I'm new here, but I've been reading through the site for a couple weeks. Somehow this thing lodged itself in my skull. I figured I might as well get it written out and see if it's found worthy. It's just a first draft, but I'd really like to know if I'm even going the right direction with it.
Hey there, welcome aboard!
I think this idea has some potential, with some work. I really didn't like SCP-####-3. It came out of nowhere, and seemed like shoe-horning a traditional scary monster into an article that wasn't otherwise about that. (I'd also like to propose that part of why spiders are scary is that they have weird unfamiliar shapes- that is, a humanoid spider is actually *less* scary than a normal spider.)
I'm also uncertain about SCP-####-4- spiders combining to make a larger spider, is… potentially doable. But the transformation there bears elaborating on, since that's weird. Can a small amount of spiders come together to make a smaller big spider?
The connection with arachnophobia isn't bad, but I think just making arachnophobics more scared isn't enough (objects that instill some kind of emotion in people who interact with them are very hard to write well.) Suppose they're attracted to them instead? Or something that plays off the hivemind- maybe it makes them smarter?
The hivemind bit is interesting. Maybe expand on that- read about collective intelligence, swarm behavior, or even grexes (when an amoeba goes from independent movement to forming a sort of roving collective group- not sure how relevant, but might have some neat concepts to draw from.) See what else you can do with that idea.
There's some ideas, I think your first steps will be refining the concept. There's some phrasing stuff too, but the concept ought to take precedence.
(Oh, and a more minor note- consider not using black widows. A, they're a very well-known spider that's mostly scary because it's venomous- but if you're an arachnophobe and there's a sentient herd of spiders, the scary part isn't venom, it's too many spiders. B, and I think a very good reason, is spiders sometimes naturally form groups, and if you find a creative commons image of a spider swarm, you can use it in the article.)
(Edit: Also, consider: If you make the spiders Brazilian Wandering Spiders (you could include a picture of one as a single instance, if so), the list title could be Bazillion Wandering Spiders. If you don't use that, I might.)
Thanks for the advice. I'll keep working on the idea. You've given me quite a bit to go on to make improvements.
And as far as 3….well he made a lot more sense a week ago when I first came up with the idea and before I started refining it. After reading what you have to say and thinking about it again, 3 does sort of feel tacked on. He was sort of central to the idea I started with, but at this point the concept has evolved so that he's really not needed anymore.
I've made some pretty major revisions to this based on the advice Sophia Light gave me.
First, the original SCP-####-3 is gone and SCP-####-4 has replaced it. I expanded upon how it feeds and how it forms the giant spider as well.
I didn't go with the Brazilian Wandering Spider idea because I wanted SCP-####-1 to be a freakishly large example of a normally small species but still no bigger than a normal large species that someone might keep as a pet. SCP-####-2 should normal sized examples of the species and be small enough to hide unseen in the nooks and crannies of a building. A normal sized Brazilian Wandering Spider at 10cm is too big for that idea to work.
I will be looking for a spider picture, but I haven't gotten a chance yet.