by Sarah DeMaranville
Geneseo Current
For most of the year, Mr. and Mrs. Skellingsworth keep a pretty low profile. But when October arrives, the skeletal couple comes out to play — and they rarely wear the same thing twice.
This year marks the seventh year of the Adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Skellingsworth, a monthlong Halloween tradition at Brett and Holly Barnhart’s home at 225 W. Main St. in Geneseo, where the skeletons appear in a different scene each day throughout October.
Holly Barnhart, who creates the daily displays, said the tradition grew from a much simpler effort to bring a little more Halloween traffic to their neighborhood.
The Barnharts began decorating for Halloween after moving into their home in 2013. That first year, fewer than a dozen trick-or-treaters stopped by.
“We realized that State Street was THE place to go on Halloween, so we decided to add larger decorations and more of them to entice trick-or-treaters to come this way,” Holly said.
It worked.
As the Halloween display grew, so did the number of visitors. A few years later, the skeletons joined the decorations, eventually becoming Mr. and Mrs. Skellingsworth.
Today, the Barnharts get trick-or-treaters regardless of what an Illinois Halloween throws at them.
“Now we have trick-or-treaters whether it is warm, cold, rainy, snowy, or there’s no power,” Holly said.
Beginning Oct. 1, the Skellingsworths change their look every day throughout the month. Occasionally, there is even a bonus appearance.
Some displays are planned. Others are decided over morning coffee.
Holly gets ideas from suggestions, Pinterest, and a notebook that begins filling with possibilities in September. Rather than assigning a theme to each specific date, she keeps a running list and chooses whatever seems right that day.
Weather can have the final say. Costumes and props aren't necessarily designed to withstand rain, wind, or snow, so the day's conditions can determine which idea makes it from the notebook to the front yard.
Once a theme is selected, transforming the skeletons generally takes between 15 and 30 minutes, depending on the complexity of the scene.
Mr. and Mrs. Skellingsworth don't have first names, but they aren't always alone. Occasionally, their friends, Mr. and Mrs. Bonaparte, join the festivities.
What began as a home Halloween display has developed a following of its own.
People now begin asking about the decorations in early September, although the Barnharts don't begin setting up until the final weekend of the month. The Skellingsworths officially make their return Oct. 1.
Holly regularly hears families and friends commenting on the yard and its skeleton residents as they walk past. Others make a point of checking online each day to see what the Skellingsworths are doing.
That online audience happened almost by accident.
Initially, Holly posted photos of the displays to her personal Facebook page so family members and friends who lived outside the area could see them. The posts became popular enough that people wanted to share the photos with their own friends.
That's when Brett created the Dragons on Main Facebook page, giving people a public place to follow and share the Barnharts' decorations and the daily adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Skellingsworth.
After seven years, choosing a favorite Skellingsworth adventure isn't easy.
A circus theme, a Hocus Pocus display, and the Mountain Man Band are among the scenes Holly remembers from previous years.
And the band may not have played its final show.
“They might be persuaded to make a return,” Holly joked.
As for what Mr. and Mrs. Skellingsworth have planned for the rest of October 2026, Holly isn't giving much away.
“I haven't fully decided what I'm doing, but there are some ideas floating around,” she said. “Stay tuned!”
For the people who have made checking on the Skellingsworths part of their own October routine, that's part of the fun: tomorrow's adventure hasn't necessarily been decided yet.
