13 funny Halloween photo pranks to get you in the October mood.

3 min readOct 25, 2021

Clever trick-or-treat humor to tickle your funny bone. Or bones. I’m hoping you have a lot of them.

Though Halloween is the little sister to the big holiday in December, it’s my favorite. I can’t think of another time of year that adults focus so much on creative self-expression for the fun of it. I live for an excuse to pretend and use my imagination, especially when I can combine that with my photography. So hold on to your goblin because I went to town this year.

I found this fun little skeleton at the grocery store. Or ghost-ery store, depending on your viewpoint. In my adoption of him, I named him “Bones.” As I made him dance and swing in the car on the ride home (thankfully, I was not driving), he reminded me of a Halloween-styled Elf on the Shelf®. So I decided his mission, should he choose to accept it, was to bring the trick-or-treat spirit to life as “Bones on the Banister.”

A toy Halloween skeleton rides the arm rail down the banister of the stairs for fun with his arm held high. — Woohoo! The birth of “Bones on the Banister.” He goes for a fun ride down the staircase. In setting this shot up, I started questioning what I’d gotten myself into. He isn’t exactly the most limber or cooperative to work with.

Where Elf on the Shelf® focuses on the “nice” list, I thought Bones could illustrate the yin and yang of balancing between trick and treat. Too much of either isn’t good, but you need a little of both for life to be fun. So in Elf on the Shelf®-inspired scenes, I took Bones through the paces to create some Halloween humor. Remember, humor is good for your soul.

Mr. October

A Halloween skeleton with baseball mit and baseball is ready to throw the first pitch in a baseball stadium lit at night. — “First Pitch.” With the World Series in October, it was only fitting that the MLB invited Bones up on the mound. In an interview following his wind-up, he proclaimed, “I always wanted tibia star.”

Victoria Secret’s® Newest Angel

A Halloween skeleton models down the a runway in a gauzy gown with angel wings as though she is a Victoria Secret Angel. — From a humble start in an orthopedic clinic modeling for patients about to undergo surgery, Bones gets a big break to hit the runway.

Red Zone

A Halloween skeleton sits on a football with a bokeh background of flashing lights, He holds up a foam finger with #1 on it and a couple of Arizona Cardinals flags. In front, there is a line of Arizona Cardinals helmets. — What a start to NFL season for the Arizona Cardinals! Bones goes wild for another win. When I asked him if he’d ever played football himself, he replied, “I was always afraid of the snap.”

Strength Training

A Halloween skeleton lays on a workout pad with a pile of exercise towels in front and a bone broth protein canister to his side. He appears to be bench pressing. The weights are actually jumbo marshmallows. — Good bone health comes from eating right and weight-bearing exercises. Bones particularly enjoys deadlifts, but today he said he needed to work on his guns.

Performing a Classic

A dapper Halloween skeleton with a top hat holds a piano song sheet of “Dry Bones” a spiritual number. He sits next to a grand piano with candlesticks. — I’m not sure I’d be this calm before a big recital, but Bones leaned over and whispered, “Nothing really gets under my skin.”

Zoom® meeting for Halloween planning

A Halloween skeleton sits in front of a computer screen that has a Zoom conference call showing four other Halloween characters that are very scary. The skeleton’s mouth is dropped open like he is in shock. — The saying goes, there are no bad ideas when brainstorming. But when you have these spooks on Zoom® together, there might be. Bones looks shocked, and that takes a lot.

Candy corn gardening tips

A Halloween skeleton sits in front of three clay pots filled with brownie crumble, chocolate chips, and candy corns that look like they are growing. The ground in front of the skeleton is filled with candy corns, as though he grew a big crop. There is a windmill in background. — I asked Bones what his secret was for growing a bumper crop of candy corn. “The best organic soil possible. I find that crumbled brownies mixed with the right amount of chocolate chips provide the best yield.”

In-studio with a cubist painter

A Halloween skeleton sits in a cube. He has artist supplies like canvases, paint, paintbrush, and palette of paints. The background has a drop cloth with paint spilled on it. — “When I’m not in my studio painting abstract art, I feel so hollow.” Hey there, Bones, heard of plagiarism? Your pieces there look very similar to my abstract photo art in this Impressionism gallery.

Sick day

A Halloween skeleton is covered with a blanket and has a teddy bear and stuffed rabbit toy with him. There is a thermometer in his mouth, some cough syrup, bowl of jello, and spoon in front of him. In the background is a line drawing of a doctor looking at him with this hand to his chin with an expression of wondering what is making his patient ill. — Oh no, Bones. The doctor says you might be running a femur.

Couch potatoes

A Halloween skeleton in a living room watches TV which has the Addams Family movie on the screen. A couch holds five little potatoes and in front of one of them is a remote control. There are rugs on the floor, and a framed photograph on the wall. — Watching the tube with the tubers. Bones loves him some Addams Family along with popcorn. But watch that little guy with the remote. He likes to mess with the channels right during the good part of the movie.

Movember to Remember

A Halloween skeleton with a large pumpkin and three little candy pumpkins all have mustaches signifying Movember. — Starting a little early for November, and letting it grow for a good cause. When I told Bones he looked like a hipster, he said, “I’d rather be dead than cool.”

Love is in the air

A Halloween skeleton presents a bundle of flowers to a La Catrina figurine and above them are hearts in the air. — Once Halloween is over and Bones has more time, he can profess his undying love on the Day of the Dead for La Catrina.

Thanks for hanging out with Bones. He is really humerus. It’s been a pleasure to play with this series for the sheer joy of creating. Sharing these silly Halloween photos helps bring us closer together. The human race needs humor and a sense of community more than ever. I’m grateful you got to the bottom of my article too. You’re the best.

Ann Newman uses her abstract photography art to inspire her writing. With a focus on a deeper appreciation of the little moments, she shares her discoveries of awe, joy, and inspiration. Come along on the discoveries by subscribing at Annstracts.com.