April 2025 came and went without new Halloween decorations from the Home Depot. For fans of the home improvement retailer’s iconic 12-foot skeleton and other seasonal yard props, the hiatus wasn’t just disappointing — it was cause for concern. Did the specter of tariffs spook the Home Depot?
I know what you’re probably thinking: Come on, we’re still months away from Halloween. But a late April launch of its 2025 Halloween collection would’ve been right on schedule for the Home Depot, which has hosted a “Halfway to Halloween” event a few weeks after Easter since 2022. The drop typically features “Skelly” and several new props made available online in limited quantities, functioning as a teaser to the retailer’s full Halloween kickoff later in the summer.
Skelly and other Home Depot Halloween decor have garnered a dedicated fanbase since the 12-footer debuted in 2020, making this Halfway to Halloween event an incredibly popular affair. Last year’s drop went live around 6:30 a.m. ET, and some products sold out within an hour. So when the retailer didn’t host its usual sale this spring, people noticed.
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“For me personally, if I spend the money in April, it doesn’t count as Halloween,” said Jennifer Penelope Corcoran, of Nashville, Tenn.
Corcoran is the founder and co-admin of the Facebook group 12 Ft Skeleton Halloween Club, the heart of Skelly’s enduring online fandom. The group has grown to more than 64,000 members and spawned several popular spin-off communities since Corcoran started it in September 2020, right after Skelly first hit the market. The Home Depot Halloween Haunters Club is the largest such group that Corcoran runs, with over 170,000 members to date.
Members of Corcoran’s groups keep each other abreast of annual restocks with “Code Orange” alerts and eagerly await the Halfway to Halloween events. “They’ve done them the past couple years, and it got delayed, which obviously people have been disappointed about,” said Corcoran.
Why the delay? Perhaps the only thing scarier than a giant skeleton is a giant tariff bill. While much of the discussion surrounding President Donald Trump’s tariffs has focused on electronics like iPhones, manufacturers of plastic products — including, say, a lawn ornament made of oversized bones — have faced some significant pricing challenges in 2025, according to The Atlantic. And while the Home Depot wouldn’t confirm that tariffs directly impacted Skelly’s spring launch, a Mashable investigation reveals tariffs have had a ripple effect on the Halloween industry.
The case of the missing Halloween sale
Mashable can confirm that the Home Depot was planning a 2025 Halfway to Halloween event this spring. A press release sent to a reporter on March 21 signaled an on-time launch “in late April” for Skelly and friends. The information was not subject to an embargo.
“The Home Depot is gearing up for its highly anticipated Halfway to Halloween sale, giving fans exclusive early access to select pieces from the 2025 lineup — months before the full reveal. Perfect for those getting ready to celebrate Summerween!” the release read. “This spring, Halloween enthusiasts and thrill-seekers alike can get a head start on the season with select products available on HomeDepot.com, all part of the upcoming Halfway to Halloween celebration in late April (date coming soon!).”
Credit: The Home Depot
The release referred to the Halfway to Halloween drop as a “tradition” the Home Depot was “excited to continue,” a descriptor the retailer has since abandoned. In a June 4 interview with Mashable, Tyler Pelfrey, manager of brand communications at the Home Depot, said the event was meant to serve as a “surprise and delight moment” for its Halloween superfans and that “it’s not necessarily a core part of our strategy.”
“It’s not really something that we held onto and made a decision about until we really looked at the landscape and said, let’s try and focus a little bit more on our core audience,” said Pelfrey. “And, you know, things are a little different this year. We looked at [it] from our competitive lens as well and said, let’s focus on the coming months and later in the year, whenever we decide to launch for the more general Halloween consumer, because that’s really where the majority of the excitement for the program really kicks in.”
Pelfrey couldn’t share exactly when that launch would happen — it’s usually in mid-July — but he encouraged fans to follow the Home Depot on social media to stay up to date on its future announcements.
‘There’ll be some things that … just end up going away’
While most Home Depot products are sourced in North America, Skelly and other Halloween decorations are made in China by a California company called Seasonal Visions International (SVI). Imported Chinese goods have been subject to fluctuating tariffs from the Trump administration since early this year. In April, they soared to a high of 145 percent and remained at that rate for four-and-a-half weeks. At the time of publication, the U.S. tariff rate on Chinese imports sat at 30 percent.
In addition to making props and animatronics for retailers like the Home Depot, SVI sells replacement parts on its own website. On June 3, the company emailed previous customers regarding “some upcoming changes” to its business this summer, citing the fallout from “increased tariffs.” Mashable obtained a copy of the email and reached out to SVI for comment.
“Due to the increased tariffs and their impact on the global supply chain, we will be making adjustments to our parts availability, pricing, and support policy on July 1,” SVI wrote in the email. More details will be shared on the company’s website “soon,” it added.
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When asked about SVI’s email and tariffs’ role in the Home Depot’s decision to cancel its Halfway to Halloween drop, Pelfrey acknowledged the state of the market but said the retailer didn’t make its call for a singular reason.
“Tariffs are definitely something that the company has a good team rallying around, and our merchants and our relationships with suppliers are so good that they’re always trying to look for the best way to keep value at the forefront for customers. And that’s one of the things, I think, that stays true for Halloween as well,” said Pelfrey.
He added: “We looked at a lot of different competitive lenses and that’s kind of really where we made our [Halfway to Halloween] decision. I wouldn’t say one sole factor made our mind up on that.”
Credit: The Home Depot
Tariffs have certainly been top of mind for Home Depot leadership. On April 21, CNBC reported that CEO Ted Decker joined Target and Walmart’s CEOs in a meeting with Trump to discuss tariffs’ impact on their businesses. “We had an informative and constructive meeting with the President and look forward to continuing the dialogue,” the Home Depot reportedly said in a statement.
A month later, the Home Depot would swear off sweeping price hikes because of tariffs — a rare move among major retailers. “We don’t see broad-based price increases for our customers at all going forward,” said executive vice president of merchandising Billy Bastek, speaking on a May 20 investor call about the company’s Q1 earnings report, per NPR. However, the company isn’t ruling out changes to individual product pricing and availability down the road.
“There’s items that we have that could potentially be impacted from a tariff that, candidly, we won’t have going forward,” said Bastek. “There’ll be some things that don’t make sense that just end up going away.”
Pelfrey did confirm that Skelly will return at some point in 2025, referring to the 12-footer as “the rockstar out of all of our Halloween decor.” But when Mashable asked him in a follow-up email whether it will still be sold for $299, its sticker price since 2020, he couldn’t say. “We don’t share pricing of products before the official launch,” Pelfrey wrote.
Tariffs come for the Halloween industry
Halloween has become a big business over the last decade, but especially in the last five years. According to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) latest Halloween Spending Survey, U.S. consumers were expected to drop $11.6 billion on Halloween items in 2024, up from $8.8 billion in 2019 and $7.4 billion in 2014. (Last year’s figure wasn’t finalized at the time of publication, but would be a slight drop from 2023’s record-setting $12.2 billion.)
This surge in Halloween spending has correlated with a rise in early shopping. Forty-seven percent of respondents in the NRF’s survey said they bought Halloween items before October in 2024, compared to 37 percent in 2019 and 32 percent in 2014.
Yet 2025 could alter these trends as consumers’ sourcing options dwindle. All Joann Fabrics stores and most Party City locations closed in recent months after both retailers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy around the new year. At Home, a Texas-based home decor chain that sells Halloween items, could soon do the same after missing a mid-May interest payment and entering a forbearance deal with its lenders, Bloomberg reported.
Among surviving retailers, the Home Depot wouldn’t be the only store to shelve a spring Halloween drop because of economic turmoil. On May 1, HalloweenCostumes.com announced on Instagram that it was delaying the usual May launch of its decor and animatronics “due to rising tariffs.” The company declined an interview request.
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“For now, everything is postponed,” said HalloweenCostumes.com Tom Fallenstein in the accompanying reel. “We know that’s very disappointing, but with the tariffs, we are trying to figure out what products we’re bringing in, what costs might look like, and ultimately how do we get the product here and have the best experience for our customers.”
On May 22, Spirit Halloween credited “international disruptions and supply chain challenges” as the factors that led it to cancel this year’s grand opening event at its flagship store in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., according to a statement on its Instagram page. The retailer said its 1,500 stores are still slated to begin opening in mid-August, and that it plans to revive the Egg Harbor Township event in 2026. A representative for Spirit didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Home Depot rival Lowe’s ran its own limited Halloween sale in late April, but it may not have been totally immune from current market conditions. A Reddit user pointed out that a 12-foot Bone Collector animatronic was listed for $599 on the Lowe’s website this spring. It debuted last year at $399, according to the parenting website GeekDad, footage of its in-store display, and Halloween YouTubers’ unboxing videos.
On April 22, a user named “MadPotentialCustomer” complained about the Bone Collector’s $200 price increase in the Community Q&A section of its product page. An account that appears to be run by Tekky Design, its manufacturer, responded two days later. “Tekky has no control over retails,” it wrote. “Please reach out to Lowe’s directly regarding any issues with pricing.” Mashable reached out to Tekky and Lowes for comment, and we’ll update this article if we hear back.
Credit: Lowe’s
Lowe’s had the Bone Collector in stock for $499 the last time Mashable checked.
The Skelly fandom stands by their man
Members of Skelly’s Facebook fandom who were hoping for a Halfway to Halloween drop haven’t shied away from tariff discussions, for better or worse. Corcoran had to make a dedicated tariff thread in Home Depot Halloween Haunters Club because its members kept submitting posts about the topic. She and her co-admins took turns monitoring it closely so it didn’t spiral into political arguments, she told Mashable.
Corcoran has a professional sales background that includes shipping and logistics, and she recognizes that the Home Depot is in a tough position when it comes to balancing tariffs with consumer expectations, as most retailers are right now. “They’re not a nonprofit,” she said. But Corcoran thinks Halloween enthusiasts remain loyal to the Home Depot because its decor prices have always been reasonable and consistent, pointing to the fact that Skelly’s $299 MSRP has stuck despite insatiably high demand and several upgrades. (The Home Depot gave Skelly a plug-in power adapter and new eye features in 2021 and 2024, respectively.)
“That 12-foot skeleton does not ship in a shoebox, and with the prices of plastics, components, everything like that … it’s one of the only things I can think of, between 2020 and 2024, that did not go up in price,” Corcoran said.
Corcoran stays in close touch with the Home Depot’s team and expects them to provide a heads-up once the 2025 Halloween drop is set in stone, she said. In the meantime, members of her groups are temporarily distracted by the recent arrival of a new 170-gallon Husky tote, the long-awaited answer to many 12-foot skeleton owners’ storage woes. (Right on its label: “Fits 12ft Skelly.”) Some have jokingly floated the idea of decorating the totes if new animatronics don’t arrive soon.
For her part, Corcoran has her eye on a new 6.5-foot, app-controlled “Ultra Skelly” that popped up in March at the Home Depot’s Store Managers Meeting, an annual employee convention that features an upcoming product showcase. Corcoran didn’t buy any Halloween items from the Home Depot last year because she had vet bills to pay, and she’s excited to make up for it when the time comes.
“I’m telling everybody to stay calm,” said Corcoran. “Meanwhile, I’m texting my friends, ‘If I don’t get that app skeleton, the world will feel my wrath.'”
Source : Is the Home Depots viral 12-foot skeleton a victim of President Trumps tariffs?
