Bones of contention: Skeleton crew sacked after rumours Northland shop was haunted

The now-sacked skeleton crew at Dragonfly in Kerikeri, after rumours the shop was haunted.

A second-hand shop owner’s quirky front-lawn plastic skeleton sculptures have been canned for fear high school students were avoiding the business because it was haunted.

Over the two years Melanie Kinghan, 55, has run the shop the plastic, life-size skeletons were a feature of the eclectically-stocked, strikingly pink, Dragonfly shop in Northland’s Kerikeri.

They could be seen on sun loungers in shades, drinking tea at an outdoor table, carrying out garden work, camping in a teepee, apparently breaking in through a window or just perched on a piece of furniture up for sale.

Occasionally, they could be found lurking inside one of the cupboards inside the shop.

Then Kinghan found herself speaking to the mum of a Kerikeri High School student in town about the wide range of clothing available.

“I said, ‘why don’t you bring your daughter into my shop?’. She said her daughter wouldn’t come inside.”

She was told: “There’s a rumour going around that your pink house is haunted. None of the girls will come in”.

And that was it - the skeleton crew went from not-for-sale to being moved out the door.

“It was funny right to the moment when I realised I was losing business. I thought, ‘where did you get this from?’. Realising I’m losing business changes it from that moment of humour,” Kinghan said.

Melanie Kinghan's skeleton sculptures on the lawn in front of Dragonfly in Kerikeri gave rise to rumours the shop was haunted.

This week, Kinghan announced to the town the skeletons were done.

Through Facebook, she wrote: “It has come to our attention that there is a rumour going around that our pink house is haunted and creepy, we are being avoided and losing business because of this rumour”.

She explained the skeletons were plastic, bought from K-Mart - and had been moved on.

Further, “to combat the rumours”, Kinghan said there were now discounts for any shoppers who could prove they were local high school students, along with free marshmallows and a guided tour of the shop - including cupboards - to show the skeletons were gone.

Kinghan has enjoyed a two-year burst of creativity since taking over the building after its former tenant, Nalinee Giri, died in a car fire. Kinghan said the rumours were linked to the skeletons, not Giri’s death.

Along with the skeletons Kinghan has had mannequins named Roxanne and Stella featured on the front lawn, fully invested with personalities and legends. Stella is described as a stamp-collecting academic philosopher while Roxanne is depicted with wine glasses and empty bottles.

Roxanne (left) and Stella, resident skank and scholar at Dragonfly in Kerikeri.

“Roxanne is our good girl. She stays single because she’s studying hard. Stella is a skank of the first degree.”

The quirky bent to shop promotion was Kinghan embracing the opportunity of starting up and running her own business.

“I’ve always had this raging imagination but never had a job that has let me off the leash - and this is the first job that’s let me off the leash.

“I was able to do all these things without someone saying ‘it might offend someone’ or “it’s too expensive’.”

In a controversial Father’s Day display, Kinghan stitched together 20 pairs of “tighty whitey” men’s Y-fronts into a bunting that was hung outside the shop.

“Some people were really offended, saying it’s ‘not appropriate’.”

Kinghan said she came to running her own business after finishing a job that had left her feeling diminished.

When husband Nigel Kinghan pointed out she hadn’t left the house for months - and was not only talking to her cats but waiting for a response - she set up a stall at the local market using two dining chairs and a broomstick on which to hang clothes.

The now-sacked skeleton crew at Dragonfly in Kerikeri after rumours the shop was haunted.

From there she took up a stall at a local collective before being told the current building was in need of a tenant. “I went up, signed the lease and then went home and changed my knickers. It was terrifying.”

Life as a business owner was a bold new adventure.

“I sat her for the first month terrified. My family eats or not eats, on this working.”

But it has been a journey that was all her own.

“This is me! It’s taken me 55 years to be able to let rip. Everything in here is me. I’ve never been so happy in my life in a job.”

In a town with designer stores and a range of opportunity shops, Kinghan sought to distinguish Dragonfly with quality and quirky clothes, furniture, knick-knacks and oddities that had been previously owned.

“I want people to laugh and I want people to see weird stuff. I want people to come in here and love it.”