Hello, Movie Mavens! Welcome back to the B Movies Blog. Today, we’re popping Clown’s Welcome Home ARG into the ol’ VCR.
Quick Jump:
Hello, movie mavens! Welcome back to the B Movies blog. Today, we’re popping Clown’s Welcome Home ARG into the ol’ VCR.
Okay, friends, I’m so excited about this one. If you don’t know by now, your girl loves a good horror ARG, and it seems this one is only just beginning. 👀
Clown has started weaving us a wonderful little yarn about a forgotten children’s puppet show from the 70s called Welcome Home. Welcome Home appears to include a cavalcade of charismatic characters who live within a neighborhood, Sesame Street-style. The show is believed to have aired for around four years and spawned countless pieces of merchandise including children’s books, records, and toys.
Now, if you’re new to the world of horror ARGs, you might be wondering why/how a forgotten children’s show is terrifying. Well, newcomers, as with other horror ARGs, there’s something sinister lurking just beneath the surface.
At first look, the Welcome Home website seems like an inviting hub for those interested in lost content. However, upon closer inspection, things are simply off.
For example, letters have a pesky habit of wandering away from their correct placement.
There are several letters across the site like the one above, meaning we’ll eventually find some sort of password protected page or content we’ll use them on later.
Next, let’s check out the About Us section of the website. Pretty standard, right?
Yup, everything seems to be in order here.
And then we start highlighting the text.
Okay, so, color me crazy, but I don’t think Welcome Home is the warm and fuzzy (both literally and figuratively) wonderland we’re initially led to believe. There’s obviously a reason its creators (and I use that term hesitantly) wanted to remove Welcome Home from public consciousness, and I can’t wait to find out why.
There are other secrets lurking within the Welcome Home website, but I don’t want to spoil all the fun. My hints are to pay close attention to Home, read all of the character descriptions carefully, and to visit the guestbook (particularly the last page). And remember, sometimes things are hidden in plain sight.
Note: The hidden portion of the neighborhood contains flashing lights/imagery and is a little disturbing (kind of?), so CW/TW.
Imagine seeing this on your Ring. I’d pee my pants.
While I’m just as excited as you are about this emerging ARG, I want to call attention to a recent Tumblr post from Clown. They are very appreciative about the attention Welcome Home has started to receive, but they aren’t used to the kind of attention they’ve been receiving, and it’s been a major change.
Please respect all of their outlined wishes from this post, support them as they ask, and don’t berate them with questions about Welcome Home. They’ve been kind enough to share this amazing world with us, so return that same kindness and patiently wait for new story updates. Based on what we’ve seen so far, I can assure you that it’ll be worth the wait.
The amount of detail on the Welcome Home website is truly incredible. I can’t imagine how much time and love has gone into this project, and Clown is extremely talented.
Like c’mon! This is awesome beyond words.
However, this is also a friendly reminder that content creators are human beings. Clown chose to share this painstakingly perfect world with us, but they don’t “owe” us content simply because we want more pieces of the story.
Sure, I’m downright giddy about this ARG, but we need to let Clown update us and/or the site when THEY’RE ready. This is one of the best lost media ARGs I’ve ever seen, and we only have a website thus far. Think about that!
Before I go, I do want to hit you with one quick theory. Go through the entire website first. I’ll wait.
All done? Great!
Based on some of the clues within the site, I think Welcome Home comes with a double-meaning. As we found in the hidden “So Below” portion of the website, Wally seems to worship Home. I think Welcome Home is actually referencing whatever supernatural/paranormal entity Home represents, so it’s more like Welcome, Home. I also think the puppets are a mix of demons/evil entities and people who have been trapped in this felt hellscape, but that’s a whole other theory for a whole other day.
Clown, thank you so much for sharing this wonderful creation with the world, and I can’t wait to see how this story continues to unravel.
P.S. If you’re a video breakdown girlie like me, Night Mind does a great job with this series.
UPDATES
Hello, friends! As promised, I’m revisiting the ARGs I’ve previously covered and including major updates as we receive them. And, gang, Welcome Home is BACK.
First and foremost, we have creepy phone recordings. The ever-ambiguous Question Answerer helped to restore the “It’s-For-You!” Marlo brand talking telephone as well as some records (which I don’t believe we have access to) for The Playfellow Exhibition.
Each button corresponds to a different neighbor, with the exception of Wally, whose button we learn is currently under repair.
Secondly, we have some new audio clips from an interview with Barnaby and Wally to the audio from a few unidentified episodes. There’s a little distortion within the audio, particularly in the “Just So” Song Demo. Wally also seems to be kind of a little possessed throughout this audio, and it’s clear there’s something bigger going on, like, idk, Wally is probably some sort of vessel for Home?
Next, we have some new uncovered merchandise. I can’t even describe how talented Clown is, my god. All of these items are so carefully created, and I can’t imagine how much time Clown has spent creating all of these fun little pieces. However, I want to call special attention to the records.
Although the team is still attempting to recover the records, you can listen to a clip that sounds truly frightening. I’m not skilled enough to play it backwards, but if anyone finds a message within it, I wouldn’t be surprised.
I saved the biggest update for last. Throughout the Welcome Home website, you’ll see little drawings and characters appear. While some of them aren’t clickable, others are. The ones that are clickable contain video and music files from what appear to be Wally’s POV, and boy howdy, is there something wrong with our boy.
From talking about his black eyes to asking us why we’re so “still,” it’s clear that there’s something truly malevolent lurking behind Home’s front door.
You probably already know what I’m going to say here, but Baz has a video where he goes through many of these updates as well, and you should check out this video and subscribe to his channel.
I’ll keep you posted as updates are released, neighbor.
October 2023 UPDATES
While I don’t have many updates for you, I did want to share some new things from the Welcome Home site!
First and foremost, all of our favorite characters have been given spooky makeovers, with Wally Darling being The Devil (foreshadowing?) and Home donning a witch’s hat (again, foreshadowing?).
Image source: Clown Illustration – Welcome Home
Secondly the Welcome Home Restoration Project seems to have found some creepy objects, just in time for Halloween. These products include a truly terrifying Wally Darling costume, The Official Welcome Home Cookbook, and the “Happy Haunting to Boo and Yours!” Storybook Record.
Image source: Clown Illustration – Welcome Home
All three finds, as usual, have been painstakingly crafted. However, I want to draw your attention to the record and its transcript. The record starts off innocently enough. Think of the silly and (not so) scary stories Elmo and friends would tell on a Sesame Street Halloween special. Things take a turn when Sally becomes annoyed by all of the tame stories and begins to weave one of her own…or is it?
Image source: Clown Illustration – Welcome Home
Sally asks all of the neighbors if they know why they have to stay in at night. Met with pure replies, Sally continues onward. She begins to talk about creatures that come from the woods when suddenly, the record begins to skip. When the sound resumes, Sally claims that the entities from the woods casually search for PEOPLE TO EAT, explaining why the neighborhood is so small.
Sally’s horrifying story chronicles how these creatures sometimes can’t be satiated, and you can hear everything from crawling outside your house to guttural screams and wails that might be within the walls…Somehow, I don’t think Sally is telling a fictional story. The weirdest part is, the restoration committee claims that the audio we hear shouldn’t be available, and the transcript also excludes it.
The other interesting part of this record lies within the transcript. You see, if you click the little bug animation to the right, you’re taken to another video from Wally’s POV. This one is more troubling than ones we’ve seen in the past, though.
Image source: Clown Illustration – Welcome Home
From the video switching to a negative filter, and including audio and video disruptions, I believe that a) we’re finally seeing evidence that Wally is possessed and/or is being influenced by some evil force, and b) we gain a bit more insight into how Wally eats, or potentially, how the shadow creature residing within him does. And, as many of us have guessed, it appears to be through some telekinetic/telepathic force.
So, uh, yeah, it’s just another beautiful day in the neighborhood, folks.
I also can’t tell whether or not I’m crazy about something, but I wanted to include it just in case I’m not. Have these woods always been here, or did they just appear with the October updates? Lmk. I can’t seem to click on them or anything yet, but I could swear they’re a new edition to the neighborhood.
Image source: Clown Illustration – Welcome Home
Okay, friends, we’ll leave it here for now. Those are the big updates I noticed, and I haven’t seen much content around the changes, so I might be missing things. Oh well. I’m still the most, as Wally would say.
January 2024 UPDATES
Hello, friends! Long time, no talk. But never fear. I’m back today with some Welcome Home updates for you. 👀
Let’s start with an update I’m not 100% on. I could have absolutely missed this in the beginning, but were there always eyes in the paisley background of the webpage and on the rock Wally is sitting atop on the Welcome Home webpage?
I compared it to the rock from the October updates, and I didn’t see the eye (get it?), but I’m not totally sure it hasn’t been there before. Here are a couple of pics, so you can understand what I mean:
Image source: Clown Illustration – Welcome Home
Image source: Clown Illustration – Welcome Home
Pretty interesting, right?
Next up, we have an obvious/not obvious update. When you navigate over to The Playfellow Exhibition tab, you’ll notice things are a bit topsy-turvy. Here’s where I may need your help. I’m a problem solver by nature, and I like to think I’m tech savvy. Is there a way to flip the text that I’m missing? I feel like I’m missing something. Let me know, team.
Image source: Clown Illustration – Welcome Home
And finally, let’s get to the little buggy boys.
Scattered throughout the site, there are little, clickable bugs and doodles. The bugs reveal some brand new videos from Wally’s POV like the ones we’ve seen before in the October updates, and the doodle reveals some interesting audio clips.
Now, I don’t want to spoil all of the fun for you, but I’m going to point out some of the bugs and doodles I would pay close attention to.
Don’t graze over the flowers at the bottom of the About Us page.
Image source: Clown Illustration – Welcome Home
I also would absolutely click on the flower on the Stickers page as well. It’s worth noting that the Stickers page seems to be in disarray while spelling out the message “OK,” too. 👀
Image source: Clown Illustration – Welcome Home
Check out the doodle at the bottom of The Playfellow Exhibition page.
Image source: Clown Illustration – Welcome Home
Click the doodle on the About Us page.
Image source: Clown Illustration – Welcome Home
And finally, click on the doodle on the Guestbook page.
Image source: Clown Illustration – Welcome Home
When it comes to the buggy boys, I would definitely pay attention to the one on the Neighborhood page the most.
Image source: Clown Illustration – Welcome Home
Listen carefully to what Frank says at the beginning. That’s all I’ll say. I also believe some of this content spells out “I Will Find Answer,” which I think is a reference to the Question-Answerer. There are also some letters attached to the links of others, but I personally wasn’t able to spell anything out.
The last thing I want to touch on is something I already mentioned in passing. On the Stickers page, there’s a giant “OK,” right?
This is a recurring theme throughout the site right now. You can see it in the screenshot for The Playfellow Exhibition page I took as well. Someone is typing out directions…and another person is responding.
I think Wally is getting stronger, y’all.
And he’s keeping his eyes on this page, just like we will be.
March 2024 UPDATES
Boy, oh boy, do we have some updates.
First and foremost, I apologize, friends. These updates happened last month, but ya girl didn’t realize the website URL had changed. I’ve updated the main landing page across our piece, so it should be all fixed now.
But, honestly, these updates were worth the wait.
The biggest thing to notice on this Welcome Home page is that it’s been…tidied up. Gone are the ink splotches and a lot of the previously recorded secret messages and videos.
The background seems to be zoomed in and…pulsating?
There are doodles scattered around the site, but they seem a lot neater and aren’t clickable…at least for now.
Someone, or something, has made sure that we’re no longer able to see through the cracks.
There are two big things I want to call out, but there’s an overarching theme: Homewarming.
Homewarming appears to be the winter holiday celebrated in the Neighborhood and seems to be their version of Christmas.
In the News section, we receive a letter from the Restoration Committee that’s dated for December 25, 2023. However, in a follow-up post, we learn that whoever wrote the previous post apparently lost time from December 2023 to March 2024, and we’re told the Homewarming post is a mistake.
Image source: Clown Illustration – Welcome Home
The “accidental” post is exceptionally helpful, though. It outlines some of the new content you can find across the site and confirms what I previously mentioned. This site HAS been cleaned up…and all of these changes were intentional.
The merchandise updates are truly delightful. I can’t begin to explain how much care and work went into these. They look like they were ripped directly out of a catalog and cookbook from the 70s. Sure, there are recipes for peppermint hot dogs and a gelatin mold with an entire cup of hot cocoa inside. But, suspend your belief, friends.
The biggest and most important update doesn’t come from the actual website proper, though. It comes from a different source.
One of the members of the Restoration Committee has gone rogue and is making it their mission to actually portray what’s going on behind the scenes. And it’s here that we find one of the biggest updates we’ve received so far.
Yes, friends, Away from Prying Eyes contains both a 22 minute long video and 4 minute phone call from Wally Darling.
Let’s start with the phone call. Remember how Wally’s button audio isn’t available? Well, it apparently…isn’t. At least not in the way it’s been portrayed.
This audio isn’t consistent, and, sometimes, the phone rings on its own, which is the case here. Our rogue poster, or “W,” according to their sign off, managed to record the audio this time.
For the most part, it’s normal Wally banter. But, Wally sings one of the songs advertised on the Homewarming album called “Toyland.” Apparently, “once you pass its [Toyland] borders, you can never return again.” Keep this in mind.
Image source: Clown Illustration – Welcome Home
Now, let’s get to the meat and potatoes of this update — the commercials.
As someone whose family heirloom is the circa 1985 CBS Halloween lineup, I can’t tell you how truly heartwarming it was to see commercials like the ones in this video. To say all of the animation and mediums utilized here are impressive would be an understatement.
I don’t want to spoil the video for you because it deserves the watch. Don’t worry! I’ll still give you some of my takeaways:
- I think the song “Who’s Kid Is This?” is a reference to the world of Welcome Home being infiltrated/confirmed that this is a real universe
- I believe the sleep aid commercial is very telling, and I think it alludes to Eddie’s state at the end of the special. Think about how the commercials of WandaVision were plot devices.
- We can infer that Eddie has passed the borders of Toyland and may not be returning. He’s noticeably absent in the Homewarming merch.
- Frank may have also seen a crack in the realities of the Neighborhood.
Yeah, it’s a LOT to take in.
I know I say this every single time, but Welcome Home continues to exceed my expectations. Clown, and anyone else who works on this, has immense talent. This video is so impressive and so are all of these site updates.
Now that I actually know the correct link I’ll update all of you as soon as I have more info.
Until then, wave high, neighbor.
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