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  4. 16 Outdoor Skeleton Decorations for a Super Spooky Halloween Yard

16 Outdoor Skeleton Decorations for a Super Spooky Halloween Yard

Sarah Martens headshot
By Sarah Martens Updated June 21, 2022
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Create a spooky Halloween skeleton display to add bone-chilling excitement to your outdoor Halloween decorations. These Halloween yard decorations will be amusing during the day but frightful at night.

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Time to Climb

Climbing Skeletons

These gutsy guys don't need to worry about broken bones as they caper from the porch to rooftop. Easy to pose and secure with nearly invisible fishing line, the plastic skeletons can withstand the weather and hang out the entire season.

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Spooky Stories

skeletons, faux firepit, halloween decor

Looks like someone got lost in the woods. Luckily these camping skeletons still know how to have fun. Mimic a campfire with red and yellow crepe-paper streamers attached to a box fan. Surround the fan with logs, rocks, and a tent for a Halloween skeleton scene inspired by the great outdoors.

Editor's Tip: How you hang or pose your figures will depend on what types of skeletons you have. Keep in mind plastic skeletons bend more easily, but anatomical model skeletons are more lifelike. Be prepared to improvise!

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Worked to Death

Halloween decor, skeletons, Halloween

These poor construction employees worked themselves to death. Create the Halloween skeleton decorations with roadblock signs made from plywood and spray paint. A pile of loose rocks and construction tools give the skeletons something to do. Chalk lines finish the cracked effect.

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Skeletal Sweets

skeletons, Halloween, decor

Apparently, this ice cream was to die for. Set up a dessert social for your skeleton decorations (including a dog Halloween skeleton!) with enormous ice cream cones and all the fixings. Come Halloween night, swap out the ice cream for candy.

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Punk Rock

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Rock on—even once you've passed on—with this punk band skeleton display. Position your skeletons to play instruments, and let them rock the latest fashion trends on your decorated Halloween porch. Keep an eye out for used musical equipment at thrift stores, and don't pass on a piece even if it's broken. No one but you will know.

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Quoth the Raven

Halloween decor, Halloween, skeletons

Reimagine a telling of Edgar Allen Poe's famous poem "The Raven" with this spooky front door setup. Create a mock library with an armchair, plush rug, and stocked bookcase. Position your life-size Halloween skeletons so one is sitting on the chair and reading while the other listens to the story nearby.

Editor's Tip: Instead of hauling out heavy books, wrap lightweight cardboard forms with book jackets or printed book-cover images.

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Into the Web

skeleton, Halloween, Halloween decor

Halloween decorating took a turn for the worse when one of the skeletons toppled into a giant spider web. This scene is humorous during the day, but once night falls, the combination of skeletons and spiders is enough to spook any visitor.

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Ride or Die

skeletons

Someone's enjoying the afterlife. This daredevil skeleton couple braves whitewater without any inhibitions. Create the scene by draping a blue dropcloth over porch stairs, then applying spray-foam insulation to create waves. Make sure to anchor the boats with enough weight so they don't tip forward.

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Squeaky Clean

Halloween skeletons, skeletons, decor

Clean down to the bone with a bathtime-inspired skeleton display. These not-so-scary Halloween decorations are perfect if you have younger kids. Giant galvanized tubs serve as tubs; clear Christmas ornaments look like bubbles. When trick-or-treaters arrive, turn on a real bubble machine for a fun flourish.

Editor's Tip: Buy clear plastic ornaments instead of glass. Even if they break, the plastic won't be as much of a safety hazard.

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Artsy Bones

skeletons, halloween, halloween decor

These artistic Halloween skeleton decorations capture every detail—right down to the bone! Scour thrift stores for a skeleton-inspired painting—or paint one yourself—for this display. Position two skeletons so one's acting as the artist and the other his muse.

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Picnic Pose

Outdoor Skeleton Picnic

Everybody loves a fall picnic—just ask the graveyard shift! Dolled up for their outing in hats, scarves, and ties, these perpetual picnickers are propped up with rebar stakes pushed into the ground. Spread a blanket and top it with a woven hamper, faux fruit, and a Thermos. Fill the Thermos with pebbles, and use ground stakes to hold the blanket in place.

Editor's Tip: If you want your outdoor Halloween decorations to stick around, use weather-resistant props.

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Stood Up

Outdoor Skeleton Crew

Poor chaps. It looks like their dates never arrived! Dressed in simple finery of top hats, silky bow ties, and red carnations, the eerie ensemble of skeletal squires makes guests wonder what kept their dates. Propping up our ethereal escorts is a snap; simply push lengths of rebar through their rib cages and into the ground.

Editor's Tip: Search for inexpensive skeletons at thrift stores, or take your search online. Medical stores will often discount anatomical models that have slight imperfections.

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Hide and Seek

Playful Leaf-Jumping Skeletons

Caught climbing trees and burrowing in a pile of fall leaves, these scampering Halloween skeleton decorations prove you're never too old to play outside. Secure these bad boys with lashings of fishing line, and they're ready to make merry mayhem.

Editor's Tip: A variety of skeleton types are available online—some pose, some stand, some bend. Choose the type that meets your decorating needs.

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Chilling Croquet

Skeletons Playing Croquet

Create the petrified poses of croquet-playing Halloween skeletons by tying them with fishing line to long stakes pushed into the ground. Secure the croquet mallets to skeletons with the fishing line. Unwinding with a cool glass of lemonade, the jointed old duffer in the lawn chair is simply propped in place.

Editor's Tip: Strike playful poses with your Halloween skeleton decorations that are easy to alter and will keep neighbors guessing: one day, your skeleton is playing a lively game of croquet; the next day he's raking leaves.

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Halloween Hostess

Skeleton Hostess

Some hostesses love handing out sweets to trick-or-treaters so much that they can't give it up—even after they've passed on. This sophisticated skeleton decoration on a stand makes a spirited first impression at the front door. Her posable arms provide the brace for a sweet-laden tray hot-glued to her hands.

Editor's Tip: Extend the skeleton theme in other fun ways. Dangle miniature glow-in-the-dark skeletons from tree branches, or prop fake bones in a dirt-filled wagon or wheelbarrow.

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Groovy Graveyard

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Create a spine-tingling scene sure to entertain guests and passersby with eerie Halloween yard decorations. Use slabs of foam, paint, and readily available props to assemble a family plot full of fun.

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By Sarah Martens

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    1 of 16 Time to Climb
    2 of 16 Spooky Stories
    3 of 16 Worked to Death
    4 of 16 Skeletal Sweets
    5 of 16 Punk Rock
    6 of 16 Quoth the Raven
    7 of 16 Into the Web
    8 of 16 Ride or Die
    9 of 16 Squeaky Clean
    10 of 16 Artsy Bones
    11 of 16 Picnic Pose
    12 of 16 Stood Up
    13 of 16 Hide and Seek
    14 of 16 Chilling Croquet
    15 of 16 Halloween Hostess
    16 of 16 Groovy Graveyard

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    16 Outdoor Skeleton Decorations for a Super Spooky Halloween Yard
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