Texas citizens were shocked last week when they received an Amber Alert claiming that Chucky from the Child’s Play films had abducted his son Glen, with details of the alert even including the killer doll’s height, weight, and outfit. While this was clearly some sort of mistake, those who received the alert were still perplexed by the situation, wondering if a hacker was responsible for the prank or if this was an official transmission from the Texas Department of Public Safety. The Texas DPS has since issued a statement on the matter, noting that the alert was the result of a test malfunction.
“This alert is a result of a test malfunction. We apologize for the confusion this may have caused and are diligently working to ensure this does not happen again,” the statement reads, per CBS Los Angeles.
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We can only assume that the alert was merely crafted in jest to demonstrate the effectiveness of such alerts and, luckily, anyone receiving the notification would have immediately known that this was unintentional. Clearly someone at the Texas DPS has a sense of humor and is a fan of the Child’s Play films.
Interestingly, Chucky’s personality would almost make that alert fall in line with something he could pull off in one of his films, and with a new Chucky TV series on the horizon, surely some who saw the alert might have speculated that it was a viral stunt to promote the SYFY program. Given that it would have been in poor taste to use an emergency alert system to promote a TV show, the Texas DPS admitting the mistake will be a relief to most.
The first trailer for the upcoming Chucky series debuted last year, but the coronavirus pandemic saw production being delayed.
In the new show, “After a vintage Chucky doll turns up at a suburban yard sale, an idyllic American town is thrown into chaos as a series of horrifying murders begin to expose the town’s hypocrisies and secrets. Meanwhile, the arrival of enemies and allies from Chucky’s past threatens to expose the truth behind the killings, as well as the demon doll’s untold origins as a seemingly ordinary child who somehow became this notorious monster.”
Stay tuned for details on the upcoming Chucky TV series.
What do you make of the situation? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!
