Halloween superfans see the culture catching up to them. (A 12-foot skeleton helped)

Home Depot was about to launch something big — really big — when the pandemic hit in the spring of 2020: a 12-foot skeleton.

“There were a lot of internal discussions. It was like, is there going to be Halloween this year?” said Lance Allen, senior merchant of decorative holiday at Home Depot. “Are customers going to think this is in poor taste? Should we go forward with it?’”

Home Depot did. And the towering skeleton arrived at the perfect time.

“Nobody could possibly need a 12-foot skeleton, but everybody wanted a 12-foot skeleton,” Allen said.