Because the ocean depths are a never ending source of nightmarish horrors, unsuspecting beach-goers in Nags Head, North Carolina were treated to the monstrosity you see above on Monday. It’s a lancetfish, a breed known for eating its own kind with its cartoonishly large mouth and fang-like teeth.

Not satisfied with menacing patrons of Jennette’s Pier once, the lancetfish was returned to the ocean by nearby fishermen, only to return to shore some time later. Researchers can only suspect that the fish was sick and beached itself to die, but not without ruining someone’s day first.

“Lancetfish – Check out these images of what we believe is a lancetfish. It was photographed Monday night, just south of the pier. They rarely come close to shore as they’re an open ocean or pelagic fish. Have you ever seen or heard of them?” Jennette’s Pier wrote on their Facebook page.

When healthy and in their natural habitat, lancetfish aren’t as menacing as their appearance would suggest. Their muscles have a relatively high water content, making them slow to move. Not much else is known about the fish’s (which can grow to over six feet in length) biology. It’s believed that they spend much of their time lying in wait, snacking on crabs but also deriving many of their nutrients from other slow-moving lancetfish.

Despite living in nearly every ocean and sea in the world (save for those at the poles), lancetfish are rarely seen or caught. When they are, fishermen don’t want them – they’re said to have a mushy texture – so they typically end up as bait.

Barring that, it appears they aspire to spend their dying breath scaring sunbathers, like some kind of lancetfish Valhalla