About

Skeletons are the internal framework that support the structure of an animal. In popular media and online, undead creatures are often depicted as animated skeletons and are associated with the annual Halloween celebration.

Online History

On YouTube

On October 10th, 2005, YouTuber lethaledge25 uploaded a video titled "Skeleton Dance," in which a skeleton puppet performs a dance orchestrated by a street performer (shown below, left). In nine years, the video received upwards of 2.7 million views and 630 comments. On September 7th, 2009, YouTuber Super Simple Songs uploaded an animated music video titled "The Skeleton Dance", which gathered over 30 million views and 1,300 comments in the next five years (shown below, right).

On October 20th, 2011, the "Will it Blend" web series uploaded a video in which a skeleton Halloween prop is pureed in a blender (shown below, left). In four years, the video received more than 2.4 million views and 10,100 comments. On October 1st, 2013, YouTuber MagicofRahat uploaded a video titled "Drive Thru Skeleton Prank," in which he drives up to fast food restaurants with a skeleton in the driver's seat (shown below, right). In the first year, the video gained over 10.6 million views and 12,000 comments.

On Tumblr

On Tumblr, many users post photos and animated GIFs featuring skeletons under the tag "#420sc" short for "420 Skeleton Collective." A Facebook^[8] page titled "420sc" was launched on April 24th, 2014. Several single topic blogs dedicated to skeleton-related media have been launched, including "Spooky Skeleton Pics,"^[3] "Fuck Yeah Skeleton Pics,"^[4] "Skeleton TV"^[5] and "Skeleton Meme."^[6] The Tumblr Jerry Seinfeld's Skeleton^[7] uploads screenshots of 3D modeled skeletons reenacting scenes from the television sitcom Seinfeld.

Related Memes

2Spooky

2Spooky is an abbreviation of the phrase “too spooky” that is typically associated with pictures and animated GIFs of skeletons and the song “Spooky, Scary Skeletons” by Andrew Gold.

And Then A Skeleton Popped Out

And Then A Skeleton Popped Out is a parody creepypasta and sarcastic expression used to mock creepypastas that are too predictable in outcome or troll pastas that are poorly written on purpose.

Mr. Bones' Wild Ride

Mr. Bones’ Wild Ride is a custom-designed ride from the computer simulation game Roller Coaster Tycoon 2. The ride purportedly lasted four years of game time for each virtual passenger and included an exit path that led back to the entrance of the ride, creating a never ending loop.

Skull Trumpet

Skull Trumpet is an animated sprite image of a skull-faced character playing the trumpet. Due to its poor, outdated quality of graphics, the image has spawned a variety of remixes and parodies in both video and GIF formats on media-sharing YouTube and Tumblr.

Fuckboy

Fuckboy used as a pejorative toward men who are perceived as oversexed or disrespectful toward women. On Tumblr, the term has also spawned a derivative phrase “en garde (English: on your guard), fuckboy," which is often accompanied with images of skeletons in a similar vein to 2Spooky.

Spooky Scary Skeletons

"Spooky Scary Skeletons" is the name of a children’s Halloween song written and preformed by Andrew Gold. Online, the song is often used as background music for skeleton-themed media.

Skeleton War

Skeleton War is tag that widely circulated on Tumblr in 2014 along with images of skeletons in anticipation of Halloween.

Wake Me Up Inside

"Wake Me Up Inside" is a lyric from the 2003 alternative rock song “Bring Me To Life” by Evanescence, which is often associated with a picture of an edited picture of a skeleton uploaded by Tumblr user maoshounen (shown below).

Waiting for OP

Waiting for OP and “OP will surely deliver”, are expressions associated with image macros featuring people, animals or skeletons posed in front of computer screens as if they had been waiting for the original poster’s response for a very long time.

Lewis the Skeleton

Lewis The Skeleton is the name given to the fictional skeleton character in the music video Ghost by Mystery Skulls. The character gained a significant fandom on DeviantART and Tumblr, where numerous images containing fan arts, cosplays and plush toys are posted.

Papyrus' Spaghetti

"Papyrus’ Spaghetti" is a series of jokes about the skeleton character Papyrus from the video game Undertale, referencing a line of dialogue from the game in which he mentions spaghetti.

Search Interest

External References