PINSON, Ala. (WIAT) – Kendra Walden wasn’t sure what she’d seen. She sat in the passenger seat as her colleague drove down a hilly, residential street in Pinson.

“That looks like a real-life Chucky,” she said. Walden and her colleague thought they were hallucinating for a moment. The “Chucky,” though, wasn’t a mirage. He was waiting on the car to pass, staring at them intently as they slowly rolled by. Walden’s colleague turned around. They had to be sure of what they’d seen. 

As they approached again, they saw that “Chucky” had taken his mask off. He slipped it back on when he’d seen them coming back. 

“We took some pictures of him,” Walden said. “We thought it was so funny.”

Walden posted a picture of “Chucky” on Facebook. “Dear parents of the little boy in the Chucky costume in Pinson,” she wrote jokingly. “Get your kid. I almost had a heart attack.” 

A week after she made the post, Walden said she can’t even open the social media app on her phone. Since the picture was posted, it’s been shared over 100,000 times.

“I can’t believe it,” Walden said.

The “Chucky,” it turns out, is not actually a possessed, murderous toy, but a 5-year-old Pinson boy named Jaxon who said he’s just glad he’s been able to give people a bit of a fright. 

Jaxon’s mom, Britnee Reed, said her son was “Chucky” for Halloween, but that the costume’s been a staple around the house – and neighborhood – ever since. 

Reed said that Jaxon loves horror and costumes.

“That’s just kind of how his personality is,” she said. “He dresses up in different costumes throughout the week. He loves to make people laugh.”

Reed was at work when Jaxon made his social media debut as “Chucky.” One of her coworkers sent her the post, saying it looked like something Jaxon would do. 

Reed had a double take.

“I zoomed in and said, ‘Oh my goodness,’ that’s my kid,” she said. She called her mother, who was watching Jaxon. She said she’d helped Jaxon get into the costume and sat on the porch as he’d done his deathly duties. 

Britnee Reed said that the attention around the post is shocking. There have been some negative comments, she said, but for the most part, people have recognized that Jaxon was simply trying to have some fun. 

“We actually got a message from people asking for him to be at their kid’s birthday party,” she said. 

But Jaxson won’t be providing entertainment at parties, his mom said. He’ll be sticking to scaring his neighbors and his family, including his older brother Mason, who said it’s “amazing” that his brother is “Facebook famous,” and BunBun, his pet bunny, who’s been unaffected by Jaxon’s newfound fame.

Jaxon said that he’s happy that he’s been able to scare not just Kendra Walden but the thousands of people who’ve seen his “Chucky” persona on Facebook.

“Tell them I was a good Chucky,” Jaxon said outside his Pinson home. “And make sure you send my grandma a copy of the pictures, too.”