Giant skeleton arms have taken over this house for Halloween

By Fiona Jackson via SWNS

A Halloween enthusiast has built two 30-foot skeleton arms and attached them to his home for the spooky season.

Self-taught builder Alan Perkins, 37, is known by neighbors for his extravagant home displays, and this year was no different.

Each hand is 8 feet long, 4 feet wide and attached to a 22 ft arm that bends around the property.

"I am sort of a fanatic!" said Alan, from Olmsted Falls, Ohio.

"Halloween is where I get to be creative and build something fun just to see if I can. I like whimsical and fun over the gory and creepy.

"I decided to decorate my home in a family-friendly display my kids wouldn't be afraid of.

"Here I want people just to scratch their heads as to how I pulled it off."

Three years ago, Alan made an intricate spider web labyrinth over a public bridge for the city of Olmsted Fall's Halloween festivities.

This larger-than-life project inspired him to try the skeleton arms the following year, but when COVID reduced the city's budget for decorations things ground to a halt.

"I decided I had the materials, why not make something fun for kids to see anyway even if it can't be for the cities event?" he said.

"As a teenager, I saw a giant skeleton made from chicken wire in an art display. I thought the concept of something oversized was rather fun.

"A few years ago, I saw a Christmas tree breaking through a roof of a house as if the owners miscalculated on size of the tree.

"I figured a Halloween skeleton coming through a roof and house would be cool as well and started to plan how I could do it."

Alan has also made a life-size Lego Batmobile that his kids would fit in, a 14ft-tall Lego haunted house, a pirate ship and tombstones which read his neighbors' surnames.

"What better way to introduce yourself to the neighborhood?" he said.

As a certified safety professional, Alan has experience with construction, but when it came to putting together the enormous foam bones he needed a few YouTube tutorials.

He sourced some 4x8 foot sheets of white foam for the hands and supported them by poking through some PVC piping.

He then painted them white and coated with sand and PVA glue to keep them weather-resistant, and attached them to his home using rope and steel cables.

Alan Perkins working on the 30ft skeleton arms. (Alan Perkins via SWNS)

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The dad-of-two said: "It looks like it snowed in my yard and basement due to all the foam beads and dust.

"My wife said I can't put Christmas lights on the arms and leave them up - who would have guessed?"

It took him the better part of a month, and about $500, to complete the installation, but the reactions from his daughter Myka, 6, and son Asher, 8, were well worth it.

He said: "My kids love the decorations.

"My son tells everyone on the road when he sees them to come see the new things, he wants to talk to everyone about it.

"I think most of my neighbors are immune at this point with my random Halloween builds but I get a lot of cars that slow down and stop to take pictures or ask me questions."

In agreement with wife Heidi Perkins, 36, Alan plans to leave it up until a week after Halloween before storing it in the garage for next year.

He will then turn his attention to Christmas - and begin turning his flag pole into a massive tree with 6,000 lights.

"My wife tolerates my shenanigans and is finally coming around," Alan joked.

"She bought two Halloween throw pillows this year to show she supports me by decorating inside a bit."