TikTok is home to countless interesting subjects, from BookTok to LampTok to this writer’s current obsession; ClayTok.
Given the sheer volume of cat people in the world (this writer included), it’s not surprising that CatTok is as wide-reaching as it is, with cat owners and cat lovers flocking to the platform for their dose of feline cuteness. While most of these videos usually involve some form of clumsy kitten or hilarious meow, a recent cat video has taken the TikTok spotlight for a decidedly less cute reason.
In a new video uploaded by @decayingupstate, a lonesome cat can be seen leading users along an abandoned pathway at night. The resulting video is every bit as unsettling as that sentence reads, with the inclusion of cheery audio doing little to minimize the creep factor.
The video, which has been viewed over 23,000 times, follows what looks like a stray cat along a coastal path, stopping intermittently to look back at the people chasing it. When it turns, the cat’s eyes beam yellow in the darkness, before leading the users to a small marooned boat on the seashore. Elaborating in the in-video text, @decayingupstate questioned why “this cat [led] us to an abandoned boat.”
In the caption, the TikTokers wrote that it was like the cat was telling them: “[I know] a spot.” Understandably, users flocked to the comments section to question what was happening in the video, with many suggesting the cat’s behavior might indicate it was in some sort of trouble.
“What if it needed help,” one user asked, with another adding that perhaps “something bad happened” to cause the cat’s behavior. Other viewers compared the cat to the one in the film Coraline, which was also known for leading people along dark pathways. Elsewhere, since this is the internet, the cat has become the subject of some conspiracy theories, with users crediting its odd behavior to it being a “skinwalker” or “sent from the government.”
“That cat knows something,” one person quipped. Other users were quick to point out that cats sometimes lead people to their kittens if they’re in need of a safer place, which might explain why this particular cat led the TikTokers on a nighttime sidequest. In any case, it was one of multiple oddities captured on the @decayingupstate page, which documents the user’s urbex adventures.
Urbex — which itself is popular on TikTok — is the term used to describe the exploring of abandoned or off-limit urban areas, and it has taken this particular page to abandoned children’s theatres, empty malls and long-vacated schools. While its current whereabouts are unknown, we certainly hope the cat (and its potential kittens) remained safe, and had a happy ending much like the one in Coraline.