I think it will be interesting to compare Home Depot's Halloween selection to what I just shared from Lowe's. Both stores had some amazing animatronics. I feel like Home Depot had a bit more humor in theirs. That might sound funny with what I'm starting off with here. Remember the flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz? I don't know what's scarier here, the eyes or the teeth.
I took these photos a while back, but as I recall, the wings flapped.
This pirate section was one of my favorites. I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney, and these remind me of that. You can't help liking this guy.
The opposite of a beer belly:
This skeletal barista or bartender was all too real. I mean, he feels like he's a lot of actual people. And boy, did this one like to talk! And talk. And talk. It's one of those props you walk away from and he's still going. Oh, I see here he's named "John, the Last Call Mixologist".
All lit up! How fun would it be if someone set him up in their bar or coffee shop?
A real reacher:
This guy! I love the comically tall hat.
That part of me that was scared by the raptors when I first saw Jurassic Park is digging this. It looks like someone hung a skeleton snake over his back and down his arm.
Remember him?
A plague rat! I feel like this prop said something kind of funny but I can't remember what it was.
Its head turns from side to side.
I love these next two! How vintage can you get?
Here's something nasty. The "Rotwing Parrot" was back with the pirates.
To me, this is a wicked gargoyle, but I want to say it was called a pixie.
The wings flapped and everything. Look at the attention to detail on these wings:
How great would this be on the top of a building?
So there we have Home Depot! Pretty great props, hey? As I said before, I felt like some of these were humorous. It could be my sense of humor. Well, next up is Menards!
We had floated the idea of possibly doing a Wizard of Oz themed yard haunt many years ago but ruled it out due to how much work (and cost) would be involved in order to pull it off convincingly. Then we stumbled upon this yard haunt on Facebook that did just that for Halloween 2026. It's amazing! https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086507900361
ReplyDeleteHaunted Eve ~ That was a fun bunch of photos! I liked "Moolissa" :) And that big skeleton rooster was cool too. Menards could have been of service to this haunt, because they had so much farm themed stuff. I liked what they did with the gate here too. It looks like this was maybe a metal gate that was covered with the green Oz design?
DeleteSo are you considering the Wizard of Oz theme again?
Hey Justine! I'm just catching up with your posts. We finally bought a house and got moved at the end of September. I know a lot of people think of Spirit Halloween for animatronics, but I think these other stores you've posted about have a much better selection.
ReplyDeleteAlison ~ Hey there! Well, you'll have a lot to catch up on! And there are a bunch more blog posts coming. The photos have been taken, anyway. It will just be a matter of getting all the blogs written. So, how have you been? Busy, I'm guessing, since you just moved. That's pretty exciting! Are you still in relatively the same area?
DeleteYes, the hardware stores really came through this year. If I wanted any large-scale props, that's where I'd start. I've spotted quite a few of these large skeletons and pumpkin creatures in local yards this year.