Sounding like something out of a horror movie, a mysterious hooded figure is walking around playgrounds and, er, dropping raw meat on the floor.

Fortunately that’s all the cloaked man is doing but it’s still a bit odd at best and downright creepy at worst.

The raw meat is being dropped in playgrounds across Gastonia, North Carolina, and residents have managed to snap pics of the figure standing outside.

Lance Calhoun, director of operations for Southwood Realty, said there was no clue as to who the man in cloak actually was.

He said: “We don’t know if it’s one of our residents with an interesting way of presenting themselves, or if it’s a trespasser.

Donna Lahser, spokeswoman from the Gastonia Police Department, told the Gaston Gazette that it is not even clear exactly where the picture was taken.

She said: “There’s no validation that it was Hudson Woods.

“It could have come from anywhere.

“We don’t know if this is some bogus prank somebody is playing.”

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Prank or not, locals are freaked out by seeing the death-like figure standing outside their homes.

Resident Brooke Conrad said she now fears for her daughter’s safety.

She said: “I see why it could be easy to make a joke out of it, but this is serious.

“We live in a world today where you don’t know what’s going on and you don’t know people.

“Even if a person wore a cloak as a hoax, a child could be scarred by the encounter.”

The dropping of raw meat has puzzled people, with some suggesting it is a Pagan ritual that is meant as an offering.

Others believe the raw meat is to poison local dogs - while some think the whole thing is a simple hoax designed to spook locals.

It’s fair to say whoever it is has succeeded in that, at the very least…

Pics: Reddit