If you haven't watched SpongeBob Squarepants since its unimpeachable first three seasons, it may surprise you to learn that the show, now in season 12, has gotten extremely weird. How weird, you ask? Its latest episode features a reference to a 9-year old creepypasta in which perennially dead-inside SpongeBob neighbor Squidward kills himself in a supposed "lost episode" of the show.

In the very real new episode, titled "SpongeBob In Randomland," SpongeBob and Squidward are sent to a strange alternate dimension to make a delivery. At one point, the pair are presented with a wall of doors. Squidward opens a few to find horrifying alternate versions of himself, ending with a vision of Squidward with large, red eyes and black makeup running down his face.

The image, known as "Red Mist Squidward," is a reference to Squidward's Suicide, a creepypasta from 2010 in which a supposed Nickelodeon intern tells the tale of a horrifying "lost" SpongeBob episode in which Squidward spends minutes weeping while horrific sounds play before the character kills himself. At the climax of the creepypasta, Squidward stares at the camera with hyperrealistic "bleeding, bloodshot, and pulsating." The most famous artistic rendering of the scene looks like this:

Fans immediately noticed the appearance of "Red Mist Squidward" in the episode and took to Twitter to voice their surprise and wonderment. Co-executive producer Vincent Waller assured fans that "Squidward's Suicide" was not "canon" due to its inclusion in the episode, stating the crew just wanted to make fun of ridiculous, "trying to be dark" fan fiction.

No, Other than us poking fun, at that ridiculous Fan fiction is FAR from cannon. :)

— Vincent Waller (@VincentWaller72) September 21, 2019

Still, the reference to "Squidward's Suicide" was too dark for some countries: the UK censored the clip, much to the delight of SpongeBob showrunners, who are confirmed absolute mad lads.