You wouldn't think something as random as characters from a series of greeting cards could scare someone, right?

Especially if said characters are a pink cat and a green rabbit. Well, believe it or not, that's actually what happened to me when I was around 4 or so. First, for some context, I'm talking about Hoops and Yoyo. They were two characters created by Hallmark. Yea, the same Hallmark that's mostly known for those Christmas specials they'd broadcast ad nauseam. In addition to a TV channel, they also had stores and, apparently, E-Cards. These would usually feature 2 characters, a pink cat named Hoops, and a green rabbit called Yoyo. There were a few other characters that would show up too, but they aren't that relevant for most of this story.

Now I know what you're thinking, how the hell could something so inoffensive scare even a super young child? Well, I didn't know myself for a while. All I could remember though was scrolling through YouTube, finding some animation of Hoops turning "scary", and I pulled the plug on the computer screaming and crying. Whatever that frightening video was, it was my first introduction to the characters, so I was understandably hesitant to revisit them for a while. But eventually, I sucked it up and decided to check them out again.

It was actually pretty charming, albeit a bit annoying at times. Though something about Hoops and Yoyo themselves seemed off to me. I remembered differences like Hoops having a smaller nose, Yoyo having a tail, and their overall colors being duller. None of that rang true for the versions of the characters I had been watching lately. I tried to find the original video again, but I couldn't.

So, I did what most people would do in a situation like this, and made a forum post. Damn near nobody responded though except for one guy. They didn't give any further context, they just posted a link. Hesitantly, I clicked on it, praying I wouldn't get ransomware or something. It was just a big, white web page with nothing but hyperlinks colored in blue. I was about to click off, but I took some time to read the titles. They were all formatted the same, starting with “HAY_DEMO-”, and then a random word. I clicked on one of them, where the word was "Match".

It was a short, 15 second animation. All it showed was Yoyo lighting a match, and then the flame just combusted, causing the rabbit to be turned hairless and completely black, save for his eyes. Two things I found especially interesting. First of all, it was a bit more mean spirited than the usual stuff you'd expect from these characters. Secondly, these design of Yoyo here looked much more like the ones I remembered in that "Scary Hoops" video. He had a proper tail, a colored circle on the stomach, a pink nose, and duller colors. And sure enough, when I clicked onto another video called "Bat", where Hoops accidentally hits Yoyo in the face with baseball bat, Hoops also looked more familiar. But he had something I hadn't remembered from the video, that being a pair of whiskers.

My conclusion after looking at a handful more of these was that they were just animation tests that, due to the fact they were never meant to be released to the public, could be a bit darker and meaner than the E-Cards that were published. Not dark as in murder or swearing, think more dirty jokes and slapstick violence. I just kept clicking through these, and noticed that none of the videos featured the secondary characters. I found it interesting, but not particularly odd. That was, until I finally found it. "HAY_DEMO-Pet.webm"

Somehow, I had a gut feeling that this was the video that scared me as a child. I had no idea what made me come to that conclusion, but I clicked on it, and loading and behold, my suspicions were confirmed.

I paused it as soon as it started, giving myself a bit of time to prepare. I know, how scary could a video about two talking animals be? What you gotta understand is that whatever it was stuck with me for a reason, so if there was something super shocking in here like, I don't know, Hoops' face being replaced with a picture of a real mangled human, I would have the proper courage. Plus, I still jump at some of the cheapest scares there are, so I think I have an excuse in that area too.

When I clicked play, it displayed Hoops and Yoyo just standing against a grainy red background. Now, the design here was what I remembered. No whiskers and duller colors. But the contents of the video were the important thing, so let's get back to that. Hoops was doing some weird dance as I could describe it? Though I can barely call it that, it was more like he was shifting his hips and shoulders side-to-side as his head rocked along with the movement. Yoyo on the other hand, looked at Hoops with concern. Then he spoke. "Hoops? Hooooooops? "

Hoops didn't respond, he just continued the weird "dance" he was doing. Yoyo's concerned frown turned into an amused smile, as he took a few steps towards the pink feline. He spoke again, this time chuckling a bit.

"Heheh.. Ok, real funny, Hoops! You can sto-"

Before he could finish, I shit you not, a tentacle emerged from Hoops' back. It grabbed Yoyo, as a black vignette overlay started to envelop the scene.

"What the- Hey! What are you-"

"Hoops" finally said something, as he flashed a smile full of rectangular teeth, and a second mouth manifested onto Hoops' stomach. Unlike the previous animations where he sounded pretty close to the final product, here he sounded way more high pitched and modulated, as though the people making the video wanted them to sound like an alien or robot.

"ALL LIFE. WILL BE. ASSIMILATED! ALL LIFE. WILL BE. HOOPS!"

For a few frames, it showed Yoyo being pulled towards "Hoops" before cutting to black, but there were still sounds. All that I could hear were stock monster sound effects, Yoyo screaming, and some nasty goo-sounding noises. After the sounds stopped, it cut back to "Hoops" dancing on the red background again, this time with Yoyo missing. But suddenly, another Hoops walked into frame from the vacant space.

"..Where's Yoyo?" he asked. The creature started gagging, as Hoops repeated their question, this time more stern. Less like someone threatening another and more like somebody scolding a dog.

"I said where's Yoyo?"

And then the thing started coughing, as it dissolved into a mass of blue sludge, with Yoyo curled up, spinning into the center of the screen, with a traumatized look on his face.

"Piddles, I told you not to do that to people!" Hoops said.

I wasn't unnerved anymore, now I was just confused. Piddles was a tiny blue hamster in the original brand, how would that translate into a blue slime monster?

But "Piddles" just melted into the ground, as though they felt guilty.

"Oh it's fine! I wouldn't be mad at you!" Both of them started to laugh, as Yoyo kept cowering in the middle, and the early logo faded in from the bottom right corner of the screen.

My final thoughts on the video are this; I can totally see how this would scare the hell out of a younger me, but now, I just find it a bit silly. But hey, when you're a little little kid, your memory gets a bit fuzzy. It may not have been a fuckin' snuff film intercut into the video, but it was still admittedly kinda eerie. And before you people ask about the guy who sent me the link, I DMed him as I'm wrapping this up. I'll keep you guys updated if he responds. Just be patient.