The Story Behind Boise’s Crazy ‘Jeeper Creeper’ Halloween Jeep

If you’ve driven around Boise or Meridian during October sometime in the last six years, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve seen it.

A Jeep absolutely covered in skeletons.  Skeletons on the roof. Skeletons hanging off the sides. Skeletons on the hood, a coffin, skulls, lights, and every year, a few more passengers who look like they haven’t eaten in a couple hundred years.

Cory Mikhals

That’s my Jeep, or as I call it, the Jeeper Creeper, and every October, I get pretty much the same questions.

"Are those things actually attached?"

Yes.

"Don’t you worry about them flying off?"

Yes... which is why they’re VERY attached.

"Can you actually drive that thing on the freeway?"

Yes. Everything is secured and anchored. That doesn’t mean I’m looking to barrel down I-84 at 80 mph just to prove a point, but this isn’t a collection of skeletons held on with Scotch tape and positive thinking.

Cory Mikhals

Then there’s the biggest question:

"WHY!?"

Okay. That answer takes a little longer.  The simple answer is that I love Halloween.  I’ve always loved the creativity and fun of it. Halloween is one of those rare times when the more ridiculous an idea becomes, the better it usually is.

READ MORE:  Harrison Blvd Halloween Displays Are Already Going Up in Boise

You spend all that time decorating your house, and then you leave for work and don’t get to enjoy any of it.  So why not decorate something I could take with me?  And that’s how this insanity started.

Cory Mikhals

The Jeep became my rolling Halloween display. Instead of Halloween waiting for me at home, I could take it to work, the grocery store, events and pretty much anywhere else I happened to go.  Then something happened that gave the Jeeper Creeper a much bigger purpose.

Cory Mikhals

The Skeletons Started Helping Kids In The Treasure Valley And Beyond

My good friend and neighbor Angelo puts together an incredible Halloween display every year and is involved with Skeletons for St. Jude, a nationwide fundraiser that turns people’s love of Halloween decorating into support for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

That was pretty much the perfect combination for me.  ! already loved Halloween. I already loved creating something that made people smile, laugh, point, take pictures and occasionally stare at me like I’d finally lost it.

Now all of that could actually help somebody.  That’s when the Jeeper Creeper became more than just my goofy Halloween obsession.

Cory Mikhals

Skeletons for St. Jude started in 2020 when founder Jeff Robertson put a St. Jude fundraising sign alongside his own Halloween skeleton display in North Carolina. What started with about $8,200 that first year exploded into hundreds of participating homes across the country. Jeff told me that all the participating haunters have now raised more than $1.1 million for St. Jude.

READ MORE:  Spooky Light Show Returns to Meridian, Idaho for Halloween

Look for the Idaho QR Code

When you see the Jeep out around the Treasure Valley this Halloween season, look for the Skeletons for St. Jude magnets and QR code.

Cory Mikhals

You can scan it and make a donation directly to St. Jude.

I get to do something I absolutely love. Kids get excited when they see it. Adults take pictures. People honk and wave. I get to keep trying to figure out how I’m possibly going to fit one more skeleton on a Jeep that clearly reached maximum occupancy about 14 skeletons ago, and hopefully, along the way, we raise some money for kids and families who need it.

And We’re Going Even Bigger In Meridian For St. Jude

Later this month, we’ll take things beyond the Jeep with three special Skeletons for St. Jude nights in Meridian on October 17, 23 and 24 at 568 W. Yosemite Dr.

Cory Mikhals

We’ll have the huge Halloween display, food trucks donating a portion of their proceeds, photo opportunities and some characters you probably won’t find at Boise Town Square this Christmas, including Zombie Claus and Mrs. Claus.

Cory Mikhals

I’ll have a lot more about those nights next week.  For now, if you see the Jeeper Creeper rolling around Boise or Meridian, yes, you can take a picture.

Yes, everything is attached.

And yes, there’s a reason behind all this ridiculousness.

Cory Mikhals

Halloween is supposed to be fun. If we can take some of that fun and use it to do a little good at the same time, that’s a pretty darn good reason to keep adding skeletons.