As Halloween nears, we’re seeing the signs of “spooky season”—ghosts, tombstones, vampires, and such—not only in the usual yard decorations and party trimmings, but in less-expected places, like logos ...

These skulls, though, are only the latest in a decades-long trend that, according to United States Patent and Trademark Office records, saw the rate of skulls and skeletons in American logos increase ...