A couple in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, have won a reprieve after city officials ordered them to remove a pair of 12-foot-tall skeletons from their front yard. Sean and Laura Oster had been warned in May that their property carried multiple code violations that needed to be resolved by 7 July or they would face fines of $500 per day, but the city has now closed out the complaint, allowing the popular decorations to remain in place.

The skeletons, nicknamed Hector and Henrietta by the public and dressed in seasonal outfits — most recently red, white and blue attire for the Fourth of July — had drawn attention from neighbours since the first was erected shortly after the couple moved to the area in July 2024. City authorities had argued the giant decorations were being displayed "not during the appropriate time of the year", according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The complaint also cited inoperable vehicles, tyres and gas-powered equipment in the yard, which Sean acknowledged but objected to being labelled "junk". Sean said his wife's love of Halloween inspired the display, and that he bought the second skeleton cheaply after it was storm-damaged and repaired it himself.