[ShadowHeart]

Hehe... the skeleton puppets you mention are among the most annoying enemies in the game. When they die they explode, causing massive damage to anything standing next to them (especially in Hell mode!). I usually deal with them by using ranged attacks or letting my mercenary (yes, I always have an aura-using mercenary with good equipment along) or a minion finish them off - the explosion doesn't seem to affect mercenaries/minions, only your own character.