Halloween is more than a month away but a town in the U.K. has already decided to scare the locals.
Residents in the English village of Rochdale were shocked to find a huge baby doll installed in the centre of town.
The 8.5 metre high puppet features giant limbs that move and a mouth that opens and shuts like a ventriloquist’s doll, the BBC reported.
Named Lilly, the puppet is part of a council project to encourage young students to discuss the importance of the environment, according to the outlet.
The conversations about the students’ plans for looking after nature and animals in future will be recorded and broadcast from the baby when it is relocated to a nearby park for an outdoor environmental arts festival next month.
In a video posted to the Rochdale Borough Council’s Facebook page, a group of children is seen singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” to the Lilly in an attempt to get the doll to sleep — but that’s only upping the creepiness factor.
While the children were unfazed by the baby, adult members of the public have found the doll’s presence unsettling, with some describing it as “freaky” and “terrifying.”
One person told BBC Radio Manchester they had “never seen anything like this in Rochdale before,” while another compared it to the baby from Honey I Shrunk the Kids.
RECOMMENDED VIDEO
“I came around the corner and I thought, ‘It’s just creepy with its eyes shut, never mind open,’” the caller said.
One resident thought someone was inside, the outlet reported, while another claimed it was the “ugliest baby I’ve ever seen.”
The Facebook comments were about the same, with one commenting, “Mate, I would have nightmares for months seeing this as a kid,” while a second person added a meme of the giant doll from Squid Game.
Lilly will remain in Rochdale for another month.