# How can I make myself into a Halloween decoration after death? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 23, 2025, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-make-myself-into-a-halloween-decoration-after-death/1024228 "2025-10-23T16:53:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-make-myself-into-a-halloween-decoration-after-death/1024228/1 "2025-10-23T16:53:43Z")
After my death, I want to leave my body to my kids to use as a Halloween decoration, specifically a skeleton. A real skeleton is much more eco-friendly than those plastic ones. So this raises several questions. First, are there any legal issues around this? Is it just a matter of putting it in my will? Would my kids need any documentation to prove they legally own the skeleton, and didn’t kill someone to get it? Second, how would I accomplish this as a practical matter? Would a funeral home be able to take my body and hand back a skeleton? Are there good DIY processes for it? Third, what do I (well, my kids) need to do to preserve the skeleton and maybe make it less appealing to dogs and scavengers? I’d hate to go to all this work only to end up as the neighborhood chew toy. Do **not** need answer fast (hopefully). ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-make-myself-into-a-halloween-decoration-after-death/1024228/2 "2025-10-23T17:30:01Z")
Wouldn’t becoming a Halloween zombie be cooler? ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-make-myself-into-a-halloween-decoration-after-death/1024228/3 "2025-10-23T17:32:24Z")
[![](https://img.etimg.com/thumb/msid-101306526,width-300,height-225,imgsize-24488,resizemode-75/deceased-grandmother-in-resin.jpg) ](https://img.etimg.com/thumb/msid-101306526,width-300,height-225,imgsize-24488,resizemode-75/deceased-grandmother-in-resin.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-make-myself-into-a-halloween-decoration-after-death/1024228/4 "2025-10-23T17:37:02Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Wouldn’t becoming a Halloween zombie be cooler? Cooler, but decidedly less practical. I want to be a skeleton. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-make-myself-into-a-halloween-decoration-after-death/1024228/5 "2025-10-23T17:52:57Z")
You already are a skeleton. You just have a lot of extra meat. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-make-myself-into-a-halloween-decoration-after-death/1024228/6 "2025-10-23T17:58:20Z")
Comedian [Del Close](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_Close), who was a major influencer in improvisational comedy, particularly in Chicago, had specified in his will that, after his death, his skull would be donated to Chicago’s Goodman Theater, for use as a prop (Yorick’s skull) in productions of _Hamlet_. And, indeed, after his death, his longtime partner, Charna Halpern, presented the Goodman with a skull. Alas, some years later, it came out that the skull wasn’t Close’s; Halpern had purchased it from a medical supply company. But, for the OP: maybe you could find someone to do the same for your skull! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-make-myself-into-a-halloween-decoration-after-death/1024228/7 "2025-10-23T18:01:18Z")
This company might prepare your skeleton for the right price. They did a human being awhile back for a museum display. > [@](#): > > Since 1986, we’ve provided the finest Dermestid cleaned, museum quality specimens for our customers. Whether you need cleaning, mounting, or articulation, our goal is to serve all your osteological processing needs. > **[Skulls Unlimited Cleaning Services - Expert Skull Cleaning Nationwide](https://skullcleaning.com/)** > > Explore Skulls Unlimited Cleaning Services, a family-owned business offering high-quality services such as skull cleaning, skeleton articulation, skull repairs, European mounting, and camo dipping. Our alternative approach to traditional taxidermy is... \*by “Dermestid”, they mean a crew of beetles that processes carcasses for them. ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-make-myself-into-a-halloween-decoration-after-death/1024228/8 "2025-10-23T18:12:53Z")
This reminds me of a case when an old man happened to collapse in his yard during the Halloween period. The mailman did not report the situation to the authorities although he saw the man’s dead body on or near the porch because he thought it was one of the decorations, not a real corpse. I think the old man’s daughter sued the postal service. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-make-myself-into-a-halloween-decoration-after-death/1024228/9 "2025-10-23T18:32:32Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Would a funeral home be able to take my body and hand back a skeleton? Artist’s rendering: [![](https://midcurrent.com//wp-content/gallery/nick-laferriere/Brown-Trout-Skeleton.jpg) ](https://midcurrent.com//wp-content/gallery/nick-laferriere/Brown-Trout-Skeleton.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-make-myself-into-a-halloween-decoration-after-death/1024228/10 "2025-10-23T18:47:50Z")
aka the Cartoon Cat Eating a Fish treatment. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-make-myself-into-a-halloween-decoration-after-death/1024228/11 "2025-10-23T19:28:35Z")
I know that, when a body is cremated, the flames don’t consume all of the bones, and the funeral home has to grind up the bigger bits of bone somehow. Maybe a local funeral home can just cremate you at a lower setting, burning off only the flesh but leaving the bone? Mortuary science, and the legal ramifications thereof, are not my strong suit, so YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-make-myself-into-a-halloween-decoration-after-death/1024228/12 "2025-10-23T19:30:18Z")
You didn’t like the zombie idea, I get that. What about they cut off your head and make you into a real Headless Horseman? ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-make-myself-into-a-halloween-decoration-after-death/1024228/13 "2025-10-23T19:33:39Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > What about they cut off your head and make you into a real Headless Horseman? One of my goals is easy storage and being unappealing to scavengers. Anything that requires cold storage or leaves flesh or skin on the bones is probably out. Encasing me in resin would solve the scavenger problem, but I doubt my kids will have the attic space for a body that can’t be folded up, and it would be a pain to carry it around. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-make-myself-into-a-halloween-decoration-after-death/1024228/14 "2025-10-23T19:39:24Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > This company might prepare your skeleton for the right price. They did a human being awhile back for a museum display. This is intriguing. I was expecting skeleton cleaning to be thousands of dollars, but their price list shows only $250-350 for a gorilla, the closest human comparison I could see. Unfortunately, their policy states “human remains will only be accepted from bona-fide educational facilities,” so this would either require an under-the-table arrangement, or I’ll need to partner with a university somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-make-myself-into-a-halloween-decoration-after-death/1024228/15 "2025-10-23T19:41:45Z")
Trump University would probably get in on that for low four figures. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-make-myself-into-a-halloween-decoration-after-death/1024228/16 "2025-10-23T19:50:12Z")
It looks like I can buy my own dermestid beetles for $250, but I’m doubtful my wife will put up with 4-6 months of my body stinking up the basement while I’m slowly consumed. Figuring out the right temperature fire seems easier. > **[Buy Dermestid Beetle Kits - Skull Taxidermy](https://skulltaxidermy.com/buy-dermestid-beetle-kits/)** > > Dermestid Beetles do all the work when it comes to skull cleaning. Our Dermestid Beetle Kits offer customers the opportunity to start their own colony. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-make-myself-into-a-halloween-decoration-after-death/1024228/17 "2025-10-23T19:54:01Z")
I have two friends who each have a bona fide human skull. Both sit on the mantlepiece of the two respective houses. Both completely illegal, of course. I’d absolutely donate my skull for a similar decoration, but unfortunately it is going to science, as I have a fairly rare brain disease, and I’d prefer that future neuroscience students to get it first. ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-make-myself-into-a-halloween-decoration-after-death/1024228/18 "2025-10-23T19:54:05Z")
> [@PlaceboTarget](#): > > I think the old man’s daughter sued the postal service for what? Mistaking a corpse for a decoration? Not sure what the cause of action would be here, or damages for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-make-myself-into-a-halloween-decoration-after-death/1024228/19 "2025-10-23T20:07:58Z")
I think most states have laws restricting the disposition of human remains. For example, it’s usually legal to keep cremated remains in your house, but it’s not legal to bury a dead body in your back yard. In California, at least, a body can be buried only in an “established cemetery”. A quick search seems to indicate that keeping a skeleton as private property would violate “abuse of a corpse” laws, which Google tells me exist in every state. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2025, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-make-myself-into-a-halloween-decoration-after-death/1024228/20 "2025-10-24T00:53:48Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > In California, at least, a body can be buried only in an “established cemetery”. How does one establish a cemetery, then? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-make-myself-into-a-halloween-decoration-after-death/1024228.md?page=2)