What started as a little competition between the Dinote family members ended up in a Spooky Season tradition their whole neighborhood looks forward to. It all began in 2020 when they bought two decorative human skeletons, as well as a skeleton dog, to deck out their lawn in anticipation of Halloween. 

“It started as a joke in October 2020 when everyone was home during the pandemic,” Steven Dinote told Today. Boredom led to some creative ways of posing the skeletons. He jokingly propped one of the human skeletons up against a lawnmower, which inspired his wife Danielle: “What if one of the skeletons was walking the dog?” And so a competition ensued between family members, each idea more creative than the last. 

“Two houses down on the same street” neighbor Oscar Carrero told Bored Panda how he helped turn the little family competition into the “wonderful craziness” of today. “I started posting photos of their displays to our local ABC affiliate’s social media app on October 4, 2021. The Dinotes didn’t find out it was me posting photos of their displays until October 9th.” After the pictures were uploaded on KSAT Connect, meteorologist Mike Osterhage shared them on Good Morning San Antonio, to the family’s surprise.

“We didn’t realize how popular it got… we had neighbors all of a sudden walk up and say ‘We love your display, we purposely change our walks just to see what you got,’” Steven said. Thus, the San Antonio Skeleton House was born! 

Since 2020, the skeleton family has expanded to 4 adults, a child, a dog, a cat, and a piranha-like fish, allowing for more varied displays and a lot more action. Sometimes neighbors and friends lend additional skeleton friends, props, equipment, or a helping hand in the prep. 

The family revealed that it took them from 20 minutes to an hour to set up the scenes every day: they’d put everything together early in the morning, sometimes doing a bit of work the night before, but it’s very much worth it! “People are excited, the neighbors are excited about it because they’re comical,” Steven told KSAT. 

Most of the themes came from the imaginative minds of the kids of the family, a lot of them inspired by movies and pop culture. “This year, we are working a little harder to come up with unique ideas and don’t want to repeat past displays,” the family told KSAT. “But we still have a big list and are constantly finding new ideas.” Their 3.9k fans on Facebook aid in that search as well! 

Last year some of the most memorable displays included couples yoga, a rock band, and, Oscar’s personal favorite, Bob Ross giving a painting lesson to fellow skeletal beings. From Halloween costumes to UFO abductions, circus acts to sporting events, and even a rollercoaster, these skeletons have done it all! 

The impact on the neighborhood and their community has been incredible, making Halloween THE holiday of the year, “all thanks to the Dinote’s skeleton displays and their family’s enormous heart.” Oscar revealed that “neighbors who barely spoke to each other prior to the skeleton displays now speak to each other on a daily basis.”

“People drive by the Dinote’s home daily just to see what they have come up with,” he continued. “Local schools ask if they can come up with an idea for a new skeleton display. As for the biggest community impact, it’s all the smiles we see. Even during the heart of the pandemic, people manage to smile at the skeleton displays.” 

It even inspired Oscar and his wife to grab a skeleton of their own, naming it Johnny! “I had an idea that we should take this Halloween joy we felt on the road, so we started an Instagram account for a skeleton we call @johnny_marrow. Johnny’s fun won’t end in October. We plan to have Johnny on a lot of adventures.” 

So where did the idea to decorate homes for Halloween come from? What is the origin of the holiday? You may feel bamboozled to know that Halloween is one of the oldest surviving traditions that continues today. In ninth-century Irish literature, it was referred to as Samhain. 

Archaeological records suggest that commemorations of Samhain can be traced back to the Neolithic period, some from 6,000 years ago. According to Tok Thompson, a professor of anthropology, it was a time for people to come together, feast, tell stories, make social and political claims, engage in important sacred rituals and, perhaps most importantly, to commune with the dead.

The dead were traditionally believed to continue to see the living, although the living could only occasionally see them, one of those occasions being Samhain itself. The Otherworld is always there, but the evening of Samhain, now Halloween, is when the dead are at their most powerful and when the lines between this world and the next are erased. Or so it is believed. 

Celebrations such as Halloween, All Saints’ Day, El Día de Los Muertos or the Day of the Dead, and others, bring us closer to a part of life that we tend to look away from on any other day. The remembrance of those who have passed, as well as the embrace of the macabre and morbid in humorous and cheeky ways, allows us to accept our time as limited. Why fear something that’s inevitable when you can have a great bit of fun, bringing joy to everyone around you!  

In the end, it’s all about spreading some good, quality holiday cheer and bringing smiles to people’s faces. “We’re getting a lot of people coming up and thanking us and bringing a little joy,” Steven said. 

“We had one person say there’s so much negative stuff going on in the news, everyone’s bitter with each other, and it makes their day just to come over and see a little bit of humor,” he continued. “It’s important that we have to look past all the negative stuff out there right now. If that helps, that makes us happy.”

Oscar would like to give his “sincerest thanks and gratitude to the Dinote family,” as their creative displays have impacted him in a very positive way. “I have been slowly working on building a following as a photographer for years now. That following is actually starting to happen and it all came from sharing the joy I felt each time I shared a new photo of their amazing skeleton displays. I am beyond privileged to be a part of their story.”

Let us know your thoughts on these displays and how you’ll be celebrating Halloween this year! Don’t forget to vote for your favorite, and enjoy the rest of this list! Toodaloo!