECT: I don't know. I don't fucking know. It's always just had shit in it. But nobody uses it. That's why I keep it locked, okay? I don't think about it.
REINER: I understand, Mr. Blair. I just need to ask —
SUBJECT: Are we done?
REINER: I just need to ask one more question.
SUBJECT: Whatever.
REINER: Mr. Blair, have you always been an only child?
(Subject refuses to respond.)
[END LOG]
NOTE: The subject has refused to conduct any additional interviews.
Addendum 2571.2: Video Log
VIDEO LOG
DATE: 2004/06/10
NOTE: The following log describes the contents of a mini video cassette found in the possession of Randolph Blair. The word 'CRAGGLEWOOD' is written across its label in black felt tip marker.
00:23
[BEGIN LOG]
[00:01]: (Heavy breathing.)
[00:05]: Shaky image of a gravel path heading through a forested region.
[00:10]: (Distant calliope music.)
[00:21]: View swivels to focus on other children walking down the path; some move hand in hand.
[00:32]: View points toward the gravel.
[00:36]: (Quiet sobbing.)
[00:39]: VOICE 1: (whispering) I'm scared.
[00:41]: VOICE 2: (whispering) Shhh. It's okay. It's okay. Don't cry. You have to smile. You have to.
[00:55]: (Distant singing.)
[00:58]: VOICE 2: (whispering) Smile. Smile, please, just, smile, we'll be okay I promise, I'll take care of —
[01:02]: Static.
01:09
[01:09]: Blurred images.
[01:10]: (Distorted singing and calliope music.)
[01:15]: (Deep, cheerful laughter.)
[01:20]: (Singing and music intensify.)
[01:25]: VOICE 2: (whispering) Oh, God.
[01:26]: Static.
[01:30]: Approximately a dozen children are standing around a carousel.
[01:32]: VOICE 1: (whispering) What's happening?
[01:35]: VOICE 2: (whispering) Sh, just…
[01:39]: (Singing intensifies.)
[01:42]: VOICE 2: (whispering) Oh, God.
[01:45]: VOICE 1: (whispering) What are they — what are they —
[01:48]: VOICE 2: (whispering) Listen, you have to —
[01:52]: View lowers to the gravel.
[01:58]: VOICE 2: I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You have to go. You have to —
[02:01]: VOICE 1: No! You aren't —
[02:05]: (Singing intensifies. Sounds of children sobbing can be heard.)
[02:08]: VOICE 2: Go, please, I'm sorry, I'll be okay, just —
[02:12]: Static.
[02:20]: View bobs frantically, racing down a forest path.
[02:21]: (Heavy breathing.)
[02:22]: (Distant singing.)
[02:25]: VOICE 1: (whispering) No, no, no, no —
02:42
[02:30]: View lunges up, then drops to the ground. The view is now centered on a face.
[02:35]: VOICE 1: (sobbing) No, no, no, please no, please no —
[02:38]: The face looks up and smiles.
[02:41]: VOICE 1: (sobbing) No no no —
[02:42]" id="">Addendum 2571.1: Interview Logs
INTERVIEW LOG
DATE: 2002/11/16
INTERVIEWER: Dr. Reiner
SUBJECT: Rupert Duccasoux
[BEGIN LOG]
REINER: What do you recall about 'Cragglewood Park'?
SUBJECT: Jesus. Is that what this is about? It's just this nightmare I used to have.
REINER: Can you elaborate?
SUBJECT: I mean, I think it's — it's probably based on some actual theme-park I went to as a little kid, y'know? Probably traumatized the shit out of me.
REINER: What happens in the nightmare?
SUBJECT: I enter this theme-park. It's like Disneyland, but smaller. There's no rides; just this long, winding road through the woods. Everything's bright and colorful, like in a cartoon. And there's these trees all around me, but…
REINER: Tell me about the trees.
SUBJECT: They've all got faces. And they're singing. They've got these dopey, cheerful looks, like in one of those old time cartoons, right? And they just sing and laugh and sing.
REINER: Can you tell me anything else?
SUBJECT: There's this music that's playing everywhere. It's like organ music, but not the kind you hear in a church. More like the sort you might hear in a carnival.
REINER: You mentioned before that there aren't any rides.
SUBJECT: Uh, no, wait. No, I'm wrong. There's rides — there's one ride. Just one ride. It's that thing with horses that goes around in circles. You know what I'm talking about?
REINER: A carousel.
SUBJECT: Right. That thing. It's where the organ music is coming from.
REINER: Were you there alone?
SUBJECT: No. There's other kids with me. They're not happy to be there, either. We're all smiling and laughing, but we're just doing it to stop ourselves from crying, y'know? To fool the trees. So the trees don't see how scared we are. To keep the trees happy.
REINER: Keep them happy?
SUBJECT: Yeah.
REINER: Is there anything else you can tell us?
SUBJECT: Um, fuck. I don't know. I haven't dreamed about this place in ages. Uh, I think… There's one bit, near the end.
REINER: Please, relax. Take as much time as you need.
(Subject closes his eyes.)
SUBJECT: Just as I'm getting ready to leave, I see something. A tiny tree, sprouting up near my foot. It looks up at me. It's smiling, smiling with that big, dopey, happy grin. When I see it, that's when I start screaming. That's when I wake up.
REINER: Why does that tree make you scream?
(Subject opens his eyes.)
SUBJECT: Because it has my face.
[END LOG]
INTERVIEW LOG
DATE: 2003/02/09
INTERVIEWER: Dr. Reiner
SUBJECT: Janine Yearling
[BEGIN LOG]
REINER: Did you ever ride the carousel?
SUBJECT: What? Hell no. Are you crazy?
REINER: What happened when you reached it, then?
SUBJECT: Some of the kids got on. Not me, though. The ones who did — some of them were smiling, some of them were crying. Some of them hugged the ones who didn't get on. Some of them hugged each other.
REINER: What happened then?
SUBJECT: They rode the carousel. Then we left.
REINER: What happened to them?
SUBJECT: (irritated) How should I know? We left.
REINER: You left them behind?
SUBJECT: (increasingly irritated) Yes, we left them behind. What, you think we should have stuck around? See how this was all going to turn out?
REINER: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to accuse you of anything. You were just a child. No one would have expected you to—
SUBJECT: That's right, I was just a goddamn child in the middle of a goddamn nightmare, and I — I just —
(Subject shakes her head.)
SUBJECT: I just, you have no idea what even talking about this is doing to me, or how it's making me feel. I don't want to talk about it. I just want to forget it. Why can't you just let us — let us —
(Subject begins to sob.)
SUBJECT: I'm sorry, I just —
REINER: You don't need to apologize, Ms. Yearling. You've clearly gone through a deeply traumatizing experience.
(Subject continues to sob.)
SUBJECT: I just, I just, I don't understand.
REINER: I can't imagine you would. Nothing about this experience makes much sense.
SUBJECT: (choked sobs) Not that, it isn't that. It's just…
REINER: What is it?
SUBJECT: One of the kids. One of the kids that got on.
REINER: Yes?
SUBJECT: Why? Why did he hug me? I didn't — I don't even know who he was —
(Subject sobs harder.)
[END LOG]
INTERVIEW LOG
DATE: 2004/06/12
INTERVIEWER: Dr. Reiner
SUBJECT: Randolph Blair
[BEGIN LOG]
REINER: I'd like to talk to you about the video cassette.
SUBJECT: Christ.
REINER: I understand that this is —
SUBJECT: You people just don't get it. I don't want to discuss any of this with you. Fuck. I shouldn't have told my therapist any of this, that fucking bitch —
REINER: Please, Mr. Blair. I need you to focus.
SUBJECT: (sighing) Get on with it.
REINER: This cassette. Where did you get it from?
SUBJECT: I don't know. I don't fucking know. I found it in my attic when I was cleaning shit out. I thought it was just an old copy of Ghostbusters or something.
REINER: Do you recognize any of the images on it?
SUBJECT: I don't know. Yeah. From nightmares. Bullshit like that. Maybe someone showed me the tape as a kid.
REINER: Have you lived in this house your whole life?
SUBJECT: Yeah.
REINER: You were raised in this house by your parents?
SUBJECT: Yeah. This going somewhere?
REINER: The front bedroom —
SUBJECT: Look, I don't want to talk about this shit, okay?
REINER: I understand. But we need to understand what's going on, Mr. Blair. Why is the front bedroom —
SUBJECT: I don't know. I don't fucking know. It's always just had shit in it. But nobody uses it. That's why I keep it locked, okay? I don't think about it.
REINER: I understand, Mr. Blair. I just need to ask —
SUBJECT: Are we done?
REINER: I just need to ask one more question.
SUBJECT: Whatever.
REINER: Mr. Blair, have you always been an only child?
(Subject refuses to respond.)
[END LOG]
NOTE: The subject has refused to conduct any additional interviews.
Addendum 2571.2: Video Log
VIDEO LOG
DATE: 2004/06/10
NOTE: The following log describes the contents of a mini video cassette found in the possession of Randolph Blair. The word 'CRAGGLEWOOD' is written across its label in black felt tip marker.
00:23
[BEGIN LOG]
[00:01]: (Heavy breathing.)
[00:05]: Shaky image of a gravel path heading through a forested region.
[00:10]: (Distant calliope music.)
[00:21]: View swivels to focus on other children walking down the path; some move hand in hand.
[00:32]: View points toward the gravel.
[00:36]: (Quiet sobbing.)
[00:39]: VOICE 1: (whispering) I'm scared.
[00:41]: VOICE 2: (whispering) Shhh. It's okay. It's okay. Don't cry. You have to smile. You have to.
[00:55]: (Distant singing.)
[00:58]: VOICE 2: (whispering) Smile. Smile, please, just, smile, we'll be okay I promise, I'll take care of —
[01:02]: Static.
01:09
[01:09]: Blurred images.
[01:10]: (Distorted singing and calliope music.)
[01:15]: (Deep, cheerful laughter.)
[01:20]: (Singing and music intensify.)
[01:25]: VOICE 2: (whispering) Oh, God.
[01:26]: Static.
[01:30]: Approximately a dozen children are standing around a carousel.
[01:32]: VOICE 1: (whispering) What's happening?
[01:35]: VOICE 2: (whispering) Sh, just…
[01:39]: (Singing intensifies.)
[01:42]: VOICE 2: (whispering) Oh, God.
[01:45]: VOICE 1: (whispering) What are they — what are they —
[01:48]: VOICE 2: (whispering) Listen, you have to —
[01:52]: View lowers to the gravel.
[01:58]: VOICE 2: I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You have to go. You have to —
[02:01]: VOICE 1: No! You aren't —
[02:05]: (Singing intensifies. Sounds of children sobbing can be heard.)
[02:08]: VOICE 2: Go, please, I'm sorry, I'll be okay, just —
[02:12]: Static.
[02:20]: View bobs frantically, racing down a forest path.
[02:21]: (Heavy breathing.)
[02:22]: (Distant singing.)
[02:25]: VOICE 1: (whispering) No, no, no, no —
02:42
[02:30]: View lunges up, then drops to the ground. The view is now centered on a face.
[02:35]: VOICE 1: (sobbing) No, no, no, please no, please no —
[02:38]: The face looks up and smiles.
[02:41]: VOICE 1: (sobbing) No no no —
[02:42] (VOICE 2 begins to sing.)
[END LOG]