Artist gives pop culture characters a nightmarish makeover

Often the things that scare us the most are manifest in the demonization of the quotidian. Monsters from far flung imagined worlds that bare no semblance to reality are unlikely to accrue as fearful response as an ostensibly ordinary, even recognizable figure being proven evil or demonic. The devil that petrifies us the most is not other worldly or fantastical, but the normal made insidious. Digital artist Will Hughes' work runs along a similar theme. He turns recognizable figures from public or fictional life into gruesome caricatures of themselves with disturbing, somewhat nightmarish results. Here are some of his pieces.

1. Ronald McDonald gets a makeover 

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2. Spongebob is no longer the cherubic figure he used to be

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3. I don't know about you, but I won't be sleeping well tonight

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4. Morty is creepy

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5. And then there's Rick... 

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6. Mr Krabs looks a bit fed up

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7. "Pickle Rick" (Rick, from Rick and Morty)

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8. The most disturbing image of Peter Griffin you're ever likely to see

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9. Childhood dreams turned into nightmares 

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10. "Smashing" (The Wild Thornberries) 

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11. Squidward Tentacles looks more depressed than ever

[[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/BPoO3bvgxCP/?taken-by=wilhughes3d]] Frankly, I'll never look at any of these characters in the same way again, and a small part of my childhood might well have been ruined forever. All credit to Will Hughes, though, they are truly astonishing works of art, even if they are, to be blunt, incredibly disturbing.