It’s terror-inducin’ good!

In Japan, it’s customary to send New Year’s cards to friends and family, often decorated with pictures of whatever animal in the Chinese Zodiac represents the upcoming year. Most of the time, the animals are shown in some sort of serene pose or cute scene, but 2017 also allows creative types to dabble in some dark humor.

2017 is the Year of the Rooster, but the Japanese language doesn’t usually differentiate between male and female animals. As such, in Japan, it could also be called the Year of the Chicken, which opened up the door to some appetite-stimulating dark humor, as shared by Japanese Twitter user @yoshidaushio.

“The New Year’s card my big sister made is awesomely surreal,” tweeted @yoshidaushio, “but she doesn’t have any [other] friends [to send cards too], so she and I were going to be the only ones in the world to see this.”

Aside from casting Colonel Sanders as a terrifying harbinger of death, there’s even a little bit of wordplay in the message written on the card. Read “Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu,” the phrase translates most naturally as “Happy New Year,” but the literal meaning of akemashite is “open,” and just like in English, the verb can be applied to the start of a period of time (such as the new year) or the removal of a physical barrier (such as a door separating dozens of delicious chickens from the founder of KFC).

Online reactions included:

“Run, chickens! RUN!”
“Sanders’ stately manner makes it all the more spine-tingling.”
“I bet Ronald McDonald is coming in 2021 [the Year of the Ox/Cow].”
“Your sister is awesome.”
“I want to be friends with both of you.”

@yoshidaushio, who works as a writer and illustrator, wrapped up her tweet by saying that she wishes her sister could earn a living through her artistic talents as well. Time will tell whether or not she can pull that feat off, but with this illustration, she’s at least started building a fanbase.

Source: Twitter/@yoshidaushio

Follow Casey on Twitter, where all this talk of scary Colonel Sanders has him wanting to rewatch Project A-ko.