A visit to Quinn’s Bone Yard
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send your username and password to you.
John Quinn in front of his Skelly Scamper at Quinn’s Bone Yard on Ocean to Ocean Road.
What started out as a joke, has turned into one of the places you want to stop by for all of your Halloween thrills.
John Quinn started ‘Quinn’s Bone Yard’ three years ago after he sat a skeleton on an old toilet in his front yard as a joke.
“It just grew from there,” Quinn said. “First year, we had the skeleton on the toilet, then the Grim Reaper I made. Last year, we added some witches and wood tombstones.”
This year, the Quinn’s added the ‘Skelly Scamper’, which actually is a 1973 scamper. The original idea for the camper was just for storing the skeletons for the remainder of the year.
“We went to pick it up and my wife looked at it and said we need to incorporate it with the scenery,” Quinn said.
With a scamper, you have to have campers. Two more skeletons were added to the campsite, along with two kid skeletons and two dog skeletons.
Having so many skeletons, it’s hard to keep them all straight, but John has a method for that. “We’ve got names for all of them,” Quinn said. “We got Bob on the toilet, Scrubs in the bathtub. Maggie and Louie in the lawn chairs, then Mom and the kids.”
Two other charred skeletons are next to the campsite, who have earned the names Fred and Ginger, after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, since they seem to be dancing around in the wind.
It wasn’t until this year when John realized how popular his Halloween decorations were. During Chrisman Days, John was helping the Legion set up for the beer tent when he was asked if they were going to set up this year.
“I was told that we were the talk of the town last year,” John said. “I didn’t hear that, but he said everybody at the coffee shop was talking about the decorations last year.”
Every year, the plan is to make it bigger and better than the year before. Planning for next year begins with a budget, but sometimes sticking to it is hard. “I went a little overboard this year.”
In August, Quinn had made an order for six new skeletons. With shipping delayed and decorating time drawing closer, John found four replacements for the six.
“Now, I’ve got conformation that I’ve got six more coming, so I’ll add them somewhere,” Quinn said.
Next year, the goal is to purchase a seven or twelve foot tall skeleton. “We put stuff out for Christmas, but we don’t go all out like we do for Halloween,” John said.
If you’re out on Ocean to Ocean road around sunset, be sure to look out for ‘Quinn’s Bone Yard’.
