What is going on with the viral Cat in the Hat TikTok trend – and how on earth did it start?

If your TikTok has been plagued with creepy Cat in the Hat videos recently, you’re not alone. 

A hoax surrounding the Dr. Seuss character, the Cat in the Hat, has been circulating on TikTok, with many users believing the videos were real. Weird, I know. 

A lot of viewers, quite naturally, assumed the videos were people dressed up in costumes of the Dr. Seuss character. It seemed like the figures were photographed and recorded walking down streets at night time. 

It’s pretty scary, but don’t worry – people aren’t actually lurking outside homes. Here’s what’s actually going on with the Cat in the Hat TikTok trend.

How did the creepy Cat in the Hat TikTok trend start?

@user272920212

this was such a scary night for me. #wexford #catinthehat #ireland #viral #fyp

♬ original sound – ￶

Over the past few years, there’s been a rise of people dressing as the Cat in the Hat to make funny TikTok videos, especially around Halloween. However, it’s only very recently that videos began to take a sinister turn, portraying the character in a frightening way. 

While there’s no clear explanation of why anyone would want to make the Cat in the Hat so scary, some people have drawn similarities between the Cat in The Hat videos and the Killer Clown trend of 2016. 

Others claim it has a resemblance to the Momo Challenge, a viral internet hoax of 2018 that claimed children were being contacted by a creepy doll image. 

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Are the Cat in the Hat TikToks real or AI?

@kadenm17

#Godisgood #playdontcomplain #fyp #viral #manchester

♬ Creepy and simple horror background music(1070744) – howlingindicator

Following the trend going viral on TikTok, police in the UK and Ireland have issued statements, assuring the public the videos are fake and have been created by putting a prompt into AI. 

In response to the videos and claims that the children’s character was supposedly terrorising the streets of Wexford, TikToker Garron Noone made a video claiming it should have been obvious to the public that the videos were a hoax, because “even the most soulless, evil, vicious monster” would be “traumatised looking in the window of a Wexford person”

It turns out that there is no evidence of anybody actually dressing as the Cat in The Hat and stalking the streets. Instead, it’s just another online trend created to spread panic online.

TikTok has been contacted for comment.

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Featured image via TikTok @ehgw06 and @kimberleyonline