Skeleton House in New Orleans adopts Taylor Swift theme: ‘scEras Tour’

A skeleton-suffused yard is bringing the “scEras Tour” to New Orleans.
The Louisiana home — dubbed the Skeleton House on Yelp and Google Maps — is owned by Louellen and Darryl Berger. The spooky nickname comes from Louellen’s massive collection of skeleton replicas. Every fall, Louellen takes all of the skeletal spirits crammed in her garage and scatters them throughout her yard.
The dead come to life with fun outfits crafted by the seamstress. The Berger family places hundreds of laminated signs containing “humerus” puns: “lazy bones,” “attached at the hip,” “bone dry,” etc.
Berger is known as the Queen of Halloween among her family and the locals. Her frightening exhibits come with a theme, and past concepts have included Maison Maskquerade and E.T. Bone Home. Every skeleton in her closet also has a clever named like “King Gore-ge,” “Rolling Bones” and “Snoop Dogg-Gone.”
To celebrate Swiftmania coming to Caesars Superdome at the end of October, Louellen has brought “Terror Swift: The scEras Tour” to her home’s grassy stage.
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“It was the eureka moment,” she says over Zoom. “We read in the newspaper that Taylor Swift was going to include New Orleans on the second phase of her tour.”
The Bergers have been planning their bedazzled, bejeweled and bedeviled arrangement since the summer of 2023. A 12-foot Swift skeleton dressed in her best fearless, frilled gown stands alongside an 8-foot Travis “Skelce.”
Every era is present from Swift’s eponymous first album to “The Tortured Poets Department.” A skeleton wearing the “Reputation” black-and-red snake bodysuit holds a cherry red telephone cord menacingly. The head of the telephone dangles like an ominous warning. Underneath, signs say, “Reputation can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Oh… cause she’s dead.” Another skeleton dressed in gold with a braided ponytail evokes “Evermore.” Two signs read “No body, no crime” and “Time to go,” two tracks off Swift’s ninth studio album.
On Berger’s desk is a poster of sketches and notes outlining every era designed by one of her precocious granddaughters.
“I was corporate fashion director of a large department store but retired in the mid-’80s,” Louellen says. She stitched the dresses and outfits over the summer. “It was nice getting back to my sewing machine to make a lot of costumes.”
The grandmother of 11 worked her fingers to the bone for the three weeks following Labor Day. She shows off some of her hot glue gun burns and laughs.
“The Lord has blessed me with a lot of energy,” she says. “I can work for 14 straight hours with just a health bar or light lunch.”
Berger anticipates thousands of Swifties showing up at her French colonial door while the singer is in town Oct. 25-27 and plans to pass out thousands of fun light-up lanyards and friendship bracelets.
“My granddaughters and I made the friendship bracelets with little skulls and oh, they’re cute,” she says.
Although Berger doesn’t anticipate Swift stopping by, the invitation is open and she promises a wicked good time.
“I would pass out if she ever did,” Louellen chuckles. “I hope she knows this is our family’s way of thanking her for coming to New Orleans and sharing her great talent.”
The Skeleton House is located on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans. The display will be cleaned up the day after Halloween.
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