Halloween

From Homestar Runner Wiki

Revision as of 22:55, 15 November 2024

"Happy Halloween!" from the whole gang.

Halloween is an important holiday for the characters in the Homestar Runner universe, and is celebrated with traditional costumes, candies, and pumpkin-carving.

An annual big Halloween toon has been a tradition since the website first launched in 2000. A new Halloween toon was produced by The Brothers Chaps every year through 2009; after a hiatus, annual toons resumed in 2014, and were then produced every year through 2023. In addition, Strong Bad has hosted a slide show highlighting and humorously riffing on Fan Costumes shortly after Halloween; this practice began in 2003 and ran from 2005 through 2009, resuming an annual schedule in 2015.

Traditions

• Every major Halloween toon has the main characters dress up in different Halloween costumes. These costumes usually relate to pop culture, especially from the '70s, '80s and '90s. The subjects portrayed are often rather obscure, and a running joke involves the characters' difficulty identifying each other's costumes, not that this prevents Homestar from being confident in his own guesses.
• Unlike most other toons on the website, the Halloween toons feature every main character.
• Homsar frequently appeared in an Easter egg activated by clicking on something relating to The Poopsmith.
  • Homsar is not in Homestarloween Party (as that toon predated his creation), nor in the minor Halloween toons Which Ween Costumes? and A Prickly Scary Short.
  • Starting with The House That Gave Sucky Tricks, his appearances did not require triggering an Easter egg; Haunted Photo Booth is the only exception.
• Starting with The House That Gave Sucky Treats, after the toon is over, the characters will all group together and discuss one another's Halloween costumes. Since Pumpkin Carve-nival, clicking on selected characters while grouped together will start a short conversation with them and other characters, usually on the topic of the selected character's costume.
• A running gag throughout many Halloween toons is for Homestar Runner, or on rare occasions someone else, to mention Witch's Brew. This started in Pumpkin Carve-nival when Homestar (actually Strong Bad dressed as Homestar) mentioned Witch's Brew in odd context throughout the toon.
• The Goblin is a recurring character in a large number of Halloween toons. He was created in Homestarloween Party, when Homestar imagined him while telling a Halloween story. The Goblin has since come to life and has made cameo appearances at different times, sometimes seeming to (or actually) appear out of nowhere.
• The Spooky Woods appears as a setting for almost every Halloween toon (though not necessarily the only setting). The Halloween House and The Graveyard appear to be located in these woods. The woods also appear to be a favored location for various Halloween-themed activities such as pumpkin judging contests and trick-or-treating.
• Since 2007, there has been a teaser before the Halloween toon is released (or in the toon itself, as in 2020, 2021, and 2024). These include the characters silhouetted in their costumes alongside a message, usually revealing when the full toon will be released.

Halloween Toons