Every year, shoppers race to grab Home Depot Halloween animatronics — not because they’re cheap, but because they’re some of the most impressive on the market. And this year, the official Halloween collection will be available to purchase on Aug. 4 on HomeDepot.com and in The Home Depot app.
Much to our delight, Skelly, the 12-foot-tall skeleton, is coming back for 2025. And he’s still $299, the same price he’s been for the last six years. While it'll be hard to find Home Depot sales on these items before Oct. 31 rolls around, I’ll fill you in on when their Halloween decor goes on sale and other tips to help you save.
I’ll cover when you can expect to find Halloween items in-store, when the Home Depot sales happen, the most popular decorations from last season, and how to avoid paying full price.
Home Depot Halloween Decorations 2025
Home Depot is going big again for Halloween 2025 with a mix of brand-new pieces, fan favorites from previous years, and fresh accessories for their most popular decorations —yes, Skelly is back.
This year, they’ve rolled out the new Gruesome Grounds Collection, featuring giant creatures, animatronics, and outdoor showstoppers. Skelly returns at $299, and now he’s bringing friends: a 5-foot Sitting Skelly’s Dog with LifeEyes LCD eyes and a new 5-foot LED Skelly’s Cat. The 7-foot Skelly’s Dog and the entire Graves & Bones Collection from 2024 are also making a comeback.
If you're looking for an upgraded Skelly, there's a new one that is LED app controlled. It has servo motors for its mouth, head, arms, and torso and even has a live mode that you can record up to thirty 30-second clips, plus five pre-set recordings.
On top of that, you’ll see new Universal Monsters like Chucky and Frankenstein's Monster joining the lineup.
Products will be available online starting Aug. 4, but there’s no set time for when each item will go live — they’ll appear on the site throughout the day. Here’s what we’re planning to grab on Aug. 4:
KCL TIP: If you’re serious about your Halloween decorating, you may want to check out the Home Depot Halloween Haunters Club on Facebook. The group posts lots of tips about how to decorate using animatronics.
When does Home Depot put out Halloween decorations?
According to The Home Depot’s Facebook page, most stores have Halloween decor on display by early September. This matches what we’ve seen in previous years. Typically, Home Depot starts stocking Halloween decorations in late August, often before Labor Day weekend.
When does Home Depot Halloween decor go on sale?
Home Depot Halloween sales usually happen at the end of October. But it’s worth checking for a flash sale toward the middle of the month.
Bigger Halloween sales happen just a few days before Oct. 31 when Home Depot starts their Halloween clearance online.
When does Home Depot Halloween clearance start?
Home Depot starts their Halloween clearance online at 50% off three to four days before Halloween.
Last year, we saw the first set of clearance deals arrive on Oct. 27. The most popular items (like the animatronics) sell fast — I mean, lightning fast. So online discounts on Halloween decor don’t usually exceed 50%.
If you want to save the most money on Halloween decor, though, wait until the first week of November and stock up for next year. This is when Home Depot Halloween clearance reaches up to 75% off in stores. So a $299 life-size animatronic would only cost $75 in this final clearance stage, if stuff stays in stock that long.
Clearance selections vary greatly by store, and popular items like the animatronics and inflatables always get scooped up fast. But if you head to Home Depot when the store opens on Nov. 3, you’ll be the first to shop deeply discounted Halloween decor.
KCL TIP: Bookmark our Halloween deals page to stay up-to-date on the best sales, discounts, and offers ahead of Oct. 31.
Is Home Depot open on Halloween?
Home Depot stores will be open on Halloween 2025 during normal business hours (6 a.m. - 10 p.m. local time). You may even find decor on the clearance shelves by then.
But don’t expect to find Skelly the Skeleton fully stocked on Halloween. Home Depot animatronics like these sell out (and get restocked) multiple times in the months before. So your chances of finding the popular decorations in store on Oct. 31 are slim to none.
Home Depot Halloween Savings Tips
While some Home Depot Halloween items go for up to $400, their prices are still competitive to stores like Spirit Halloween and House of Hauntz. And shoppers say the quality of Home Depot’s animatronics are even better than the specialty stores.
If you have your heart set on new Home Depot Halloween decor this year, here are a few ways to save:
1. Pay for pricey animatronics with discounted Home Depot gift cards.
Discounted gift cards can help you score extra savings when you can’t find a sale price. Before you invest in Halloween animatronics, buy a discounted Home Depot gift card on CardBear.com, and then use it to pay for your animatronics purchase.
Right now, you can buy Home Depot gift cards for 3% - 10% off the face value on CardBear.com. They even tell you whether to buy the gift card now or wait for a bigger discount based on average savings in the past.
If you find a discounted Home Depot gift card for 10% off, you’ll save $30 on a $300 animatronic.
2. Buy a storage bag for animatronics to expand their lifespan.
Home Depot suggests storing animatronics and other larger-than-life decor in the box they came in. But boxes can get wet or let in critters, so we recommend investing in a Christmas tree bag or other soft storage bag with wheels.
According to the experts at Home Depot, a 9-foot Christmas tree bag will safely hold animatronics up to 6-feet-tall. Home Depot’s large animatronics storage bag ($39.98) is currently out of stock online, but you can grab a heavy-duty tree storage bag off Amazon for $19.99.
3. Use your 10% off military discount to save on your Halloween big ticket items.
Active or former military members can use Home Depot's 10% military discount on most in-stock, full-priced items in stores and online. This includes tools, flooring, lawn, garden, seasonal decor, and patio, no matter the brand. You can even use your 10% discount to buy Skelly the Home Depot Skeleton. This will bring Skelly down from $299 to $269.10.
The military discount doesn't apply to Home Depot sale prices, Special Buys, clearance items, installation services, or delivery fees.
4. Use Google’s reverse image search to compare prices on Halloween decor.
This is my favorite hack for comparing Halloween prices (but in my experience, this hack only works if you're browsing with Chrome).
Home Depot carries a lot of the same brands that other retailers sell, like National Tree Company, Glitzhome, and Calloway Mills. When you do a reverse image search using a photo of the product you like, all the big retailers selling the same product will pop up in the Google Lens sidebar.
Here’s How It Works:
Right-click the image of the product you like.
Select “Search images with Google.”
Use your cursor to select which image on the site you’d like to search. It’s okay if it’s not a perfect cutout or if the image is small. Google can usually work with poorly cropped and low-res photos.
Find the Google Lens sidebar pop-up on the right-hand side of your browser.
From there, you can scroll through the results and easily compare prices.
This method may not show you items at every single store, but it catches most of the big retailers.
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