I’ve always found Pokemon to be adorable creatures and never understood how such beings were made to fight one another for fame and fortune. Call it the activist in me, but I wanted to collect them all in order to protect them. That is, until I saw these recreations by artist Gavin Mackey.

Mackey takes the familiar pocket monsters we’ve all grown to adore and puts a “real-life” twist on the creatures that may have you running to turn the lights on. While they remain true to their originals for the most part, the “real-life” versions are a tad bit, well, too realistic for my tastes. Don’t get me wrong, the images are incredibly rendered, capturing the essence of what made each Pokemon unique, but chances are you just may not want to show your kids.

Take a look at the semi-creepy recreations below:

I don’t know if it’s just me, but these Pokemon feel like they belong in one of those Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books. Look at Jigglypuff, for example. Hauntingly beautiful eyes, but when you take into consideration the rest of it, Jigglypuff completely has me running for the door as quickly as its singing puts people to sleep. While I may be a bit of a pansy, I won’t deny that the artistic strides that Mackey takes is nothing short of remarkable. Well done, sir!

How would you feel if any of Mackey’s reimagined Pokemon appeared as you walked through a field of tall grass? Let us know in the comments below.

Check out Gavin Mackey’s DeviantArt for more of his artwork.

HT: Imgur via Reddit