“Does The Black Moon Howl?” is a memetic catchphrase & community shibboleth both in-universe and out-of-universe at the SCP Wiki that is commonly associated with elevated ranks and security clearances. The phrase is seen in numerous SCPs, mostly as the signal initiation of a code or passphrase, to which authors vary the given answer.^[1]https://archive.vn/z2Kfl The phrase’s meaning is not established per canon, and differs depending on author preference.^[2]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-5468586/does-the-black-moon-howl^[3]https://archive.vn/mzFVO It is and has been a loved phrase for its crypticness and evocativeness since its inception in SCP-256 in 2008.^[4]e.g., https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-402809/thaumiel#post-1286470^[5]https://archive.ph/QNbYp#selection-6509.134-6509.159

As of 2012, it is the motto for the O5 Command WikiDot; the SCP Wiki staff forum.^[6]https://05command.wikidot.com/ On July 22, 2012 WikiDot user, SCP author, and Administrator TroyL modified the O5 Command front page to replace the header text “Welcome to the O5 Command” with “Does the Black Moon Howl?”.^[7]https://05command.wikidot.com/, see rev. 7 & 8 From this date until Feb 16, 2017, the main page of O5 Command was used exclusively to collect humorous answers to the phrase.^[8]https://05command.wikidot.com/, see rev. 78^[9]https://web.archive.org/web/20170210140300/https://05command.wikidot.com/

“The Black Moon” is commonly alluded to in countless SCP articles, and at times is presented as a more defined character, usually as a cosmic antagonist.^[10]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-4002^[11]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/tanhony-s-proposal-ii^[12]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-5284^[13]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-7070^[14]https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Black_Moon#Biography

Trivia & Quotes

On /x/, the creator of the phrase said the following:

“I HAD done a similar “story”(ie, computer terminal log) that explained the purpose of the Black Moon Howls, but the thread had gotten deleted.

:(“^[15]https://archive.ph/QNbYp#selection-7897.0-7897.279

The above thread has not been located.

In 2014, a then-member of the SCP Wiki rewrite team submitted SCP-256, the article that initially introduced the phrase, for a review and potential rewrite. In the argument in favor of, the staff member cited the use of the phrase “Does the Black Moon Howl?” as part of its appeal, without recognizing it was the original.^[16]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-76884/scp-256#post-2107873

“”Does the Black Moon Howl” used to be chilling. Now, for me, all it conjures up are images of that Three Wolf Moon t-shirt. It is a laughably overused meme, both in and out of universe. If we got some context as to what the hell it actually meant, then I might actually care about it… DTBMH became so ubiquitous that they turned it into a joke. After reading half the responses on there, I could never take it seriously again.” — Ihp^[17]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-76884/scp-256#post-2107878

SCP-2000 helped to re-popularize the Thaumiel object class.

Wikidot author TroyL is helped re-popularize the phrase, via his Project Thaumiel hub/tale-series (2011— ). This hub starts out with an in-universe terminal console with input attempts to answer the question “Does the Black Moon Howl?”^[18]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/thaumiel In the discussion section, and according to the author, DrEverettMann recommended the phrase be included in the passphrase/password attempts, calling the exclusion of it from the original take a missed opportunity.^[19]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-402809/thaumiel