Five Below XL Skeleton Spider

October 2, 2024.

At the discount store, Five Below, the excitement for Halloween is palpable. For a store that has a significant amount of its real estate dedicated to candy, it only makes sense that Halloween is a big affair at Five Below. The Five Beyond section (where the store carries items with prices exceeding 5 dollars) was stocked with ghouls, ghosts, Five Nights at Freddy's, and of course, spiders. When I visited, it was still the middle of September. I somehow get the impression that the rest of the store will be getting more Halloween item variety as the season continues, probably in the five dollar section of the store. I will make my return in time.

"Skeleton" Halloween animals have become an ever-present staple of Halloween decorations in recent years, and people online often condemn them for being biologically inaccurate. The Skeleton-animals are more like the Halloween monster Skeletons than they are representative of any real anatomical skeletons. It's a bit silly to see an invertebrate animal as a skeleton-- but I have no qualms with it. It's Halloween, after all.
This bone spider has 8 pointed, curling legs with 3 joints on each-- one at the "toe," the "knee," and the "shoulder." The shoulder joint is inelegant and distractingly conspicuous, set in some kind of bone trough protruding from the body. The spider's abdomen is shaped like a ribcage, a trope commonly seen in skeleton spider designs. Instead of pedipalps or chelicerae on its face, it has two sets of bony horns, or fangs. The inner set of fangs representing the chelicerae are particularly girthy and gnarled. It has 8 "eyes," bumps that have arisen from its bony head. The entire spider is a waxy near-white color, messily painted with greyish-brownish accents. The construction of the spider leaves a lot to be desired, and even the display spider was broken! On its left (your right) side front leg, there's a visible gap in the seam sealing its leg shut! The spider's hard plastic felt very cheap, even a bit oily. For $10, this spider won't drain your coffers, but generally underwhelms, despite its funny design.