That has not stopped the pictures and videos from spreading online – along with unverified claims posted without evidence that the Cat in the Hat has been involved in violent assaults.
“I low-key wanna go meet him…” says 14-year-old Lily, who heard that the Cat in the Hat had arranged a “meet and greet”, inviting local TikTok followers to come to the woods in Galashiels, a small town in the Scottish Borders.
Her mother was horrified by the prospect.
“You are not going to meet anyone in the woods in the middle of the night!” she told her.
There is a point at which viral dancing videos and AI-generated clips of the Cat in the Hat become something potentially more sinister, with real-world consequences beyond their impact on teenage imaginations.
In England, South Yorkshire Police has denied social media claims that a ‘killer Cat in the Hat’ has been spotted. Posts about the alleged sightings have attracted hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok.
There is also a fake Facebook post claiming to be from Yorkshire Police – no force with that name actually exists – and suggesting that the force is taking the rumoured sighting seriously.
In response, a South Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “If you do see posts online providing policing updates and advice, please check that they are from an official policing account. The cat is not out of the hat on this one… Please don’t believe everything you read on social media.”
As with so many trends driven by TikTok, comedic reaction and spoofery is what will be appearing right now on many people’s For You page.
In recent days, depending largely on what your algorithm serves up, you may be seeing nearly as many people in Cat in the Hat costumes dancing to Beyonce as those stalking the streets. There are several jokey videos depicting police chasing human sized cats, and Scottish drag performer Ellie Diamond has issued a video declaring that she is not the Cat in the Hat killer.
And Irish TikTok star Garron Noone said on one post that it should have been obvious it was a hoax “because even the most soulless, evil, vicious monster” would be “traumatised looking in the window of a Wexford person”.
Snapchat filters and images shared in group chats suggest that many teenagers – and those not so young – are simply having harmless fun with the trend.
But some do remain perturbed, including another teenager in the Scottish borders, 16-year-old Ellie, who says: “I was so scared of him when I was little,” Ellie confides. “Now it’s like he’s actually come to life to haunt me.”
