The internet is weird. As the digital generation, Gen Z is full of tech-savvy, pop-culture-trained creatives that use social media as a means of expression. They’re also very funny, although I’m biased. On the internet, Gen Z has developed the capability to make anything (and I mean anything) a meme. From the Speaker Of The House voting process to Cole Sprouse’s appearance on Call Her Daddy, the digital generation can always find humor in the simplest of things. Or, in this most recent case, the scariest of things.
You know the saying, “history always repeats itself?” Well, it’s repeating right now on TikTok with the Serbian Dancing Lady, which is giving very similar energy to the Killer Clowns of 2016. If you were anything like me before logging into TikTok today, then you’re probably wondering WTF this new “trend” is and where it came from. Luckily for you, I did a bit of internet sleuthing to find out more about this new TikTok meme, which stems from a recent urban legend.
As the legend goes, in 2019, a group of teenagers in Belgarde, Serbia filmed an unknown woman dancing in an intersection near a city hospital. In one of the videos, we see the woman stalking and chasing one of the teenagers. The video served as a warning that this “ghost” lady haunts the village and lures people with her hypnotic dancing under the full moon and those who follow her may never be seen again. However, there have been no official sightings of the woman since then, and no formal reports were filed. So, the internet has chalked this urban legend up to a fun story or viral internet prank.
So, if the Serbian Dancing Lady is real, why does she chase teenagers? According to the legend (prank?), the Dancing Lady will turn on you if you’re filming her without her permission. Looks like she takes the whole privacy thing pretty seriously.
With hashtags like #dancingladyserbia and #serbiandancinglady receiving almost 300 million views each, and viral videos receiving hundreds of thousands of likes, Gen-Z’s impeccable ability to meme anything and everything is definitely paying off.
In this new trend, Gen Zers are recreating the viral video, and poking fun at just how ridiculous the whole story seems.
Whether the internet is just flat-out weird or there is some truth to the legend, I will not be taking any chances and marking the next full moon down in my calendar. Stay safe out there, y’all!