【Watch The Fearless Online】

This is Watch The Fearless OnlineAn Ode to..., a weekly column where we share the stuff we're really into in hopes that you'll be really into it, too.

If you love urban legends and creepy internet creatures, look no further than The SCP Foundation, a website dedicated to collecting information on supernatural creatures, events, and objects.

The site, which launched in 2008, is set up like a top-secret government database, requiring navigation through several pages in order to find specific entries. It's accumulated more than 4,000 unique supernatural files, and what's really cool is that all of the entries come from fans.

That's right: Any and all entries come from the minds of creative contributors and shouldn't be taken at face value.

Here's how it works: Users on the site write up their monster or object by describing its appearance, abilities, and other relevant details. Users then submit their creature to administrators on the site who review the monster and make changes if necessary. Afterward, the user's monster is converted into SCP style, which is reminiscent of a top-secret data file.

An SCP-approved entity or object is then assigned a case number, which is usually labeled as SCP-#####. The entry gets its own slot, where it can be rated by other members, among the thousands of other files on the site.

Before the SCP Foundation, there wasn't really a single site dedicated to collecting and archiving this kind of information — most of it remained in obscure forums and threads on 4chan and Reddit. However, once the SCP Foundation came about, creepypastas and internet urban legends found a permanent home where they would be memorialized forever.

Some entries seem to come from monsters that have already existed on the internet. Take SCP-582, which is strongly based off the very popular Slender Man creature that came from 4chan in the early 2010s. However, entities like SCP-173, a terrifying creature of unknown origin made entirely of concrete that kills anything that comes in contact with it, are entirely original.

To add a layer of authenticity, the entries are written out like a case file that contains observation notes, a threat meter, and sometimes experimentation notes. There's a YouTube channel called The Exploring Series that thoroughly examines SCP entries in-depth, all while helping break down some of the sci-fi jargon that may be in a entry file.

The SCP Foundation and is still accepting submissions to fill their fifth set of entries, which will include files for entries 4000-4999. If you want to flex your creative muscle, take a look at the site, and see if you can come up with a horrific entity or object that will keep readers up for nights.