Creepy Cat in the Hat

Videos and images made by artificial intelligence resembling a well known Dr. Seuss' character “The Cat in the Hat” have recently been spreading, causing distress amongst children.

The various media posts show The Cat in the Hat walking around neighborhoods and schools at night. In some videos, the character was seen chasing pedestrians through the streets. 

These AI videos started throughout the UK and Ireland on Tik Tok, but have now made their way to the United States. 

Multiple police investigations across the country began after parents became concerned about their children. Four teens in Louisiana were arrested for cyberbullying, terrorizing, and menacing charges linked to The Cat in the Hat posts. Among them, one 13 year old, two 14 year olds, and one 15 year old. 

Now people are purchasing costumes to further the trend.

In Canada, a figure disguised as The Cat in the Hat chased a young woman on August 24. The teen made it home safely after being chased through her neighborhood. 

One minor in Kentucky faces criminal charges for being connected to these unsettling posts. In Florida, a twelve year old was accused of writing death threats to someone under The Cat in the Hat. In total, at least 16 teens have been arrested across the United States linked to The Cat in the Hat.

Regardless if these AI generated images are intended as a prank, police departments say these threats will be taken seriously. The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana created their own post in response.

“Please talk to your kids and ensure they know that creating threatening videos is not a joke. IT IS ILLEGAL. All threats are taken seriously and result in many hours of investigation to determine if they are credible. And we can assure you, we have the technology, investigative tools, and partnerships with social media platforms necessary to find those responsible,” the  Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office said.

Some of the posts include real names of people that The Cat in the Hat is “after”, specific schools, or specific home addresses saying “who's next”.

“I’ve seen it mainly on Tik Tok. People are trying to get fake accounts on snapchat and add random people saying ‘I know who you are, I know where you live’ and threaten them. There's one video I saw where he [The Cat in the Hat] was chasing a girl in a neighborhood with a knife. I don’t really know if it’s real or not but when I take my dog outside at night I get a little scared. I don’t want people to dress up like that for Halloween," NHS freshman Sia Verma said.

At the same time this trend began, the costume from the 2003 “The Cat in the Hat” movie, worn by Mike Myers, was auctioned off for approximately $25,000 to influencer Natalie Reynolds. The costumes' hollow eyes and strange appearance drew attention and gave people inspiration to further the images. Reynolds has made claims that Mike Myers soul is trapped inside it, despite him still being alive.

Natalie Reynolds later made an apology video for chasing people while in a mock costume. Reynolds claims that she was “haunted into doing these horrible things.” Reynolds has set up a ring camera to watch the suit, claiming she has seen eyes in the hollow sockets from the surveillance footage. 

“I have heard about the cat in the hat from social media like Tik Tok. They come up on my FYP and then also on my Snapchat because people are trying to catfish as Cat in the Hat and trying to scare people. There's videos when they say The Cat in the Hat is coming to Newtown CT or other towns to get you scared. It kinda ruined the movie for me. I really liked the movie but now if I go back to watch the movie it's all I'm going to think about and it's going to be creepy. I don't know why someone would ever buy a costume of cat in the hat for $25,000,” NHS sophomore Olivia Fernandes said.