The Faircloth family has grown to include a few unusual members: a dozen skeletons that have taken over their front yard.
Brad Faircloth originally got the idea to take their Halloween decorations to the next level to amuse his wife, Frances, before she left for work in the morning.
“I did it on my way to work just to make her laugh. That was it,” he said. “And I couldn’t even tell you what I did. It was because we had a couple of skeletons, and I figured I left well before she did.”
The first time the skeleton decorations were arranged to create a spooky scene was four years ago. In the past three years, the skeletons’ arrangement has been changed daily through October. During October 2020, Brad Faircloth was working from home due to COVID-19. He said rearranging the skeletons daily was a way to kill time.
This year’s most popular Halloween decorating trends include oversized lawn decorations, spooky dinnerware and Hocus Pocus merchandise, according to House Digest.
Consumers are expected to spend $10.6 billion on Halloween this year, with the average consumer spending $100, according to the National Retail Federation. Half of Americans are expected to decorate their home or yard.
Five full-size skeletons, three smaller skeletons and four skeledogs are used to make the scenes at the Faircloth house at 320 W 26th St. The couple spends anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes each evening to rearrange the skeleton family.
“It’s just kind of evolved into this. And then the neighborhood kids started paying attention,” Brad Faircloth said. “And now it’s more, there’s a lot of retirees in our neighborhood that walk around, and they seem to enjoy it the most.So that’s really the inspiration, is to make them smile.”
The couple said they started planning the daily arrangements a couple ofweeks prior to Oct 1. while driving during a vacation. The skeleton family has been seen this month walking their skeledogs on leashes, playing tug-of-war and washing the windows of the Faircloth house, among other arrangements.
Frances Faircloth said the idea behind every arrangement comes from a variety of sources, including friends and family.
“I have a friend in California that will send me ideas. I have an aunt in Arizona that will send me ideas,” she said. “He’s got family that will message and be like, ‘Hey, you guys should do this, you should do this.’”
Although the Faircloth’s children are older and no longer participate in Halloween, the skeleton family is a way for them to continue celebrating the holiday. Since the couple no longer has to buy Halloween items for their kids, they use those funds to purchase full-size candy bars to pass out on Halloween night.
The National Retail Federation reports the most popular costumes this year for kids are Spiderman, princesses and witches; the most popular pet costumes are pumpkins, hot dogs and bats; and the most popular adult costumes are witches, vampires and ghosts.
Frances Faircloth said her favorite part of the holiday is passing out candy in their garage, which will be decorated as well as their yard.
“We like seeing all the kids and their costumes and stuff like that. Community is still super important for that and having the kids trick-or-treat,” she said.
She usually posts the skeletons’ daily activities on her personal Facebook page. The couple said they would like to expand their skeleton family as long as they continue to have interest in them.
“As long as people still enjoy it, we’ll still probably do it,” Brad Faircloth said.
Reach reporter Hannah Nystrom at [email protected].
