Captain Tom - Death of the Author

Victim of SCP-4778 preparing for trial after being accused of rape. (See Instance 4778-4)

Item #: SCP-4778

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: MTF Iota-40 "Bookworms" are to be immediately informed of any literary works to be published at least two (2) months beforehand. To ensure the Foundation is aware of any potential instances of SCP-4778, operatives have been placed inside numerous influential publishing companies, including but not limited to Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster, as well as the Association of American Publishers.

After the to-be-published literature is properly reviewed and deemed potentially dangerous by personnel with level 02 minimum clearance (Due to the scope of SCP-4778, personnel with level 02 clearance are permitted to use an automated program when reviewing if necessary), Foundation agents have a one (1) hour window to execute the following standard protocol:

Agents are to acquire expected victims as soon as 1 - 10 minutes after the release of the work deemed dangerous. After the expected victim is acquired, agents have a 50 minute window to deliver them to a secure Foundation facility. During the delivery process, the expected victim is not to come into no contact with any anomalous creature or item currently contained by the Foundation.

The expected victim is to be placed in a standard holding cell until exactly twenty four (24) hours after the initial publishing of their work. Prior to release, they are to be administered a 75 milligram (mg) dose of class-B amnestics.

(Should the literary work attributed to the expected victim explore themes of prison, solitude, or isolation, they shall be instead placed under house arrest.)

Description: SCP-4778 refers to an instance where the author of a recently published text is killed, attacked or injured on grounds relating to that published text.

Victims of SCP-4778 portray no similar physical traits, originally making containment of the anomaly after the first recorded case of SCP-4778 extremely difficult. The literary works published by victims of SCP-4778 are often of the horror genre, though exceptions have occurred (See instance 4778-4). The contents of the works are often violent in nature.

SCP-4778's first suspected instance was recorded in 1██3, when ███████████████ was reportedly mauled and mutilated by a wild pack of wolves within the city of New York. The absurdity of the encounter warranted Foundation investigation. Due to [DATA EXPUNGED] and a lack of a corpse or significant blood, as well as the reliance on witness testimony, Foundation agents dismissed the reported incident. SCP-4778 was classified after Instance 4778-2 (See instance 4778-2).

Confirmed instances of SCP-4778 usually match, in some way or another, the contents of its victims literary works. SCP-4778 instances consistently have one target- terminating the author of its original work. The way instances of SCP-4778 go about terminating the author is violent in nature, and often similar to deaths described in the original literary work.

Autopsies of the entities manifested by SCP-4778 has only deepened the Foundation's lack of understanding regard SCP-4778's anomalous abilities. Some manifested entities lack vital functioning organs, others lacking bones and ████████████████████████. Manifested entities dissipate after 24 hours.

Confirmed Instances of SCP-4778

Instance 4778-2

Victim(s): Shirley Jackson

Year: June 26th, 1948

Details: Jackson was gruesomely killed after her neighbors threw a barrage of hard rocks at her. The pummeling continued for 30 minutes after her death.

Instance 4778-3

Victim(s): Robert Bloch

Year: April 10th, 1959

Details: Victim was found decapitated within his shower. A common butcher's knife applied blunt force to the neck and digestive track. Cut marks on Bloch's hands signify a short bout of resistance. While fingerprints were found at the scene, none matched any in the Foundation's database.

Note: While 'Psycho' was approved in the review process, a scheduling error delayed MTF intervention.

Instance 4778-4

Victim(s): Harper Lee

Year: July 12th, 1960 - █████ ██th, 1961

Details: Six (6) Hours following the release of 'To Kill a Mockingbird', a woman claiming to be named █████████████ manifested outside the Monroeville Police Station and claimed Lee had sexually assaulted her. After a grueling trial, the gathered jury declared Lee guilty unanimously despite the lack of sufficient evidence. Following 05 Approval, the town of Monroeville, along with Lee were administered Class-G amnestics. Court records, along with the woman, were confiscated by the Foundation for future research.

Note: 'To Kill a Mockingbird' was placed under review, but was deemed not violent enough to warrant a SCP-4778 manifestation. Following Instance 4778-4, review procedures have been made more strict.

Instance 4778-5

Victim(s): Anthony and Llewela Burgess

Year: ████████, 1962

Details: The victim was murdered along with his wife in what local authorities suspected to be a robbery, however fingerprints found at the scene did not match any in the Foundation database.

Addendum 4778-1: Due to the lack of recorded instances following Instance 4778-5, it has been suggested that SCP-4778 be reclassified as neutralized. This request has thus far been denied.