I cannot recall the story behind the cloth ghost hanged from a tree at Halloween. I say “hanged” because this is not just any old sheet tossed on a tree. The head is stuffed to make it look like the ghost was hanged. I seem to recall this item has a name and a story behind it. Maybe some SDoper can help me recall either or both?
The rope is to hang the sheet from, so it appears to float – like a ghost. It’s tied below the stuffing to give the sheet a neck, which makes the stuffed part look like a head, which makes the whole thing look like a pale floating human – i.e., like a ghost.
Really, does it need to be more complicated than that?
An unlikely longshot, but how about teru teru bozu?
I’m with Nametag. I always figured it was a ghost hung from a tree, for practical reasons of “how else do you get your ghost figure to hover in the air,” not a ghost hanged from a tree. I certainly never heard any backstory to support the “hanged” notion.