The human race is divided into two groups: those who would pay $300 for a 12-foot skeleton Halloween decoration and those who are missing out on the bone-deep delight of owning a 12-foot skeleton Halloween decoration.
Stephanie Hildebrand falls into the first group of humans.
“Our family has always loved Halloween and we’ve coveted the 12-foot skeleton since it was introduced,” says Hildebrand, who lives on Milwaukee’s East Side.
Originally introduced in 2020 by Home Depot, the sky-scraping bony structure named “Skelly” flew off the shelves faster than a witch on her way to a necromancy convention. Other retail outlets like Lowes and Costco have unearthed their own versions, many of which now have illuminated, moving, blinking LED eyes.
Hildebrand, who named her soaring skeleton “Bone Daddy,” was so thrilled to snag one for her family’s yard that she forgot to consider transportation.
“We hoped it would fit in my husband's SUV. It did not.” says Hildebrand. “Thankfully we ran into a friend who drives a truck – as luck would have it – at Home Depot and he drove it home for us.”
Assembling the Big Guy is at least a two-person job and storage is also something to consider during the spooky off-season.
Bay View’s Sarah Berg bought one as a gift for her neighbors and keeps it for them in a garage she rents to store her motorcycles. Hildebrand plans to disassemble Bone Daddy and store him – possibly in a Christmas tree bag – in her garage or basement.
“Someone in the 12-Foot Skeleton Facebook group suggested the Christmas tree bag,” says Hildebrand.
Oh yeah, the skeletal sensation has a Facebook group with more than 266,000 followers and a ghost-zillion posts from people all over the map sharing photos and stories about their favorite Halloween homie.
A woman in Buffalo, N.Y. bought one as a housewarming gift for herself and her fiance; another member named hers “Chad” because she lives on the same block as a fraternity house and wanted to give him a “frat boy” name. A woman in Florida proudly introduced her new massive skeleton as “Margie, the magnificent mother of mortals.”
Monica Finley is having extra fun with her Skelly. In early September, she put a pot outside her Bay View home with a small skeleton in the dirt and a sign reading, “Watch Me Grow.” Every few days the skeleton would “grow” to a new size until finally reaching its full 12-feet on October 1.
“We have a lot of kids in the area and I thought it would be fun for them to watch the skeleton get bigger and bigger,” says Finley, who documented the skeleton’s growth on her Facebook page so friends and family farther away could also follow along.
Hildebrand erected her bone giant in the very early days of October as well.
“We put him up when it was a little warmer so I had the windows open and could hear all of the ooo-ing and ahhh-ing,” says Hildebrand. “We get a lot of trick or treaters and I can’t wait to see all of their reactions to him. It makes me so happy!"
And speaking of happy: Happy ginormous skeleton season to those who celebrate!
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
