Yep, SpongeBob just directly referenced a classic creepypasta about Squidward killing himself
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As far as creepypasta with a healthy shelf-life goes, it’s hard to beat “Squidward’s Suicide.” Tracking down the exact origin points of internet ghost stories can be an exercise in futility, but there’s been video of the faux SpongeBob SquarePants episode—in which sadsack Squidward supposedly takes his own life, after sporting a face with creepy red eyes for his juvenile audience’s delight—since at least 2012, which puts it in “Dead Bart” territory as far as the “‘lost’ episode of a cartoon where something, like, super weird and dark happens” genre goes. In fact, the spooky little story has now been around long enough to graduate up to the big game: A reference in the show it’s riffing on itself.