What is “Spooky Lake Month?” Viral TikTok series explained

What is “Spooky Lake Month” and why have TikTok users dubbed it as the “best time of the year?” Here’s our explainer for the platform’s latest viral series.

For lovers of all things spooky, creepy, and grim, October is the month for you — bringing with it the beloved holiday of Halloween.

Luckily, for eager celebrators waiting for the 31st, there’s now another viral sensation drawing eyes (and views) that can help make the days pass by quicker.

During one month of every year, TikTok users “run” to a particular page for an annual series that — despite its “spooky” name — has already garnered over 1.5 billion views and counting. Not to keep you waiting, here’s what “Spooky Lake Month” is all about.

What is the “Spooky Lake Month” series on TikTok?

When October rolls around and excitement for Halloween comes to a head, Wisconsin-based artist and teacher Geo Rutherford takes to her TikTok account, ‘geodesaurus,’ to bring back her beloved series, “Spooky Lake Month.”

The series features “31 days of haunted hydrology” and sees Geo break down the morbid history and legends surrounding bodies of water across the globe.

However, Geo is not just a “huge horror fan”, she’s also a “hobby limnologist” and “freshwater scientist.” This means all of her 2 to 3-minute videos are backed by science and Geo offers explanations as to how these locations earned their often deadly reputations.

What are “Spookies”?

At the end of each video, Geo rates the discussed body of water out of 10 “Spookies,” determined by how much it creeped her out or scared her.

But Geo’s rating system is not based on any of the alleged hauntings or death toll, as she’s previously said, “I try to rate the location itself, not the deaths that occurred there.”

Viewers have praised her respectful approach to sensitive topics while simultaneously falling in love with her entertaining delivery. In many of her videos, fans claim her introductory line of “Um, yes, hello” is “clinically proven to boost serotonin levels.”

While the series started off discussing only lakes, Geo told Outside in an exclusive interview that she had to branch out in order to continue finding locations to rate.

“Honestly, I did some of the best lakes during my first year, so I’ve incorporated “haunted hydrology” into Spooky Lake Month,” she said. “Now, I can basically do anything that’s wet. I still haven’t gotten fully into ocean topics yet!”

With still plenty of the month still to go, fans of the series have lots more of “Spooky Lake Month” to look forward to this year.

Check out all the latest entertainment series on our page here.