Home Depot’s Halloween lineup: Skelly, a giant mummy and a plant monster
Home Depot is bringing back its popular 12-foot Skelly giant skeleton for Halloween, along with an 11-foot mummy and an 8-foot “Perilous Plant Monster.”
Over the years, the Vinings-based home improvement retailer has become an improbable viral sensation during the scary season, as consumers look to one-up their neighbors with ever-larger holiday lawn decor.
And in the world of online retail, prep for the late October holiday apparently starts in July. Home Depot is selling its Halloween collection online starting Thursday. It said it will start selling Halloween products in stores later in August.
Home Depot announced Wednesday its $299 Skelly this year will have app-enabled upgrades to customize the giant skeleton’s mouth and head movements — and to speak through Skelly live via Bluetooth.
Other characters for sale will be a 5-foot animated “rotwing parrot” and a 5.5-foot “evil pixie.”
Through an expanded partnership with Disney and NBC Universal, Disney will also have in its Halloween lineup some slightly spooky versions of Disney characters, including a 3-foot animated LED Stitch from Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch,” a 4-foot animated LED flying monkey from “Wicked” and animated LED gremlins.
Some fans of Skelly and other Halloween lawn decor stay up all night for the latest merchandise, and Skelly often sells out, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last Halloween season.
These people include residents who aim to grow the population of holiday characters in front of their homes every year.
Last year, the National Retail Federation forecast consumers would spend $4.2 billion on Halloween decorations.
