Why are so many people joining the Boston Rat Queen’s army?

Walking through the streets of Boston, you may have crossed paths with the Rat Queen. Or perhaps you’ve encountered her another way — scrolling through TikTok and landing on one of her videos, stumbling upon one of her cult meetings, or being inducted into her her army through the sharing of her “Tinfoil Squeakrets.”

Local artist Sariah Wertman has amassed more than 6 million views on a single TikTok video and drawn roughly 1,000 people to her first cult meeting on Boston Common earlier this month. You may have also spotted her in a video for Mayor Michelle Wu, and the Allston Rat Rangers, discussing the National Urban Rat Summit held in Boston at the end of September.

@ratsfoiledagainofficial Not the opt up #nightmarebeforechristmas #halloween #boston #evil #rats ♬ original sound – ratsfoiledagainofficial

But behind the giant paper mache rat, the imaginary army, and the tongue-in-cheek cult meetings, Wertman has built something real: a community of people who find connection in an unlikely place.

“I was a humble rat, but I garnered the goodwill of the people, and they elected me their queen,” Wertman said, joking about how she earned her title. 

The character began taking shape about six years ago, when Wertman came up with the “Tinfoil Squeakrets” as a tongue-in-cheek joke shared among friends. They affectionately dubbed her “the rat girl.” 

Last year, she began working with the Rat Rangers, a group of volunteers affiliated with the Rat City Arts Festival, an organization that hosts local artists and works to raise awareness about the pervasive rat problems in Allston-Brighton. 

The rangers, recognizable by their floppy safari hats, led nighttime rat walks, taking groups of 30 to 60 volunteers through the neighborhood in search of beady eyes and rat dens. Ricky Mikey, the festival’s director, said the walks are intended to build community while creating an opportunity to address an issue that affects many neighborhood residents.  

Wertman was invited to share her secrets at the festival. Soon after, she got a costume through her “secret puppet connect” — the Puppet Library behind Newbury Street — and a character was born. 

“I noticed people liked it, I just kept doing it, and I gained more confidence to go out on the street in a giant rat,” Wertman said. 

From there, the Rat Queen took on a life of her own. Her cult meetings feature quirky games and competitions for a place in her royal court, along with opportunities to summon the rat through the song of the rat people. 

Wertman estimates she spends about 20 hours a week embodying the Rat Queen. Between social media income and selling toy rats on the street, she makes enough to support herself while working only part time. 

“Well, of course, it’s the rat,” Wertman said when asked whether she expected the character to become so popular on social media. “But also, did I expect to get over 6 million views on a video of the rat playing the trumpet on your street? No, absolutely not.”

But the most unexpected part of the character’s popularity, Wertman said, has been the connections she’s seen people make through the Rat Queen. 

“I noticed when people join the rat army there’s almost this instant sense of almost a  brotherhood formed,” Wertman said. “When you’re in front of the rat on the street you don’t need to be anything other than what you are because you’re in front of a giant paper mache rat.” 

The next cult meeting is scheduled for Oct. 31 at noon at Boylston Place.