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".
At least eight balloons have been strung up in Dunedin Central.
The stunt appears to be 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".
The upcoming series is the latest take on Stephen King’s classic cult-horror book "IT," written in 1986.
"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.
The takeover began in Sydney on October 21, with the balloons attached underneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge and in Bradford Park.
They have made their way across the world, delighting and frightening the cities of New York, Bangkok, Paris, Los Angeles, Madrid, Taipei, and others.
Dunedin is the latest city to fall prey — and fittingly, on Halloween.
