Parents, keep your children on a leash — lest they get lured down into Dunedin’s drainage system.
This morning, the city has been inundated with suspicious red balloons tied to drains, inviting passersby to risk saying "hey," to a sewer-dwelling void-clown with a cannibalistic taste for human flesh.
If curious people stuck their heads down to eye level with the gutter, they would read a note strung to the balloon wishing people a "happy Halloween".
Some speculated the stunt appeared to be a part of the "Red Balloon Takeover" — a global marketing campaign where red balloons are tied to drains across the globe to promote the upcoming HBO series IT: Welcome to Derry".
But the elaborate decorations were instead made by Halloween super-fan Jayne Grundy who woke up extra early this morning at 5am to tie 24 balloons to drains around the city.
"I’m a big fan Halloween and I just wanted people to have a surprising morning with a bit of mystery."
She wanted to bring a little bit of excitement. magic and joy to people who walked past the balloon's lives.
She had wanted to do something extravagant for a couple of years now and finally got around to it today despite it being rainy, windy and dark when she was executing her plan.
In addition to "happy Halloween" the note says "we all float down here" referencing a line from the 1986 horror novel "It" by American horror author Stephen King.
"IT" refers to Pennywise the Clown, an inter-dimensional clown who feeds on the fear of children (and some adults) who he lures down into the drains.
Once taken down, their fate is worse than death, and children are devoured by the horror clown, and their souls are trapped for all eternity while their bodies rot in the darkness.
