Gengar
Image: David Szilagyi

Ah yes, Pokémon. That lovely, child-friendly franchise full of cutely drawn critters, bold, bright colours and characters that stay lovingly in the mind for years and years.

Well, forget all that, because super-talented artist David Szilagyi has taken some of Pokémon's best-known characters and transformed them into terrifying monsters. Of course, Pocket Monsters is literally the name of the game here, so perhaps this is how Gengar, Pikachu and friends would look if they were real? We've always secretly wanted to be Pokémon Trainers in real life, but not if it's like this.

Check out these cracking, but nightmare-inducing examples from Szilagyi below. If you like what you see, make sure to explore more over on Instagram.

You know, there's no shame in leaving the light on when you go to bed tonight after seeing all of these. We won't sleep for weeks now.

Do you like these designs? If you want more creepy Pokémon, check out this gallery of Pokémon skeletons, or if you need something a little lighter, we also have Pokémon reimagined as Animal Crossing characters. Yeah, that one sounds good right now.

[source instagram.com]