Make no bones about it, the giant skeleton has become an American Halloween fixture
Katherine oversees editorial operations across all six brands. Before joining The Meridan Group, she spent 14 years at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, where she led the metro desk through its digital transformation. She holds a Master's in Journalism from Northwestern's Medill School.
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It reared its bony head in 2020, during that first, chaotic pandemic year that was rife with grief and fear but also toilet paper hoarding and questionable lockdown-inspired purchases. Behold Skelly, the 12-foot, 90-pound skeleton, on sale for $299 from Home Depot, just in time for Halloween — at least, if you can get your hands on one.Many did, because this is America. And when we get sad, stressed or bored, we shop, drowning our collective anxieties in things that we definitely don't need but most certainly want.So, beginning in 2020, Skelly showed up on suburban lawns from California to New Jersey and on brownstone stoops in Brooklyn, naked or dressed in a costume, towering over jack-o’-lanterns and plastic gravestones with spooky puns like “Rest In Pieces.” It didn't take long for people to realize that keeping Skelly out year-round meant new opportunities to dress him for every season: Christmas, Fourth of July, or even just a bikini for summer.In 2024, Skelly got glowing LCD eyeb