‘Hokum’: See Nightmarish Gallery of ‘Jack the Donkey’ Character Stills [Exclusive]

Hokum arrives in theaters this Friday, and believe me when I say it’s scary. And I mean, truly, nightmarishly scary. So much so that, in my 4-star review of the film out of its SXSW world premiere, I called it “gratuitously frightening” and “deeply monstrous horror.” But more on that in just a moment.

Today, we’re bringing you a unique look into the extended world of the film, with an exclusive gallery of BTS images featuring a fictional TV show host from Hokum. You’ll recognize the character from its trailers and from going viral online. But now, Dread Central has your exclusive scoop on who Jack the Donkey really is. Kind of.

Without giving anything away, Jack the Donkey, as seen in the gallery below, is a fictional children’s variety show host baked into the world of Hokum. The series, which you can glimpse in the film’s trailer, is a vintage black-and-white nightmare of a forgotten kids’ variety show. And Jack the Donkey is its host. Does he appear in the film outside of old televisions? You’ll find out when Hokum arrives in theaters this Friday, May 1.

Written and directed by Oddity filmmaker Damian McCarthy, Hokum stars Adam Scott as Ohm Bauman, a prickly and unkind author on a personal odyssey to rural Ireland, where he stays at the remote heritage hotel his parents honeymooned at forty years earlier. Now both dead, he has returned with their ashes to the last place they were truly happy.

But while the Baumans had some dark secrets, the hotel has secrets of its own, locked safely inside the restricted Honeymoon Suite, a room long banned and cornered off from both guests and staff. Why? Because the hotel’s elderly owner is convinced the room contains—and is haunted by—an evil witch.

Get your best look yet at the iconic character now, then catch Hokum only in theaters May 1.