This Hippie Halloween Skeleton Display Gives "Grateful Dead" A Whole New Meaning [Photos]

While fans of the Grateful Dead are used to seeing dancing skeletons all year round, they have no doubt noticed some additional boogying bones with Halloween approaching. One enterprising jam band enthusiast in Ohio decided to merge his love of the Grateful Dead, Phish, and all things heady with his Halloween skeleton display.

Michael Porter of Dayton—where, perhaps not coincidentally, Phish is in the middle of a two-night run—has made his front yard skeleton display an annual tradition. Fully committed to spooky season, Michael and his wife change up the display every week leading up to Halloween. With Phish playing at the nearby Ervin J. Nutter Center, only seven miles from Michael’s house, the couple decided to devote this week’s display to jam band parking lot culture.

Fans who have hung out in a vacant lot before or after a Phish or Grateful Dead concert will no doubt recognize scenes from Porter’s display. A tie-dye-clad skeleton hoists two extra tickets skyward while a bandana-clad pile of bones puts her hips to work on a Hula hoop. Some other Skeletors earn some gas money by selling alcohol from a cooler (Miller Fright, anyone?), while some others spend their hard-earned bones on balloons filled from a propane tank.

Of course, Phish itself is known to have a flair for All Hallows theatrics. Over the years, the group has put on some wild Halloween displays of its own that have only increased in scale with age. What originated as a tradition of donning “musical costumes” and covering albums by classic bands has since evolved into grander and grander gags of creating fictional bands, writing entire albums in their made-up voices, and producing elaborate set designs and storylines to accompany the music.

The connection from the pageantry onstage to Porter’s lawn is not lost on him. “I feel that is why I have a deep love for the band,” Porter, who saw his first Phish show in 1998, told Live For Live Music. “They have the same love and dedication to the arts as I do. I feel they are creating something pure through raw emotions and energy the same as I do, whether it be my Halloween display to the outdoor living spaces I create with my job.”

Check out the Phish display of hippie Halloween skeletons below, along with some additional photos and video courtesy of Porter. Phish wraps up a two-night run at the Nutter Center tonight, October 11th, as part of the band’s fall tour. Check out Live For Live Music‘s coverage of night one here.