On June 17, 2024, a TikTok user named “Horrror a” (@adventure96_98a2) posted a fairly spooky video purportedly showing a skinwalker. In the video, an unidentified man with long hair seemingly explores an abandoned theme park at night. At one point in the clip, the man with long hair sits atop a tall, dry water slide. The water slide’s colors are red, white and blue. A dark creature appears and gives chase, walking, running or climbing up from the bottom of the water slide.
The on screen caption in the TikTok video read, “If there wasn’t a camera recording you wouldn’t believe it was real.” The text caption also said, “It happened so fast #scary #horror #creepy #fyp.”
The music track playing was “Creepy and simple horror background music(1070744) – howlingindicator.”
I sent a message to the TikTok user to ask about the video but did not yet receive a response. It’s unclear who created the video. My search for details about the clip’s location and filming date also yielded no results.
Real or Fake?
Is this video real or fake? Well, other videos posted by TikTok user “Horrror a” (@adventure96_98a2) showed the same supposed creature. The comical nature of those clips revealed the user had, in fact, staged the video in question.
A man covered in black paint apparently plays the role of the supposed creature. As best I can tell, the man is wearing shorts and a wig. In some other videos posted on the same TikTok channel, he appears to be wearing a mask.
For example, let’s examine a different video recorded at the same location. That other clip shows men attempting to catch supposed creature in a net. The supposed creature wrestles with the net and runs away in somewhat of a comical fashion.
One person commented under the second video, “The fact that the guy holding the net also has a camera tells me this isn’t real. It’s staged.” A different user joked in a reply, “What? Everyone carries a volleyball net and a camera everywhere they go. Personally, I keep 3 nets on my bicycle. Never know when you’ll need to Scooby Doo someone.”
Other videos shows the same supposed creature hanging out in a tent and taking a nap in a field.
‘I Couldn’t Breathe’
Even with the staged nature of the video, TikTok users still received a thrill from watching it.
TikTok commenters brought up purported skinwalkers, “The Backrooms” and a character named Old Gregg.
One person said, “A skinwalker, sure, but buddy how did you get into ‘The Backrooms’ waterpark?” Another user posted, “I’ve heard about skinwalkers! Have y’all heard about not going into abandoned places at freaking night????” Someone else replied, “Right like, ignoring the skinwalkers, the possibility of running into very aggressive squatters is HUGE.”
Users also said the supposed creature in the video gave them quite a scare. For example, one person commented, “It looked funny looking over the edge but when it was coming up the slide I couldn’t breathe.” Another user added, “I got so scared I yelled. I scared my family.”
Skinwalkers and ‘The Backrooms’
For any readers unfamiliar with skinwalkers, LegendsofAmerica.com published that, in Navajo culture, a skinwalker is “a type of harmful witch who has the ability to turn into, possess, or disguise themselves as an animal.”
Vice.com also reported on the concept of “The Backrooms,” a reference to a fictional location reportedly once described by an anonymous user on 4chan.
That 4chan user described “The Backrooms” as a vast area sprawling over “six hundred million square miles.” This purported reality supposedly consists of endless stretches of “old, moist carpet and a badly wallpapered maze.” A “constant hum of cheap bulbs” fills the air. The user also hinted at a “vague” but ever-present “threat of something lurking in the distance.” (Vice.com presented this description without quotation marks.)
While the concept of “The Backrooms” is fictional, the location of the original photo inspiring its creation is real.
On May 29, 2024, X user “the goofball” (@tjxz_z) posted, “MY FRIEND FOUND THE BACKROOMS LOCATION ITS IN WISCONSIN AND THESE PICS ARE FROM [2002].”
On the following day, iTech Post reported, “Original ‘Backrooms’ Image Finally Found After 20 Years.” According to the article, “The place is located exactly at 811 Oregon St, Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The poster advised people to not disturb the place as it is under private ownership.”
Old Gregg
Many users viewing the supposed creature in the video referenced a TV character named Old Gregg. For example, one person remarked, “That’s just Old Gregg.” Another person added, “It looks like he wants to ask if you ever drank Bailey’s from a shoe.”
According to Fandom.com and Dictionary.com, Old Gregg, a merman known for his “blinding mangina” and love of Bailey’s (especially in a shoe), hails from the British TV comedy series “The Mighty Boosh.”
A Bold Strategy
Other commenters believed the unidentified man running from the supposed creature should have gone down the slide.
One user said, “I’m still gonna slide down. Better move biiii or you’re getting knocked.” Another person added, “I would have slid down and took it with me.”
One user also joked, “If Scooby Doo taught me anything, that’s just an old man in a mask trying to obtain real-estate.”