Example:
He rose from the dead Jesus style.
He rose from the dead Jesus-style.
Similarly:
This was my first time digging goat excrement. Not an item in my list of things to do before I die.
This was my first time digging goat excrement. Not an item in my list-of-things to-do-before-I-die.
What form is correct?
I'd say "Jesus-style", because when you link the two words with a hyphen, they're then acting as an adverb modifying "he rose". "Dead Jesus style" is potentially ambiguous - it could mean "He rose in dead-Jesus style" [in the style of dead Jesus] - which is nonsense semantically but possible grammatically. As for "list of things ...", the hyphens are unnecessary - it makes perfect sense without them. However, the hyphens might be recommended if the "things..." were to move before the "list". E.g. "Digging goat excrement is not in my things-to-do-before-I-die list, but water-skiing is on my before-I-turn-70 list."
