How a 12-foot Halloween skeleton got a cult following
He’s a creepy colossus looming over lawns. Tall and menacing, all bones and a bit absurd.
He’s “Skelly,” Home Depot’s 12-foot skeleton, a harbinger of Halloween.
In five years, this decoration has become a seasonal sensation with a cult following across metro Atlanta and the country.
While Home Depot won’t say how many Skellys are sold a year, some superfans stay up all night to score its latest merchandise for the holiday. Skelly, which costs $299, often sells out.
Skelly’s entourage has also grown to include skeletal dogs and a cat. Home Depot’s broader Halloween collection spans witches, werewolves, pumpkins and tombstones, among other items. Some people spend thousands on these Halloween decorations, with storage sheds stuffed full of skeletons and other spooky props.
And yards across the metro area are transformed into theatrical displays on par with the lit-up lawns of Christmas. Skelly, with his imposing stature and glowing eyes, is often the star of the show.
“It really is like a gateway purchase,” said Becky Brothers, who lives in west Cobb County.
Skelly was her first buy when she began collecting four years ago. Now, Brothers has two 12-foot skeletons, a grim reaper, a dozen smaller skeletons, a graveyard setup and multiple animatronic zombie dolls.
“Every year, it just gets bigger and bigger,” Brothers said.
More people are buying Halloween decorations than costumes, according to the National Retail Federation. This year, 78% of Halloween shoppers are expected to purchase decor, up from 72% in 2019. Total spending on decorations could reach $4.2 billion this year, an increase of $1.6 billion from 2019.
“Skelly was what, in my perspective, created a lot more conversation around Halloween and the retail space,” said Aubrey Horowitz, decorative holiday merchant at Vinings-based Home Depot.
The record Halloween spending comes amid growing economic uncertainty and rising prices. But Horowitz doesn’t think the holiday spirit has dampened.
“This is a discretionary category, but it’s something that brings a tremendous amount of joy to our customers,” she said.
Born during the pandemic
Skelly came about at an unusual time. Home Depot created the massive skeleton in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. People were adjusting holiday traditions in the era of social distancing.
“We were all kind of locked down, and we wanted to bring some joy to the neighborhood,” said Brent Ridley, a Cumming resident. “I saw the 12-foot skeleton … and that thing was awesome.”
He convinced his wife, Kathleen, they needed one. Skelly was sold out at their local store, and they ending up scouring several others to secure their first skeleton.
“It’s been downhill from there,” Kathleen said.
The Ridleys estimate they’ve spent close to $10,000 on Halloween decorations, mostly from Home Depot. Their collection includes three 12-foot skeletons, the 13-foot “Jack Skellington” — a character from the film “The Nightmare Before Christmas” — a 12-foot hovering witch and many others.
“Even though we have all these other really intricate animatronics, the skeleton has always been my favorite,” Kathleen said. “His eyes — he kind of looks like he’s following you. He’s just a really cool prop, and everybody loves him.”
Their son, 12-year-old Noah Ridley, may be the biggest fan. He’s created a YouTube channel where he shows off the family’s annual display.
“He is the Halloween expert,” Kathleen said. “When we go into Home Depot, he usually knows more than the actual store employees.”
Cara Barnes of Adairsville also started collecting in 2020. At the time, the 12-foot skeleton was rare and hard to find, she said. She got hooked on the hunt.
“Every year, we have grown our collection,” she said. “Now, I have three storage buildings.”
Barnes’ home sits on less than an acre but she said she maximizes every inch. “We will go property line to property line, and it’ll just fill all the way up,” she said. Then, on Halloween, she opens her home and has a pizza party for the neighborhood.
“Everybody comes to see us on Halloween, so that’s my favorite part,” she said. “We truly just do it for the kids.”
Code Orange
Skelly’s fan base could rival a social media influencer.
Jennifer Penelope Corcoran of Nashville, Tennessee, runs about 20 Facebook groups geared toward Halloween, Christmas and other holiday decorating.
Her “Home Depot Halloween Haunters Club” has more than 200,000 members. She also runs a “12-Foot Skeleton Halloween Club” with more than 60,000 members.
It started as kind of a joke, she said. When someone bought a Skelly, “people would be, like, ‘Welcome to the club.’” Corcoran got the idea to make a Facebook group and gain a few followers.
“It really spun off from there in a way I could not have pictured,” she said.
“I think the 12-foot just has the magical quality to it,” she said. “It got a lot of people into decorating for Halloween, and it shows no sign of stopping.”
In fact, the Halloween rush now starts in the middle of summer.
In early August, Corcoran stayed up all night rallying her Facebook community for “Code Orange,” when Home Depot drops its annual Halloween decorations for online purchase.
It can be a mad dash.
“We have products that sell out when we have our online launch within two hours,” Horowitz said.
In addition to Skelly, Home Depot offers a slate of new Halloween decorations each year, which helps fuel continued interest. The retailer works directly with factories and suppliers to develop the collection, Horowitz said. New this year is the Bluetooth-enabled “Ultra Skelly.” He’s more than 6 feet tall with customizable eyes and voice.
On Facebook, members alert each other when items become available. Then, they chat online about what they bought and share ideas for displays.
“We’re all bad influences on each other, and we’ll see something someone else has and be like, ‘Oh, I need that, too,’” Corcoran said.
Barnes of Adairsville is a member of the Facebook group.
“Every year, during this drop, we spend a few grand,” she said. “I’ll stay up all night long and just watch it.”
She’s also found a sense of community through the group.
“All these people have the same interests as I do, and it’s fun hearing their stories and seeing their setups and getting ideas from them,” Barnes said.
A Skelly year round?
Skelly isn’t without controversy.
“You’ll see Skellys out year-round in people’s neighborhoods,” Horowitz said. “He’s a year-round fixture that’s decorated for every holiday.”
But that doesn’t always go over well.
“It has become a very polarizing topic,” said Brothers, the enthusiast who lives in west Cobb County. Her family keeps Skelly up from Oct. 1 to Jan. 1, which is as long as their neighborhood association will allow.
She dresses Skelly up for Christmas and in other themes.
“I got into accessorizing,” Brothers said with a giggle. “One of them, she was dressed up in club attire. She had a little beaded halter and a mini skirt. It was very cute.”
But Brothers said last year some of her neighbors sought to change the rules and ban Halloween decorations after Nov. 1. They weren’t successful though, she said.
“We’re, like, all about freedom of speech, freedom of decoration,” Brothers said. “It’s a really good way to express yourself and get creative.
“But again, it’s incredibly polarizing,” she said. “There are a lot of people that are like ‘Skeletons aren’t appropriate.’ I beg to differ.”
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