Netflix’s creepy new horror Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is a chilling story about the week leading up to an unfortunate wedding, and one of the most eerie parts is the strange ice cream man – but why is he actually in it? The creator has revealed the real reason.

Larry Poole, the ice cream man who actually sells custard at his stall called Coldies, doesn’t end up having any relevance to the storyline at all. You think he’s going to have something to do with the horror that’s going on at the Cunningham house, but there’s actually no link apart from the fact Rachel and her mum both saw the same stall.

Speaking to Variety, the creator and showrunner Haley Z. Boston revealed he’s actually just a clever “red herring” to throw you off and keep you wondering who the Sorry Man is.

“He’s definitely a red herring. He never comes back again. I liked the idea of this figure who has haunted Rachel’s past and the Cunninghams’ past. You see Jude wearing a Coldy shirt in Episode 4. There was some speculation in the writers’ room that Larry Poole had something to do with the Cunninghams funding his first custard stand,” she said.

“The idea behind him, especially in the pilot, was to introduce a few creepy male figures so the Sorry Man reveal lands at the end. You’re wondering: Is it the guy in the bar? Is it him? Is he the Coldy serial killer? Is it Nicky’s dad? Who is the Sorry Man? Then we decided to connect him to Rachel’s past.”

So, that’s why she recognises the logo in the car at the start, because her mother saw it. “I wanted to establish that connection to her mother early on,” Boston said.

The creator said she’d love to do a second series, so maybe that could explore more of Larry’s creepy backstory… if he has one. Maybe he’s just a sweet old custard seller. I highly doubt it.