How a creepy Cat in the Hat meme escalated into school threats

Of all the characters you might expect to trigger school closures and police investigations, the Cat in the Hat probably would not be high on the list.

Yet a creepy internet reinvention of the Dr.

Seuss character is now causing very real disruptions across the United States.

Over the past several weeks, AI-generated and manipulated images have purported to show a life-sized version of the Cat lurking outside homes, staring through windows, and roaming dark streets.

The videos often borrow the unsettling appearance of Mike Myers' character in the much-memed 2003 movie adaptation, then present the footage as a local "sighting." At first, the posts mostly played like internet horror fiction.

But as the trend spread, some copycat accounts began naming specific students, schools, and communities alongside phrases such as "you’re next," "don’t leave your window open," and "coming for you." Those messages have now prompted police investigations, increased security, canceled activities, and at least one juvenile arrest.

What is the 'Cat in the Hat' trend? Like many unsettling internet trends, this one started with a joke that kept getting darker.

The trend can be traced back to a meme posted in late June that paired a clip of Myers' Cat dancing with an eerie soundtrack and a grim caption.

The now-deleted TikTok reportedly received more than 4 million views in a week, inspiring users to rework footage from the movie into increasingly disturbing memes.

The timing also gave creators some unusually creepy source material.

The original costume from the 2003 film recently went up for auction , supplying the internet with images of a hollow-eyed Cat suit that looked considerably more sinister outside the movie.

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From there, users built a loose horror story around a supposed "Cat in the Hat serial killer" stalking communities in the UK and Ireland.