Yes, Obviously Those Creepy Ghostface Sightings Were Viral Marketing for “Scream 6”

No, that guy dressed as the famous movie villain isn't there to murder you

Ghostface in "Scream VI"
Ghostface in "Scream VI"
Paramount Pictures

One week from today, the sixth installment of the Scream series will hit theaters. Diehard horror fans don’t need any coaxing to go out and watch Ghostface follow his victims from the fictional Woodsboro, California to New York City, but apparently Paramount Pictures, the studio behind the film, is doing everything they can to generate more hype. That includes hiring people to don Ghostface costumes and stand around menacingly in several cities across the country.

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You’d think that the timing of it all would be a dead giveaway (“Hmm, perhaps this person dressed as the killer from Scream has something to do with the new Scream movie coming out soon”), but it didn’t prevent some people from getting seriously spooked. Ghostface has been spotted in St. Louis, New Orleans and Sonoma (the real-life stand-in for Woodsboro), and it has prompted multiple concerned citizens to call 911.

The Ghostface Twitter account has been playing along, tweeting out images of the mysterious masked figures and chiming in with comments like, “I’m watching you” and “I was just minding my business.” Paramount Pictures hasn’t commented directly about the Ghostface costumes, but citing “sources close to the film,” Variety confirmed that the whole thing was a viral marketing stunt.

So if you see a cloaked movie villain lurking around on the street in a city near you, never fear: he’s not there to stab you to death — he’s just there to get asses in seats.

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