25 Spine-Chilling Ways To Decorate Your Home With Skeletons This Halloween

It’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it! Enlist the help of a towering skeleton to watch over the spine-chilling cemetery in your front yard. The remains of Barry M. Deaper and Willy Wrott are safely guarded from gravediggers with this giant skeleton — and his shorter friend — on site.

What kind of host would you be without a proper greeting? Welcome trick-or-treaters and guests with this scary-cute DIY skeleton sign on your front porch. Find the step-by-step tutorial to make your own at the link below.

Take this as your sign to offer your Halloween dinner guests a helping hand with their silverware. This modern and moody place setting features an ink-dipped napkin and an eerie salad plate, complete with a skull, crossbones, and scribbled prose. The plate is accompanied by a disembodied hand, presenting an unpolished fork and knife to the (un)lucky diner.

Strike a balance between grim and glamour on your Halloween table, bookcase or console table using a skeleton and a bottle of your favorite gold spray paint. Top your gilded skull with a bejeweled crown and scatter its bones across various surfaces for a gothic-meets-glam look.

Summer may be over, but don’t stow away your sun chaise yet, friend! Set up Mr. Bones for some R&R on your front lawn with a lawn chair, beach umbrella, and some sunglasses. And don’t forget to fill his tumbler — good hydration is paramount for bone health.

If digging six feet under feels a bit daunting right now, fret not! This perilous planter requires far less sweat equity than a traditional grave and, the best part? It adds a much-needed gothic touch your doorstep. Grab your shovel and get to work with our step-by-step guide, linked below.

Eternal love begins when life comes to an end. Invite passersby to congratulate the woefully wedded couple by placing them front and center in your yard. Don’t forget to equip the bride with a bouquet of dried blooms and the groom with a ghastly top hat.

Mr. Bones needs his beloved animal companion just as much as the next guy. Be sure to make room for his pet of choice in your Halloween decor. This parrot skeleton may be without his vibrant plumage, but he’s sure to provide his owner with lively conversation.

Add a punch of peril to your bookcase with some posy-clad paper mache skulls. This trio provides top-tier inspiration with their poppy pink, orange, and coral finishes and sculptural floral accessories.

Who better to invite over to break bread on All Hallows’ Eve than Edgar Allen Poe? Here, stylist Jenny Reimold dressed her skeleton as the late poet in an inky hat and a velvet neck ribbon, and placed a vintage typewriter in his lap. The literary icon is surrounded by foreboding bare branches adorned with coverless vintage books and — of course — an ominous pack of his signature feathered friends: ravens.

What better way to get into the spirit of the Halloween season than to terrify passersby with a gargantuan glowing skull on your front door? Recreate this rotting, fly-ridden skull from The Crafty Lumberjacks using the step-by-step tutorial linked below.

Give your white pumpkin a little facelift — literally. This ivory gourd is made oh-so-grim with a graphite skull surrounded by autumnal florals and an eerie, ornate spiderweb. Style it on your mantel surrounded by antique books or pair it with a mix of black-and-white pumpkins for a moody, maximalist display.

Create an eerie ambiance on your fireplace, dining table, or buffet with our DIY concrete skull candle holders. The abominable accessories look especially unsettling when paired with black taper candles and stacked atop vintage books. Make your own set with our step-by-step video tutorial, linked below.

When in doubt, pink it out! This vibrant Halloween table is equal parts girly and ghoulish, featuring a glossy magenta skull centerpiece. The dearly departed social butterfly underwent a burr hole procedure and now serves as a vibrant vessel for fiery autumnal blooms.

Stow away your summery blue-and-white plate collection and put their creepy season counterparts in their place. Here, a collection of illustrated plates with a skeleton, owl, and creepy crawlers aplenty add a foreboding touch above the bar cart.

If two heads are better than one, this towering topiary must be leagues above the rest. Unearth your skeleton collection and pop off their heads to craft this grand and gruesome topiary for your front porch. The macabre design adds a dark, devilish flair to any exterior, and it’s easier to make than you think. Find our step-by-step tutorial below.

Follow our lead and seat Mrs. Bones at the head of the table at your next Halloween soiree. This moody, modern Halloween table features a texture-rich dried-floral centerpiece, romantic taper candles, and a haunting hostess prepared to hang on guests’ every word.

Name a better place to rest your bones after a stormy October day — we’ll wait! Recreate The Crafty Lumberjack’s scary-chic skull pillow covers to bring a haunted touch to your living room, playroom, or entry bench. Grab the how-to in the link below.

Bone white is lovely, of course, but sometimes even a skeleton wants to dress up every once in a while. Elevate your skeleton for scary season with an eye-catching ombré paint job. This gorgeous gal provides ample inspiration with punchy pink, starting at her head and ending with teal on her toes. Love the idea but not so keen on pink? Customize your skeleton’s color palette to complement your existing Halloween decor.

Add unease to your walls — and anyone who walks across your threshold —with this all-seeing Living Dead Planter inspired by food artist Nikk Alcaraz. To make your own you will need a vintage frame, plastic cutting boards, a low temp hot glue gun, real or artificial succulents, jumbo craft sticks, real or artificial colorful moss, a foam or plastic skull, and a craft knife. Follow the link below to find our step-by-step guide to get started.

No Halloween tree is complete without Mr. Bones! Trim yours with an oversized felt wall-hanging, as seen here, or dangle miniature skeletons from the branches for an equally unsettling look.

Prop a life-sized skeleton against your fence to leave your neighbors feeling uneasy throughout autumn. Warning: Said neighbors’ dog may (read: definitely will) bark incessantly (and loudly) upon the skeleton’s installation. Oh, and they will, undoubtedly, lift their leg on Mr. Bones before October comes to an end.

At first glance, everything appears to be business as usual outside this charming home. But, upon closer inspection, you see a life-sized skeleton attempting to escape from the roof. Suddenly, trick-or-treating here feels like a gamble. Dangle your skeleton from your roof to recreate the neck-breaking display.

Cast your home in an eerie, unpleasant light with our DIY skeleton chandelier. The upcycling project is the perfect way to pass the time while bingeing your favorite scary movies. Get the step-by-step guide to make this murderous fixture at the link below.