As explained by Conan Gray via MTV News, this upbeat bedroom pop banger is about people who send out rumors. More specifically, it was written “after getting a midnight drunk sob text from [his] ex.”

They’d been running all around town telling everyone that I was some freak who wouldn’t leave them alone when in reality, they were the freak, […] sending strange late-night texts and showing up at my shows unannounced.

The song was first teased by Conan in a Tweet when he revealed that “Maniac” is his favorite song off his debut album. The title of this track was also teased through a cryptic Twitter thread, giving out one letter at a time with the chance to let fans guess.

Six days before Halloween, the spooky-themed music video was released alongside the track. It’s starring Jessica Barden, an actress famous for her role as Alyssa in the Netflix series The End of the F*`ing World. In the video, Conan and Jess are on the mission to fight off Jess' ex-boyfriends, maniacs, who have risen from the grave.