#adding a sparkle text gif to the homepage

[wh-news]

ㅤㅤㅤAs Halloween approaches, a new update to the website of Welcome Home has arrived—how exciting!

ㅤㅤㅤIn this post, I’ll go over all the new secrets added on the 13th of October to the website of Welcome Home, a psychological horror project created by Clown (otherwise known as partycoffin). ㅤㅤㅤThings such as all the sources I used and special mentions will be listed in the bibliography section in order to avoid cluttering the post!

→ document ver. // og. website! // previous update ←

WARNING !! Heavy spoilers for Welcome Home lay ahead!

ㅤㅤㅤI encourage you to experience the website for yourself before reading this, as it'll take from the experience you'd have otherwise!

★ TABLE OF CONTENTS

What's New? 1.- Welcome Home page 2.- News 3.- Merchandise 4.- Transcripts 5.- Your Neighborhood 6.- Stickers

Final Thoughts

Bibliography

What’s New?

1.- Welcome Home page

ㅤㅤㅤJust like in the previous update, the changes are clear as soon as you step in:  the Home gif that welcomes us just like before now is adorned with Halloween theme, with spooky garden decorations —such as a friendly scarecrow and a cute blue pumpkin—, and a witch hat decorating Home’s roof.  But fear not—the previous gif isn’t gone!  These Halloween decorations are nothing but an overlaid image on top of the original one, aptly titled “dressup.png.”

ㅤㅤㅤHeading to the homepage, we find our favorite neighbor, Wally, now sits on the usual rock wearing a devil costume, with matching pants and cardigan, the filename now being “HappyHalloween!!”.  The theme continues with the drawings on the rock itself, now being of a pumpkin, a purple spider, and a smiley Home; and the tree, its leaf having turned orange and its log a brighter shade of purple.

ㅤㅤㅤThe same drawings starts being drawn on the screen as before, so we continue to the website’s update section:

ㅤㅤㅤThere, our friendly neighbor awaits sitting on the frame of the updates window with the same costume as before.  On the window itself, the gif has been swapped with a pumpkin-shaped tree ornament.  In its text we can find the offset “Y” like in previous updates —previously from the word “you,” now from the word “holidays”—, as it's crucial for the code to access some of the secret pages of the website, such as the “try again” pages (x, x, x), the slightly changed 404 Error page that leads to the “duet” audio, and our first look into the “answer” pages, which I talked about in my previous update document.

ㅤㅤㅤIt also encourages us to go read the news section, so that’s where we’ll go next.

2.- News

ㅤㅤㅤHeading now straight to the News page, we can find the familiar faces of the neighborhood’s favorite duo: Frank and Julie, still decorating the page with their sparkles and their stunning outfits.  Right below them, a new update telling us about the WHRP’s new findings: a few pages of a cookbook, which were restored surprisingly well—followed by an eerie, unpleased message to whoever their “source” is, reading “Our source has yet to send the full book. I don’t understand why. What is it worth to leave it out? Ripping out pages… What a waste. It takes so long to get everything off of them. Still, we’re patient, aren’t we. If you are reading this, please hurry.”

ㅤㅤㅤThe next finding is a Wally Darling Halloween Costume, of which we’ll see more later in the Merchandise section.  Last but not least, a new storybook record has been found, following the previous one titled “Eddie’s Big Lift”!

ㅤㅤㅤFollowing this, they mention how they’ve placed their full attention to something seemingly fundamental to the full restoration of Welcome Home, after this a somewhat off putting quote.  “What is it, I hear you pleading! Clawing at your screens just as we have! Coughing, headaches, nausea- I know. I know.”  Continuing as if nothing, they end the note by saying “Until then, have a happy Halloween!  Don’t forget to wave down below!”

ㅤㅤㅤAnd with that, we’re free to continue to the next section:  Merchandise.

3.- Merchandise

ㅤㅤㅤJust as mentioned in the News section, we scroll down to find a new section for the cookbook, counting with 4 images—all with a watermark reading “THE WELCOME HOME RESTORATION PROJECT,” a first for the website.  Here, we see recipes for “smiling treats,” cupcakes, and caramel apples, all using ingredients provided by the same company —Crispy SweetsTM— that produced the Welcome Home themed cereals seen in the previous update.

ㅤㅤㅤNext, the storybook record:  titled "Happy Haunting to Boo and Yours!”, endorsed by Crispy Sweets and produced by Marlo, it tells the story of the neighbors' Halloween party presumably located at Sally’s house, as she seems to be the host.  A narrator accompanies us throughout the storybook’s 19 minutes and 43 seconds, interacting directly only with Sally when she interrupts their explanation.

ㅤㅤㅤAlthough it states that a particular audio rip skips at 16:56 and quickly jumps past Sally’s dialogue to 18:51, unlike the WHRP we, as the audience, are able to hear her story.  I provided a full transcript, including this part, in this document.

ㅤㅤㅤA few things to note of the Vinyl Cover is that, when the update first came out, it had the same watermark of the cookbook plastered all over it, and only Sally’s face could be visible.  Also, at the bottom of the image, there is text that reads “Sponsored by Crispy Sweets,” Marlo’s logo, and “Copyright © Playfellow Workshop (illegible) the U.S.A.”

ㅤㅤㅤScrolling a bit further, we finally find the official Wally Darling Halloween costume mentioned in the News section: a rather comical-looking costume of unknown manufacturer that kids could wear, with the same drawing found in the homepage printed in the chest area.  Alongside it a Wally Darling mask with cutout circles in its eyes, so that the wearer would be able to see.

4.- Transcripts

ㅤㅤㅤGoing straight to the transcripts for the storybook record, as everything else seems to be in place, we’re surprised with nothing else than a new bug button, this time a pumpkin-lantern-themed candy spider, its filename aptly being “candy.gif,” making this the second bug with a filename other than random letters and numbers—the first being at the bottom of the homepage, titled “teeheehee.gif."  We can see a similar candy in Clown’s Tumblr, being Home-themed.

ㅤㅤㅤClicking on it will take us to a video named “00,” that belongs to what seems to be a new category, differentiated by the window title “listen.”  The previous category was titled “answer,” with a similar if not identical style of video, being seemingly recorded with a camera presumably being held by Wally Darling himself.

ㅤㅤㅤThis time, we can see a table filled with Halloween themed decorations and sweets, as well as the same baskets with the neighbors’ faces as seen in the cook book’s cover, in Merchandise.  To the left, a plate with a candy apple, which we’ll later discover belongs to Barnaby.  We hear the neighbors talking before Barnaby appears, trying to escape Sally’s lecture about Commedia dell’Arte —from where the character she’s dressed as, Pedrolino, comes from, being one of the first professional theaters originated in Italy, popularized in Europe between the 16th and 17th centuries—.

ㅤㅤㅤThey keep talking about it, when the video starts glitching, becoming brighter and darker at random, being covered in discolored static.  Not long after the video starts glitching harder, zooming in for a second to Frank’s basket before going back to normal, Barnaby’s candy apple seemingly moving on its own, now with a bite-sized chunk taken from it.  Barnaby approaches the camera —and therefore, Wally—, before realizing what happened to his snack, playfully teasing the others about it.

ㅤㅤㅤHowever, aside from the video’s distortion, there’s something off with the transcript itself: this is the first time, to my knowledge, that it shows personality and emotion, in lines such as “[Visual ID: Something… Has happened to the apple. A bite has been taken out of it, I think.],” and “[There is a brief pause. What is he doing.]”

5.- Your Neighborhood

ㅤㅤㅤMoving right along, we head to the Neighborhood, where some small changes have been made to some of the neighbors’ profiles.  Being that this update is Halloween themed, they all now have a brief segment related to the storybook record!

ㅤㅤㅤStarting with Julie, it reads: “In the storybook record, “Happy Haunting to Boo and Yours,” it is implied Julie and Frank could be a couple,” which is matching with Frank’s as theirs states “In the storybook record, “Happy Haunting to Boo and Yours,” it is implied Frank and Julie could be a couple.”

ㅤㅤㅤAlthough this will probably alert many fans as it did me, I’d like to point at a Tumblr post Clown made back in 2020: here, they mention homophobia and ableism being parts of the story, as they’re part of his own life and growth as a person.  Although old, and although these themes might not be implemented to the story in the same way Clown had planned back then, they might still be a part of it.  

ㅤㅤㅤFollowing with Howdy: “In the storybook record, “Happy Haunting to Boo and Yours,” it is implied that Howdy's antennae may have a mechanic that allowed them to move.”  We can also see this portrayed in the vinyl cover for it, in Merchandise.

ㅤㅤㅤLast but not least, the (literal) star of the show, Sally: “In the storybook record, "Happy Haunting to Boo and Yours," Sally Starlet invented a Halloween-esque holiday called the Macabre Menagerie of Monstorous Mischief Making,” which to her dismay Barnaby nicknamed “Terror n’ Treats.”

6.- Stickers

ㅤㅤㅤGoing, finally, to our last page: stickers!  As seen around in other pages of the website, all the sprites —except for Home’s— have gotten a halloween version, showing off their terrific costumes: Wally, as stated before, as a devil; Julie as a witch; Frank as a vampire, Howdy as a ghost (using his 100% on sale mattress); Poppy as a pumpkin; Eddie as Frankenstein, being the only one alongside Sally whose costume changed from the previous canon Halloween art we had, aside from minor changes; Barnaby as a werewolf (or were-beagle, as he calls himself); and Sally as Pedrolino.

ㅤㅤㅤHere, I’d like to give some more info about Pedrolino and the Commedia dell’Arte.  As said before, it was an early form of professional theater, originated from Italy, that was popular in Europe between the 16th and 17th centuries.  Characterized by masked “types,” characters usually represented fixed social types and character archetypes.  These were usually exaggerated.

ㅤㅤㅤAs for Pedrolino, he was a servant characterized by being simpleminded, honest, and cowardly.  He was of the "low", rustic class, and tended to be the victim of other's pranks.  Unlike most of the other characters, he usually played without a mask, painting his face white instead; when he did use one, it was one that only covered his eyes.  This was because his role used to vary depending on the play, so the expressions were left to the actor.  He was mute, or spoke very rarely; when he did speak, it was with the vocabulary level of a 2 year old.

ㅤㅤㅤSally specifically states that everyone was dressing up as something they’re not, so she chose her “opposite.”

Final Thoughts

ㅤㅤㅤAlthough short —or “bite-sized,” as said by Clown in this post—, this update provided interesting insight on Sally’s character and the neighbors’ relationships and dynamics, giving us also a lot of small things that can be used for the puzzle that is the bigger picture; plus, a lot of new, lovely art of the whole cast that I’m sure all of us greatly enjoyed.  Hearing their voices again is always a nice thing, especially in these spooky times.   ㅤㅤㅤOther than that, something seems to be off with whoever is writing for the website…  I wonder what it is.  

ㅤㅤㅤI’d also like to use this section to, like Clown, shout out some of the people that worked on this update!  Those would be…

@/downydig, who did the vinyl cover and the cook book art; @/rudeboimonster, who produced the Wally Darling costume; @/hollowtones, the narrator for “Happy Haunting to Boo and Yours!”; @/kmodoposts, in charge of composing the track for the storybook record; @/kindestegg, who made all the spooky sprites that adorn the website; And the voice actors: @/friendlyfrankenstein, @/syntheticcharmva, @/cyberscraps, @/GinaM9816, @/tunnelva, and @/modmad!

ㅤㅤㅤWith nothing else to say, it's time to wave goodbye… ㅤㅤㅤUntil then, have a happy Halloween!

ㅤㅤㅤDon’t forget to wave down below!

Bibliography

Clown (2022) Welcome Home | ClownIllustrations Sage (2023) Sage’s WH Resources !! Matt Parker (2014) Commedia Character Research - Pedrolino The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (2023) Pedrolino Wikipedia (2023) Commedia dell’arte Clown (2023) Hello, you!