The early Halloween decoration so terrifying people are phoning police

A Halloween decoration that looks like a bloodied body trapped under a garage door has prompted US police to tell locals "not to call 911".

Greene County TN Sheriff's Department posted on Facebook a photo of the freakishly realistic fake body, which was being used as an early Halloween decoration, and said "Do NOT call 911 reporting a dead body".

"ATTENTION EVERYONE!!! For those of you driving on Chuckey Pike in Greene County: THIS IS A HALLOWEEN DECORATION," they wrote.

"Congratulate the homeowner on a great display."

The department said they had received calls about a "suspicious person lying in a driveway with bloody handprints on the garage".

• CCTV shows former PM Abbott walking down Hobart street moments before he was 'head-butted'

• 'I'm mortified': Mourners of teen killed in stolen car perform burnouts at cemetery

• United in grief: Sisters' emotional plea to find missing NSW woman

"Officers responded lights/sirens until the first officer arrived to see this."

While some people were impressed by the efforts the home owner went to with their Halloween decorations, others disagreed with the department's comments.

"Next time I see someone bleeding I am just going to assume it's someone playing a prank," one person said.

"I might be a buzz kill but I just don't think this is a good idea... I don't encourage everyone to put up decor like this because someone may very well be hurt and people will drive right by saying- oh it's just Halloween," another person wrote.

"I don't think this is even close to funny! I think it's very unprofessional of the Greene County Sheriff's Dept. for giving this attention," another person pointed out.

One person simply said: "Sick and disgusting".

Other people said the home owner did "a good one".

"Oh my gosh thought this was for real wow," one person said.

"I think it's awesome," another person wrote.