From serial killers that turn entire cities into their hunting ground, to murderous clowns that feed on children, to creatures from the depths of space that can erase humans with just a waking thought, horror is often filled to the brim with terrifying, absurd, and at times realistic monsters. Characters or archetypes that have been around since humans started telling each other stories, characters that portray humanity's fears, desires, and tragic endings. Sometimes these monsters aren't flesh, other times they only exist within our psyche, but monsters have been a big part of our stories, myths, and legends. What makes these horrors such an integral aspect of storytelling? It's a question that many will have different answers to. There are many aspects to horror that can be enjoyed by different individuals, but I believe there's one element of horror that is often overlooked, one that I believe is maybe the biggest strength of horror, an element which I believe is best represented by the tale of the SCP Foundation. The SCP Foundation is a fictional organization with the goal of capturing and containing paranormal entities, locations, and other supernatural phenomena, or anomalies, as they call them. The world of the Foundation is extremely cold and hostile towards humanity as a whole, containing many anomalies that kill, mutilate, or otherwise endanger humanity, and cruel, absurd, and oftentimes impossible ways. From scattered gods to parasitic aliens and thoughts that can end the world, the world of the Foundation is utterly uncaring towards humanity's survival, and humanity has ended several times already. There are uncountable monsters in the SCP database, but to be honest, there are more monsters and other works of fiction as well. So why would I declare a boring paperwork hell such as the SCP Foundation is one of the best strengths of the horror genre? Please let me explain. As I said, the SCP Universe has horrors that go beyond human imagination. SCP-46-66 is a creature that abducts children during Christmas and turns them into toys through brutal practices, forcing other kids to help, or else they become the toys. SCP-35-15 is a painting that causes humans to be buried alive, forcing them to dig up until they perish, after which they're forced to restart. And one of the SCP-001 files describes an event where the Sun kills 6.8 billion people, and turns them into monstrous amalgamations of flesh and misery. So how is this any different from any other tragedy? For many other murder monster or thing that kills you? Why would this showcase one of horror's greatest strengths? That's because it's not about the SCP. It's about what happened after. The SCP Foundation shows a different side of horror, one that is often overlooked in the favor of larger than life monsters and serial killers. Hope and Perseverance It lies with the SCP Foundation itself, or rather, the humans in charge of it. Although the child abducting creature is a savage monster, Foundation personnel have not only discovered its existence after it operated in the dark for many years, but they also work on locating its hideout, and most likely are working on plans to contain it. The painting that buries people has been contained by the Foundation and stored in a place where it won't harm people. It's being guarded and its existence has kept a secret, so that normal civilians will not have to live in fear of anomalies. And the SCP-001 file where the Sun indiscriminately eradicates most of humanity? The Foundation has survived, and is working on ensuring humanity's survival, albeit in the dark instead of the light. Taking to the stars instead of digging in. Because in the end, humanity is still standing to keep on fighting. That's the beauty of horror and the beauty of the SCP Foundation. Not the monsters, but the empowerment of simple humans that face the monster like you and me, with all their flaws. All the researchers, MTFs and agents are in the end able to overcome humanity's demons and contain them with knowledge, determination, and faith in themselves. In the end, knowledge is so much more powerful than fear. Sure, they screw up. Sometimes they screw up really, really badly. But in the end, the Foundation is still standing and still fighting. The files are still in the database, proving that no matter how bad the threat is, someone at the Foundation still had enough presence of mind to share this knowledge, so others can keep fighting for a brighter future. Sometimes the world itself can be described as a horror. We live in a cold and endless universe that does not care if humanity perishes. As we looked to the stars, we learned that we are insignificant beings, only a blip on the radar of a universe that is fated to die forever. But even closer to home, horror is all around us. Enough monsters masquerade as humans in our society, but even if we take away the killers, at any moment all of us could suffer a heart attack or lose a loved one to a disease. The world is random, and there are many threats in the future, we as a whole will have to tackle. But we are still here. After 7000 years, we are still here and have gone farther than our ancestors could have ever imagined. The night started as the hour of the predators, but now we are the predators. We used to burn books, afraid of information, but now we created the biggest network of information known to man. We used to belong to the gods, but now we build our own homes up there. This aspect is what I love about the SCP Foundation. The SCP Wiki is not a horror story. It's a story of perseverance, a cathartic tale of hope, humanism, and its horror done right. It shows that in the end humanity is able to overcome evil. Humanity can secure world peace, put the devil inside a containment chamber, and protect ourselves from a hostile future. The SCP Wiki is one of my favorite pieces of literature. It's a story about you, a story about me, a story about all of us. It's the story of humanity. So, if you reached this far, thanks for watching the video, and I hope it wasn't too awful. It's something of a passion project and I wanted to express my opinion on the Wiki and the amazing authors on it. Again, thank you.