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D'oh! The Simpsons look freaky when they face forward

Maybe the nuclear mutations in Springfield aren't limited to Blinky, the three-eyed fish, because what is up with this?

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Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
CNET freelancer Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
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Gael Fashingbauer Cooper

Homer looks horrifying, Bart is bizarre. Twitter user butchcoded tweeted on Monday that the characters from "The Simpsons," funny-looking on their best day, look absolutely terrifying when they face forward and look straight at us. Cowabunga, they're creepy!

Turns out this is such a well-known fact to some that there's even a Tumblr, "Front Facing Simpsons," highlighting the outlandish images. Of course, the Tumblr has its own Twitter account.

I've never noticed it in decades of watching, but though the characters look perfectly acceptable in profile, something happens when they swing their heads toward the audience. The cartoony faces that are cute from the side seem to melt, and what the heck happens with the way their noses and eyes smoosh together? Maybe it's the runoff from Homer's nuclear power plant that created Blinky, the famed three-eyed fish.

Childhood didn't protect the characters from freaky face syndrome, it seems to be with them from birth.

Even the animals are unnerving when they look right at you.

The one exception? Angelic-looking mom Marge.

Well, in that above photo, at least. But even the Simpsons' matriarch has her melty-face moments.

"The Simpsons" is in the middle of its 29th season on Fox, and has been renewed for a 30th season.