12-Foot Giant-Sized Skeleton, colloquially known as Skelly, is a 12-foot-tall skeleton-shaped lawn ornament created by Home Depot for Halloween.
12-Foot Giant-Sized Skeleton, colloquially known as Skelly, is a 12-foot-tall skeleton-shaped lawn ornament created by Home Depot for Halloween.
The home improvement corporation Home Depot created a 12-foot-tall skeleton lawn decoration made with metal pipe and LCD eyes. [1] Listed as "12-Foot Giant-Sized Skeleton" on its website, the skeleton became colloquially known as "Skelly". [2]
Home Depot also produces a 7-foot skeletal dog decoration, called "Skelly's Dog", to serve as a companion decoration. [3] [4]
The lawn decoration was created in Home Depot's research and development department by Lance Allen and Rachel Little. After developing hundreds of skeletons, as a secret project, they set out to create a large skeleton. They did not think that 10 feet would be grand enough, and increased its height to 12 feet, that of a basketball hoop. At that height, they took anatomical liberties to make Skelly appear realistic, such as shortening the neck from appearing too long. Other constraints included a reasonable price and ease of transport home for setup. Allen described their team as being impressed when Skelly was unveiled in a conference room. The skeleton was first released in 2020 and continued to sell through 2023, when it was sold out for the holiday. [1] In 2024, Home Depot created an updated version of Skelly with customizable glowing LED eyes. The eyes feature different pre-set designs that allow it to be used for different holidays aside from just Halloween. [5] Home Depot also released a limited-edition "servo Skelly", an animatronic version of the decoration that uses motors to move. [6]
In response to Skelly's popularity, Home Depot has produced other large Halloween decorations, although none have sold as well as Skelly. [7]
Skelly has become a very popular product, often being sold out from Home Depot inventories in the Halloween season. [1] Skelly is also popular year-round, and is occasionally used to celebrate other holidays such as Christmas by putting a giant Santa suit on him. [8] [9] [10] Skelly has developed an online fandom, including a Facebook group called the "12 Foot Skeleton Owners Group". [11]
Skelly went viral on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic from consumers showing the skeleton either as it is or in different costume or locations. Examples include showing Skelly with custom clothes, flashy jewelry, and as an accessory in a car. In 2023, owners of Skelly dressed it as Taylor Swift to coincide with her Eras Tour. [12] The hashtag "12footskeleton" had over 89 million views on TikTok by 2023. After its original virality, Skelly continued to feature in parody articles and fan videos. [1] Skelly is also the subject of Internet memes. [13]
Skelly's year-round popularity has caused it to run afoul with homeowner associations in the United States, and owners of it have faced fines for displaying it outside of the Halloween season. [11] There is also a resale market online for used Skellies. [14]
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