I found something CREEPY in a SpongeBob flash game, his name is Yummer.

I’ve always been a fan of SpongeBob SquarePants, ever since I was a little kid. I remember watching the children's cartoon all day sometimes when I was younger. I’ve even rewatched a couple of episodes now that I am in my mid-twenties and am always filled with nostalgia. There was an old game I used to play, I honestly don't even remember the name anymore, it was such a long time ago. If I had to guess by what I’ve found online, the game was titled SpongeBob Battle for Bikini Bottom. The game was so hard, especially for a younger me. I remember one level specifically where I played against a mechanical sandy, the Texas loving squirrel who for some reason wanted to live underwater. It was a very hard level and I eventually gave up. I never played another sponge bob game after that, that is until late last week.

I was browsing YouTube when I came across a video detailing a weird and creepy figure in an online SpongeBob game, SpongeBob Saves the Day. His name appeared to be Yummer due to his coding and apparently he was inaccessible in the game, or at the very least no one could figure out how to start his animation. I decided I would play the game and see for myself. After all, this was a children's game and being the adult that I was now, I could surely redeem myself and beat the game, unlike when I was a child. And if I did happen to stumble across the creepy figure known as Yummer, I would have a cool story to write online. It was a win-win. I watched a couple more videos as to prepare myself and then went to play the game.

I started the game up and everything seemed completely normal. The game was mostly a point and click, sometimes drag type of game where you completed mundane tasks in order to move onto the next level, trying to make it the best day ever for all of the citizens of Bikini Bottom. It started off simple, helping Patrick, SpongeBob’s best friend, find a clean diaper for his clam, Junior, and then disposing of the old one. Next, finding jelly for one of Patricks 3 a.m. burgers. Simple things such as this. I gradually made my way to the second level of the game where Yummer was supposedly coded in. This level was inside of the Krusty Krab, I saw Bubble Buddy, a character from the SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon standing idly to the left side of the screen, as i moved right i saw a terrified Mrs. Puff who asked me to help look for her keys. Further right a horrified Mr. Krabs, who told me he had lost a video tape containing a commercial for the Krusty Krab and enlisted me to help him find it.

All the way to the right is where yummer is thought to appear. In his place is a table and a barrel chair, there’s not much to see, but atop the table were 2 sock cans. I clicked on the cans and a sign popped up with SpongeBob saying, “I’ve already got my socks! Don't need these today.” I left the screen here and opened up YouTube to browse more videos and see if I was missing anything in particular to try and activate the Yummer animation. All of a sudden I noticed SpongeBob making these weird horrified faces, I’d seen him do this in other videos where he was left idle.. but these... they were different. He seemed to be looking at me or maybe even through me. His eyes were wide with terror, bloodshot almost out of fear. The music in the game faded then cut out in almost a dying battery type of way. I looked up quickly and for a brief second I saw two tiny hands grabbing the wooden column furthest to the right, I blinked and they were gone. One of the sock cans was now on the ground. I clicked on it and a red text box popped open.

It obviously didn't look like any text box I had seen in the game previously and the fact that it was also very glitchy was creeping me out. It read “Thank you for the sock, if you find me another one I will give you a present.” The creepy thing is, the text box will usually show an image of the character speaking, in the circle where the character was supposed to be, there was just an empty slot. Curiousity got the best of me and I decided to go around looking for another sock to give this character. I searched and searched the game, but I couldn't find anymore sock cans. Ready to give up I went back to the location where I had first run into who I assumed was “Yummer”. To my surprise both cans were on the ground now. I clicked on the second can and Yummer popped out from behind the wooden column. I could see his head entirely.

He didn't look like anyone else in the game, the animation style was completely different. He looked very lifelike, but surreal. He had a very round and elongated face, his skin was tan and very smooth, unrealistically smooth. His eyes popped out of his sockets and both appeared to be looking in opposite directions. Neither were looking directly at you, yet still seemed to follow when you moved. He had no nose, just a smooth patch of skin connecting to the rest of his face. The worst part was his mouth. It was set in a permanently creepy smile, so wide you could see his gums and everything.

That same glitchy red text sign popped up. “Thank you for finding my socks, I have a present for you.” I was so curious, I clicked on the chat to make the next card pop up, but then the game froze. I couldn’t click on anything else, I couldn't even exit the browser. The whole computer was frozen. I sat there for a couple of seconds contemplating whether or not to unplug my computer, when a loud static noise erupted suddenly. I looked back at the screen and it was slowly zooming in on Yummer, or rather where Yummer had been. He was gone. I quickly unplugged the computer and sat there staring at the black screen for minutes. What had just happened? Where did Yummer go? I plugged the computer back in and went back to the SpongeBob flash game. I played the game twice over, but I never saw Yummer again. I wondered what the surprise was and why the game had glitched out so hard. I’d already wasted well over an hour at this point and decided to push the game and my thoughts into the back of my mind for the night and I told myself I’d revisit the game in the morning if I still wanted to.

I turned my computer off and went to sleep. That night I had the strangest dream. I was still in my bed, but I heard my closet door creak open, it felt like I was still half asleep so I just peeked out of the corner of my eye to see what the noise was. And I swear I saw him, Yummer, peeking out from behind my closet door, the same exact pose I had seen him in from the game. He looked just like he had in the game, crazy eyed and smiling wildly, only he had two or three pairs of socks shoved into his mouth. His head still eerily realistic, and his neck seemed to belong to a different body completely. I was too scared to move, is this what his present was? A special late night visit? By now my head was turned to his direction completely. I could see him as clear as day, except for the fact that it was night and he was in the shadows, but he was really there. Suddenly he started limping towards me! His whole body came into sight. He was actually kind of tall with a rounded belly and lanky legs, very similar to Squidward’s body type, but taller and without the multiple limbs.

“Thank you for finding my socks.” he spoke, his voice was hoarse and dry, so very dry. I tried to speak, but was frozen in fear. “I have a gift for you.” he croaked. He placed a single pair of socks on the ground and then receded into the closet. I switched on my bedside lamp, but he was once again gone. I tried to chalk it up as just a dream, but the socks were there, they were real. I just wrapped them up in an old T-shirt and stuffed them under my bed. I never saw him again and I never did anything with the socks, but i’ll tell you this. I will never play another SpongeBob game as long as I live.