Glowing eyes, bewitching tunes, jumping clowns, towering bears and 12-foot-tall skeletons loom over the pedestrian path by Riverside Park.  

A skeleton-driven snowplow awaits in the darkness, springing to life with an evil glow when it sights a passerby. A piano lies in the yard where skeletons play a ghastly tune.  

This year, a dozen different skeletons are enjoying a pizza party at the Whitefish residence, who someone took the liberty of naming on Google Maps "Giant Skeleton, Whitefish, USA."  

The resident behind the skeleton function, Phil Pontillo, said he wasn't sure who deemed his home worthy of tourist attraction status.  

But sure enough, it is a spooky delight for locals and visitors alike. Neighbors stop to admire in the fall months leading up to Halloween while some tourists attempt to stop by in other months, wondering where the skeleton party can be found.  

Syracuse, New York raised, Pontillo moved to the Flathead, worked at Lake McDonald for a summer, established himself as a pastry chef, and now builds furniture and cabinets. He's lived at his Whitefish home for 25 years.   

The skeleton business started about five years ago when a neighbor gifted Pontillo one 12-foot-tall skeleton.  

"It escalated from there," Pontillo said.  

He picked up a 12-foot skeleton counterpart, this one rearing a pumpkin head and boiling insides.  

"After that I wanted to make my own stuff, nothing you can buy," he said. "It started with the rotisserie."  

Two years ago, Pontillo purchased a piano on Facebook Marketplace and made it play spooky tunes. Last year he customized a head-rotating skeleton woman playing the keys.  

"I think it's really fun trying to come up with these creations and make them work," he said. 

This year, Pontillo affixed skeletons to spin dough and man a pizza oven. The oven is a retrofitted doghouse. Four new skeletons also joined the festivities this year.  

Building the elements isn't difficult, but with the copious amounts of electronics, setting up is, Pontillo said. The take-down is also challenging. It's a scramble after Halloween to get everything down while it's dry, before snow flies.  

"There's swearing and I always say I'm not doing this again," Pontillo said.  

He motions to his partner, Martha Stadler, and said, "But then, she's like, you have to.  

"You see the kids come by and it's all worthwhile." 

    The giant skeletons near the pedestrain bridge over the Whitefish River at Riverside Park. (Kelsey Evans/Whitefish Pilot)
  

    The skeletons' arms dance across a real piano, playing a tune and spinning their heads. (Kelsey Evans/Whitefish Pilot)
  

    The snowplow sits in the dark until a motion sensor cues a terrifying flash of light, revealing some less than trustworthy drivers. (Kelsey Evans/Whitefish Pilot)
  

    The doughspinner at Giant Skeleton, USA. (Kelsey Evans/Whitefish Pilot)