Mystery chocolate piece in advent calendar

My wife bought advent calendars for my two daughters from Trader Joe's. The calendars cost ninety-nine cents apiece. Behind each of the 24 little doors is a piece of chocolate with a symbol representing the holidays on it. One piece of chocolate had a sleigh with presents in it, for instance. All of the symbols have been easily recognizable, if somewhat crude. But the pieces of chocolate my daughters got today is a mystery.

None of us can tell what it is. It's not a squirrel; we already got a piece of chocolate that looked like a squirrel and this looks like nothing like that one.

This looks vaguely skull-like, or an H.P. Lovecraft monster, maybe. I don't know if the picture above is upside down, sideways or right side up. I have a feeling the readers of Boing Boing will be able to figure out what it is pretty quickly, though. And then it will snap into clarity. Or maybe not.

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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dancentury

That’s the two-headed dragon, a symbol of alchemy.
BarelyFitz

It’s a fraggle stick car.
Anonymous

Holly leaves and a sleigh-bell? Based on the what’s supposed to be in the TJ advent calendar, it’s probably intended to be a gigantic berry, and either there was a defect in the pour, or, more likely, the dimple is intended to represent a highlight.

People saying “mistletoe” are confusing it with holly. Mistletoe isn’t spiky.
Anonymous

I say it is a Christmas pudding just like my english grandmama makes. They are shaped like an overturned mixing bowl and are adorned with Holly. Check out Google images for examples.

Mike from Sunny Victoria BC
Anonymous

I can’t help myself: squirrel.
http://yfrog.com/49img40391j
Anonymous

is that a dead girl on the table cloth print?!?
CrowCall

I think it`s a negative mold image of holly sprigs and berry. The matrix has been reversed–an easy enough slip to make when using an AutoCAD-style casting design process. Never would have happened in the olde dayes, though.
Anonymous

I have a trader joes advent calender too! I can’t wait to get to this one.
chaffinch

rotate 90% anticlockwise and squint your eyes and you seem to have a very crude sack of toys on a sleigh with santa at the helm.

- Wilko
mdh

http://www.mariowiki.com/Fire_Flower
Anonymous

I keep thinking of Cthulu. No matter how much I try to see sugarplums and holly and sleighs…. I just see webbing, and tentacles, and a big evil EYE.

Cthulhu fhtagn…
Jack

Itâ€™s the â€œKilroy was Hereâ€ nose/hand thing with a crown of thorns on itâ€™s head.
GreatRewards

It’s a Sleestak standing outside a Pylon. Will! Holly! Run!
Anonymous

Wanna see the squirrel.
Anonymous

It’s an (poorly rendered) ornament with holly leaves and berries. We have the same calendar. A more easily identifiable version is on the back of the box!
Anonymous

Looks like mistletoe with a round bell.

Yep, pretty sure that’s it: http://i.imgur.com/Mbcom.jpg
iburl

Undead Drow Elf.

They make badass toys.
Anonymous

Turn it clockwise 90 degrees
It’s a Christmas pudding with a sprig of holly on the top
Anonymous

I think it’s upside down in the pic, and it’s a sack of toys (like Santa’s bag) with a sprig of holly next to it.
Ryanwoofs

Holly sprig with a jingle bell. Fa la la la la la
Anonymous

It’s the holy spirit! Its kind of hard for the human mind to conceptualize. Duh. ;)
Ryanwoofs

Or Bullwinkle.
Anonymous

it’s obviously Cthulhu EATING a chipmunk…
Anonymous

Fat Elvis.
Anonymous

Clearly it’s John Merrick’s sack
Anonymous

Santa Claus on his sleigh with a bag of toys, if you tilt the picture counter-clockwise :)
Anonymous

It’s a few weeks early, but I think it’s Van Gogh’s left ear.
Anonymous

BVM (Blessed Virgin Mary )
Anonymous

Interesting use of negative space.
el_rey_misterioso

Bought the same calendar and had the same reaction. Think it is a squirrel. Squirrels seem to be a holiday/winter theme in Europe. Btw my three-year-old launched an early morning raid on the calendar to speed up the X-mas countdown. By the time she was discovered, December 4, 12, 17 and 24 had been compromised.
Anonymous

it looks kind of like a holly berry with some leaves.. or maybe a bell
MrJM

Zwarte Piet?
- -v-
  
  Surely he’s already back on his way to Spain with the Sint?
cstatman

“They can’t all be winners kid” (Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa)
FatalDischarge

Please don’t tell me that I’m the only one that sees a penis.
Anonymous

Crunchy Frog
awjtawjt

That’s a chain of macrophages infecting a testicle.
Merry Christmas, XOXO,
-The TSA
Anonymous

http://static-p3.fotolia.com/jpg/00/13/79/30/400_F_13793037_V4u4bzPKClpN9mbIDeQFqPFB55ymqoGB.jpg

It’s a squirrel on a branch eating a nut, rotated 45 degrees clockwise.
EOT
morcheeba

Isn’t it obvious?!
http://i.imgur.com/8zlAs.jpg
jennchlebus

It’s the Ghost Rider bike Daddy is going to get me for Xmas!!! (You’ll put your eye out kid….)
Johnny Justice

You could check the mould in the calendar to find the right way up.
Anonymous

This is indeed a very sick and twisted chocolate piece!
With a little enhancement, you can see all the horrors hidden there
http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/8103/monstersw.jpg
Robert

It’s Basement Cat hiding behind some leafs.
Anonymous

Xenu will eat you all.
Anonymous

it seems to be a slightly deformed fleur-de-lys.
KEvin

If you look on the back of the calendar, it looks like it is supposed to be Holly and a berry…I think.
GreyTheory

I know it’s more of a Thanksgiving decoration, but I keep seeing a cornucopia..
BDiamond

It’s Schnappi!
Anonymous

It’s unquestionably Santa’s bag (opening vaguely downwards in the picture) — the small shapes are a vague attempt at toy outlines.
mati

Whatever it is, it’s clearly fake…You know, because of the pixels.
Anonymous

I know, it’s John Matuszak’s character from “The Goonies”.
peterbruells

There is probably a picture below the mold. Have yet to see a advent calendar like thus that didn’t work like this.
D2S

it’s a legless spider eating a honeycomb!
thisisnotatest

Christmas pudding with holly on top, as others have pointed out already.
holding_rabbits

it’s a nativity scene. on the right is mary’s face looking at the swaddled jesus. joseph is standing up.

http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Catholic-billboard.jpg

sorry, all 100 of you who thought it was cthulu. good joke the first 20 times though.
Anonymous

Sorry, you’re all wrong. It’s clearly Kodos using a space phone.
http://imgur.com/pcLL8
Anonymous

A yule log being consumed in flames
Anonymous

lookas kinda like a dragon if you look at it with your head tilted right
Anonymous

It’s clearly an octopus talking on the phone!
Anonymous

Santa’s earwax people. All advent calendar chocolates are made from Santas earwax. That one is just a sweet reminder of this in case you forget.
Anonymous

It’s another Santa in the sleigh with presents, but with teeth marks.
Anonymous

It is a deformed Christmas pudding (round) with holly leaves on top
Anonymous

Clearly, this is a monkey on a snowmobile.

You know? It’s Santa’s Little Helper Monkey.
Trnck

I’ve been beaten by someone, it’s Jesus.
Anonymous

it’s the hannukah hand grenade. yaay! (hint: rotate 180 degrees in the direction of your choice.)

what it’s doing in an advent calendar is anyone’s guess.
Anonymous

#46 and #59 definitely have it. Christmas pudding
http://imgur.com/Odn8e.jpg
- Anonymous
  
  I’m voting Christmas Puddi too:
  http://www.snapperdesigns.com/Christmas-Pudding.jpg
Anonymous

its a headcrab on a piece of doo doo… duh
Anonymous

Christmas Octopus.
Anonymous

“Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.” … “In his house at R’lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.”
Splather

It’s Christmas Cthulu of course, duh….
Anonymous

I have the same calendar and just opened today’s. Mine looked even worse, but it still resembled mistletoe and berry.

Squirrel was day one.
silus

An enormous swollen testicle, still living despite severance from its host, being transported through the village in the snow on a spike-tracked death-tank to be interrogated by the clergy with a view to canonization as a modern replacement for Saint Nicholas.

You have to tilt it to the left.
- CrowCall
  
  Silus, I thought you were just making a joke–a Really Funny joke. But as soon as I tilted my head to the right… wham! I saw it! And not just the deathtank and its spiky treads, but the awaiting clergy as well! I will watch, with listing head, for your future comments….
Anonymous

“Nevertheless, I must warn you that in future you should delete the words ‘crunchy frog’, and replace them with the legend ‘crunchy raw unboned real dead frog’, if you want to avoid prosecution. ”

Seriously, how is it that nearly 150 comments in an not a single reference to this Monty Python sketch? That’s just sad!
andyhavens

It’s a banana. Just look at it.
Lilah

Holly leaves and berry.
Anonymous

Looks like a fleur de lis that melted a bit.
Craig Landrum

The 18-year old slacker they hired to crank out these low-end treats hocked a loogie into the mold before he poured the chocolate.
Utenzil

Reindeer poop!
Anonymous

I hav e the same one- the back has a drawing of all the designs (roughly) and I’m sure its the ornament with holly. A good trick is to look in the plastic shell inside the box because it’s always in there so the top is facing up
Anonymous

It must be decrypted if we are to know the 256 digit code to the Wikileaks “poison pill!”
Anonymous

It’s London’s logo for the 2012 Olympics. Nothing to see here.
MythicalMe

Lest anyone be not aware, today is St. Nicholas day and according to legend Santa is a composite of St. Nicholas. So I’ll go out on a limb and call it Santa and Toy bag on his sleigh.
Anonymous

It’s a #Wikileak
Hel

Holly with a ribbon tied in a bow.
desiredusername

The Thing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouZkkIsLiNg
Anonymous

did you look at the cartoon picture behind the chocolate? does the other calendar have the same piece? what is going on in the part of the picture it came out of?
memoi2001

I’m betting an orc or some other WOW related nasty (cataclysm just came out after all)

seriously though, bad rendition on some holly and festive stuff
DeWynken

It’s OBVIOUSLY a squirrel 69ing a seahorse.

I mean, like, DUH.
Bart

It’s definitely Cthulhu.
He’s waiting for you.
And dreaming of his holiday presents.
Anonymous

Elf Ice skate pointing up?
Anonymous

Frankincense ? Or what’s the other stuff… Muhr(sp?).
Anonymous

Rotate it 90 degree clockwise and you’ll see holly leaves with a berry.
Anonymous

I went through this today!
Decided it was a turkey on a bed of holly leaves.
Anonymous

it looks like holly a leaf and a berry.
tobiasaurusrex

It’s an ornament hanging from a tree. It’s pretty much upside-down as pictured.
grikdog

Rohrschach. Looked at phenomenologically, a simple chocolate mess left too near a heat source. I do not believe it represents anything to do with Christmas, but would suggest a brief plant inspection by the FDA.
Anonymous

Cthulu skull
Solidblue

The choc is the right way up. It’s Futurama’s Leela, hiding behind a large chain. I can’t believe nobody else has recognised it. Christmas must be different in the future.
CuttingOgres

Hemlock or prickly plant.
Anonymous

You said you purchased 2 advent calendars.
What was in the other one on the same date?
Kerouac

Looks like reindeer tracks on the left, and droppings on the right. Whether they are reindeer droppings or Santa droppings is entirely your call.
Anonymous

Those spikes, those horns!

That can only be the Hogfather’s Sleigh!
Anonymous

I see a turkey.
ChedRickman

To me it looks like a botched image of reindeer and a sleigh going through the night: Going from the top left to bottom left we see some sort of chain-link looking structure, comprised of three “links” (three indentations are clearly visible). The bottom one of these is however wider than the others. Or, if you rotate the image about 90 degrees counterclockwise, it will appear to be TALLER than the other two links. Now, look at the front link…it is obviously unclear, but I can see a protruding snout or nose, with what seems like symmetric flairs going back from the edge of the chocolate. These are antlers and the iconic pulled-back mid-flight legs of the lead reindeer (I guess technically it’s Rudolph, even though there’s only two, max four if you assume depth to this image as well). The second link or reindeer is even more unformed, but I think it kind of mimics the first. The third link is taller and is the sleigh. It appears there is some sort of form on the sleigh, however it is convex and inverted, and must be a result of a poor press by the choco-former 3000. But my guess is that little dimple represents Santa. The bog blob looking thing in the middle is the full moon, illuminating the glory of this work of art. That, or a HUGE sack of toys.
Flaminica

Had to sleep on it but it’s definitely a spray of four holly leaves over a round sleigh bell. The top of the candy is at the bottom-left side in the photo. Pivot it 135 degrees clockwise to see it the right way up.
Anonymous

it’s a pacifier guys… linked to a chain.
Anonymous

It’s the squirrel with the head missing–note the hole on the right. Once you re-attach one of your spare chocolate squirrel’s head you’ll be back in business. So to speak.
Anonymous

Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Fhtagn!
bolivar13

I’ve obviously been beaten to the punch, but the image is obviously the ever jolly Santa Cthulu.
- bolivar13
  
  err… strike one of those obviouslys, obviously
Anonymous

Tilt your head to the right… it’s a squirrel on a chain.
Anonymous

rotate anti clockwise about 70 dgs and u will see the wings and legs of a turkey surrounded by trimmings
Anonymous

Kokopelli!
Anonymous

I believe, if you were to turn it clockwise until the bottom were flat it would be a sleigh with Santa sitting facing the right and big sack of toys in the sleigh behind him.
Anonymous

I had the same problem. Look at Santa’s clipboard on back of calendar. It is an orange with holly, maybe. The clipboard has all of the pictures from the chocolate pieces, I think this one was badly mass produced.
(I didn’t read previous posts so this might be old news.)
highlyverbal

Holly leaves with a berry (or nut).
yochillum

As a Jew from a small midwestern town, I can assure you that this is most definitely a depiction of my self-esteem come Christmas time.
Ilya

The bulbous part, if upside down, could be a fig with one leaf on its stem. Next to a string of mistletoe? Or benzene?
Anonymous

Mistletoe. Its got holly leaves on top and the little cherry-looking thing
Anonymous

It’s a profile of Santa holding a bag of toys.
Antinous / Moderator

It’s the, um, Diadem of Our Lady of the Vicissitudes. Or possibly part of the Eagle Nebula.
Anonymous

It’s gotta be some deformed holly/mistletoe and a bauble.
Mark Frauenfelder

That’s a possibility, But you have to admit that would be pretty weird looking berry or nut.
- Anonymous
  
  Then perhaps you’ve never seen my holly and berries.
Anonymous

It is quite clear that it is our lord and savior, the Flying spaghetti monster. His noodly appendage has seen fit to grace us with his, albeit mysterious, appearance.
Anonymous

Okay, I confess I didn’t read every comment, but I control-f-ed and didn’t see this.

Could it be a train w/smoke? The large curly part (currently on the right) is the smoke cloud, with three cars train cars below it (currently a line of square shapes on the left). It looks like the engine car (bottommost) even has smokestacks which the cloud comes out of?

-N
irksome

Aborted fetus. Sell it on eBay.
Dig Duggler

It’s a chain from the Hellraiser films offering the torments of hell… Merry Christmas!
Anonymous

Perhaps a chipmunk on a pinecone?
fergus1948

Turn it upside down and you can see it’s two flies copulating on top of a turd.
Anonymous

It could be Santa (a mighty deformed santa I admit) with his bag of toys? (upside down?)
Dawn deMom

My husband pointed out the holly leaves and said the bigger part is probably an ornament. I can somewhat see that. Or a really large ribbon.

Or something else!
Kickstart

Mistletoe with a bow, looks like to me.
mode80

It’s a upside-down caricature of Jesus with a gigantic nose with a crown of thorns. Now that the savior of mankind has appeared to you ensconced in chocolately goodness, why not flog it on eBay to GoldenPalace.com?
mr.skeleton

Perhaps mistle toe!

I can also see Santa with a large sack of gifts, atop his sleigh.

It’s a Christmas Rorschach!
Anonymous

Mistletoe
Anonymous

Rotate it to the left a little: Santa’s sleigh loaded with goodies or a plump Christmas turkey?
bmihulka

Mistletoe
drew826

Definitely looks like holly leaves with some abnormal growth. Maybe the mold was deformed.
AlanJCastonguay

Mistletoe: Holly & Berry. The weird indentation on the berry is supposed to be a specular highlight.
hershmire

Looks like holly with berries to me, but like they inverted the berry part.
Anonymous

Santa Claus carrying a sack, walking towards the left in profile? This is like a Christmas-themed Rorschach inkblot…
Ito Kagehisa

It’s a kiwi bird walking down an anchor chain. Very festive!
igpajo

Tilt your head to the right and it’s a squirrel on a Tron light cycle!
Anonymous

Yeah, Looks like holly leaves
teleny

Turkey on a platter?
Anonymous

Its Santa in a sleigh with a big sack of toys,, turn counter clockwise a bit..
the santa is a negative impression it looks like..-
atta
Anonymous

It’s an old fashioned candlestick and candle
Anonymous

It’s a Santa Hat
Anonymous

Reindeers on the bottom and Santa and his big present bag on the sleigh?
I guess they ran out of simple images hahaha :D
Teufelaffe

Looks like a partially melted fleur de lis
verbalnormal

Perhaps a chipmunk on a combed pinecone?
Anonymous

No one else sees a face? I think it’s supposed to be mistletoe with a bauble. But it’s also easy to see it as some sort of decayed zombie Scrooge. The bauble is the eye and then there are decayed hollows of flesh along the jawline made of what are supposed to be mistletoe leaves. The cartilage of the nose has rotted and the mouth is open.
Rob Beschizza

Every time I think I have it, my eureka moment fades as some other compositional element makes clear that it cannot possibly be right.
Anonymous

Yule log. log runs diagonally (lower R to upper L) and flame curls out from it.

poorly executed but believable, I think.

-acm
Anonymous

It is a candle in a victorian style handheld candleholder that was used when you out a-wassailing.
SenorPaco

Santa’s bag on his sleigh
3lbFlax

Lumpy chocolate fnord. HOW CAN YOU FOOLS NOT SEE IT?
Anonymous

I’m thinking it’s Santa’s sleigh with a packed bag of presents on top, like in “The Grinch”.
Anonymous

igpajo
‘Tilt your head to the right and it’s a squirrel on a Tron light cycle!’

DEFINATELY
Anonymous

That is very obviously a profile of Cthulu.
John Markos O’Neill

Is this a Black Sabbath themed Advent calendar? This is obviously an homage to the cover of the album “Born Again.”
Christopher Vigliotti

it’s obviously a steampunk pistol
miocyon

Don’t look at it! It’s a namshub and will crash your brain!
John Markos O’Neill

Egads! It’s Marley’s ghost!
Anonymous

Looks a bit like a sledge and something holding a giant bag.
kbryan44

I see a benzene ring at the bottom. Can’t make out the rest of the molecule.
Anonymous

Here is an example of the type of candleholder it is – the handle on the chocolate mold is much more heartier and heavy.

http://www.shutterstock.com/subscribe.mhtml
Anonymous

It looks like Santa with a bag of toys.
Hirsty

It’s Julian Assange.
Anonymous

It’s Holly Berry.
mtellers

I think it’s a candle flame with holly leaves in the background.
- bruhinb
  
  A candle holder, with a candle, flame, and holly leaves is what I see, too. Like at http://www.clipartguide.com/_named_clipart_images/0060-0911-2314-0648_Lit_Christmas_Candle_In_Holder_clipart_image.jpg
sfhock

The Human Centepede… with a tumor…
Mythus

From every angle, going clockwise, I’ve got: the Eiffel Tower being hit by a giant bowling ball, a ray gun, a guy holding a bag of trash, and what could be Santa’s sleigh with a bag of toys on it if you really squint. That last one’s a stretch.
huntsu

I agree it’s a holly leaf with berry.
Jake0748

Its an evil cyclops skull that was chained to the wall of some cave. Those are some of the links of the chain on the left there. (At least in the orientation I’m looking at here).

What that has to do with Christmas or Advent, I do not know.

You’re welcome.
John Markos O’Neill

Henry! You ruined this whole batch! That’s the last time I let you near the molds.

Ah, put ‘em in the Trader Joe’s order.
jonw

I’d say the big thing is a bag of toys. And a line of reindeer. But I want it to be the grinch.
Vanguard3000

http://radgeek.com/gt/images/hordak.jpg
Anonymous

i think we have the basis for Dan Brown’s next best-seller!
Jonathan Badger

It’s a shoggoth, clearly. You seem to have gotten the “At The Mountains of Madness” themed advent calendar.
- Anonymous
  
  Yeah, I was going to say elder god.
Anonymous

I think it is a troll for those of us with mobile devices that autorotate the screen.
Anonymous

Looks like Bullwinkle to me =)
DloPwop

It’s a sleigh bell. You’re welcome.
braininavat

A ball and chain! It’s your credit card bill for January!
the_headless_rabbit

Since everyone seems to be seeing something different in this piece of chocolate, I am going to conclude that it’s nothing at all.

It is possibly a shape the designers threw in last minute, because they were only able to come up with 23 ideas, but needed one more, so they came up with some biomorphic form that could be interpreted as being anything with a bit of imagination. Children do have very active imaginations.
patrick neville

brass knuckles?
- Jake0748
  
  LOL
devophill

C’mon, you guys, it’s a (spherical) plum pudding with a holly sprig. Jeez.
Xeni Jardin

It’s our lord Jesus.
- Glenn Fleishman
  
  Pitiful humans.
staticvars

It’s a cry for help from the melting glacier Santa lives on. Put it under a warm bulb for the full effect.
BillR

That’s Krampus, obviously.
jhm

Have you slit this open yet? Perhaps it represents the death dance of the cockroach who fell into the chocolate.
Anonymous

Definitely Santa with a sack over his shoulder, aboard a sleigh.
Anonymous

It’s a sleigh.
Ape Lad

I think it’s Nosferatu. Trader Joe’s is owned by a German company after all.
Jazzhigh

Shecky the Festivus snail and his puddle of vitriolic slime.
Anonymous

Flame of Anor?
Anonymous

I don’t know what it is but it looks like it’s part of the war on Christmas…