Raw Head and Bloody Bones: From Scary stories at Americanfolklore.net

A Missouri Ghost Story

retold by

S. E. Schlosser

Way back in the deep woods there lived a scrawny old woman who had a reputation for being the best conjuring woman in the Ozarks. With her bedraggled black-and-gray hair, funny eyes - one yellow and one green - and her crooked nose, Old Betty was not a pretty picture, but she was the best there was at fixing what ailed a man, and that was all that counted.

Old Betty's house was full of herbs and roots and bottles filled with conjuring medicine. The walls were lined with strange books brimming with magical spells. Old Betty was the only one living in the Hollow who knew how to read; her granny, who was also a conjurer, had taught her the skill as part of her magical training.

Just about the only friend Old Betty had was a tough, mean, ugly old razorback hog that ran wild around her place. It rooted so much in her kitchen garbage that all the leftover spells started affecting it. Some folks swore up and down that the old razorback hog sometimes walked upright like man. One fellow claimed he'd seen the pig sitting in the rocker on Old Betty's porch, chattering away to her while she stewed up some potions in the kitchen, but everyone discounted that story on account of the fellow who told it was a little too fond of moonshine.

"Raw Head" was the name Old Betty gave the razorback, referring maybe to the way the ugly creature looked a bit like some of the dead pigs come butchering time down in Hog-Scald Hollow. The razorback didn't mind the funny name. Raw Head kept following Old Betty around her little cabin and rooting up the kitchen leftovers. He'd even walk to town with her when she came to the local mercantile to sell her home remedies.

Well, folks in town got so used to seeing Raw Head and Old Betty around the town that it looked mighty strange one day around hog-driving time when Old Betty came to the mercantile without him.

"Where's Raw Head?" the owner asked as he accepted her basket full of home-remedy potions. The liquid in the bottles swished in an agitate manner as Old Betty said: "I ain't seen him around today, and I'm mighty worried. You seen him here in town?"

"Nobody's seen him around today. They would've told me if they did," the mercantile owner said. "We'll keep a lookout fer you."

"That's mighty kind of you. If you see him, tell him to come home straightaway," Old Betty said. The mercantile owner nodded agreement as he handed over her weekly pay.

Old Betty fussed to herself all the way home. It wasn't like Raw Head to disappear, especially not the day they went to town. The man at the mercantile always saved the best scraps for the mean old razorback, and Raw Head never missed a visit. When the old conjuring woman got home, she mixed up a potion and poured it onto a flat plate.

"Where's that old hog got to?" she asked the liquid. It clouded over and then a series of pictures formed. First, Old Betty saw the good-for-nothing hunter that lived on the next ridge sneaking around the forest, rounding up razorback hogs that didn't belong to him. One of the hogs was Raw Head. Then she saw him taking the hogs down to Hog-Scald Hollow, where folks from the next town were slaughtering their razorbacks. Then she saw her hog, Raw Head, slaughtered with the rest of the pigs and hung up for gutting. The final picture in the liquid was the pile of bloody bones that had once been her hog, and his scraped-clean head lying with the other hogsheads in a pile.

Old Betty was infuriated by the death of her only friend. It was murder to her, plain and simple. Everyone in three counties knew that Raw Head was her friend, and that lazy, hog-stealing, good-for-nothing hunter on the ridge was going to pay for slaughtering him.

Now Old Betty tried to practice white conjuring most of the time, but she knew the dark secrets too. She pulled out an old, secret book her granny had given her and turned to the very last page. She lit several candles and put them around the plate containing the liquid picture of Raw Head and his bloody bones. Then she began to chant: "Raw Head and Bloody Bones. Raw Head and Bloody Bones."

The light from the windows disappeared as if the sun had been snuffed out like a candle. Dark clouds billowed into the clearing where Old Betty's cabin stood, and the howl of dark spirits could be heard in the wind that pummeled the treetops.

"Raw Head and Bloody Bones. Raw Head and Bloody Bones."

Betty continued the chant until a bolt of silver lightning left the plate and streaked out threw the window, heading in the direction of Hog-Scald Hollow.

When the silver light struck Raw Head's severed head, which was piled on the hunter's wagon with the other hog heads, it tumbled to the ground and rolled until it was touching the bloody bones that had once inhabited its body. As the hunter's wagon rumbled away toward the ridge where he lived, the enchanted Raw Head called out: "Bloody bones, get up and dance!"

Immediately, the bloody bones reassembled themselves into the skeleton of a razorback hog walking upright, as Raw Head had often done when he was alone with Old Betty. The head hopped on top of his skeleton and Raw Head went searching through the woods for weapons to use against the hunter. He borrowed the sharp teeth of a dying panther, the claws of a long-dead bear, and the tail from a rotting raccoon and put them over his skinned head and bloody bones.

Then Raw Head headed up the track toward the ridge, looking for the hunter who had slaughtered him. Raw Head slipped passed the thief on the road and slid into the barn where the hunter kept his horse and wagon. Raw Head climbed up into the loft and waited for the hunter to come home.

It was dusk when the hunter drove into the barn and unhitched his horse. The horse snorted in fear, sensing the presence of Raw Head in the loft. Wondering what was disturbing his usually-calm horse, the hunter looked around and saw a large pair of eyes staring down at him from the darkness in the loft.

The hunter frowned, thinking it was one of the local kids fooling around in his barn.

"Land o' Goshen, what have you got those big eyes fer?" he snapped, thinking the kids were trying to scare him with some crazy mask.

"To see your grave," Raw Head rumbled very softly. The hunter snorted irritably and put his horse into the stall.

"Very funny. Ha,ha," The hunter said. When he came out of the stall, he saw Raw Head had crept forward a bit further. Now his luminous yellow eyes and his bears claws could clearly be seen.

"Land o' Goshen, what have you got those big claws fer?" he snapped. "You look ridiculous."

"To dig your grave…" Raw Head intoned softly, his voice a deep rumble that raised the hairs on the back of the hunter's neck. He stirred uneasily, not sure how the crazy kid in his loft could have made such a scary sound. If it really was a crazy kid.

Feeling a little spooked, he hurried to the door and let himself out of the barn. Raw Head slipped out of the loft and climbed down the side of the barn behind him. With nary a rustle to reveal his presence, Raw Head raced through the trees and up the path to a large, moonlight rock. He hid in the shadow of the huge stone so that the only things showing were his gleaming yellow eyes, his bear claws, and his raccoon tail.

When the hunter came level with the rock on the side of the path, he gave a startled yelp. Staring at Raw Head, he gasped: "You nearly knocked the heart right out of me, you crazy kid! Land o' Goshen, what have you got that crazy tail fer?"

"To sweep your grave…" Raw Head boomed, his enchanted voice echoing through the woods, getting louder and louder with each echo. The hunter took to his heels and ran for his cabin. He raced passed the old well-house, passed the wood pile, over the rotting fence and into his yard. But Raw Head was faster. When the hunter reached his porch, Raw Head leapt from the shadows and loomed above him. The hunter stared in terror up at Raw Head's gleaming yellow eyes in the ugly razorback hogshead, his bloody bone skeleton with its long bear claws, sweeping raccoon's tail and his gleaming sharp panther teeth.

"Land o' Goshen, what have you got those big teeth fer?" he gasped desperately, stumbling backwards from the terrible figure before him.

"To eat you up, like you wanted to eat me!" Raw Head roared, descending upon the good-for-nothing hunter. The murdering thief gave one long scream in the moonlight. Then there was silence, and the sound of crunching.

Nothing more was ever seen or heard of the lazy hunter who lived on the ridge. His horse also disappeared that night. But sometimes folks would see Raw Head roaming through the forest in the company of his friend Old Betty. And once a month, on the night of the full moon, Raw Head would ride the hunter's horse through town, wearing the old man's blue overalls over his bloody bones with a hole cut-out for his raccoon tail. In his bloody, bear-clawed hands, he carried his raw, razorback hogshead, lifting it high against the full moon for everyone to see.

You can read more North Carolina ghost stories in Spooky South by S.E. Schlosser.

Comments

There were some similarity in the story of Little Red Riding Hood! But awesome.

Posted by: jelly | July 12, 2010 08:26 PM

It was ok but no great

Posted by: kourtney | July 13, 2010 08:25 PM

Fraky now I'm scared of my cousins mini pork
I'm even scared to see everyone eat one imagine!uuuuuuhhhhhh!

Posted by: Claudia torres | July 15, 2010 01:22 PM

Wow that was so .......... scary

Posted by: angel | July 15, 2010 02:58 PM

that is not scary

Posted by: Anonymous | July 15, 2010 11:27 PM

that is so freaky.................................................NOT

Posted by: dan | July 16, 2010 04:54 PM

that was a good story.....i guess?

Posted by: Anonymous | July 18, 2010 01:47 AM

that was pretty cool but not scary really!:)

Posted by: mcflyfan | July 18, 2010 02:55 AM

im a pig luver but that was just plain spooky

Posted by: lindsey | July 20, 2010 03:28 PM

I've read worse. I just love scary stories but not when they happen to me.

Posted by: lia | July 20, 2010 06:58 PM

cool i liked it

Posted by: ashlyn | July 22, 2010 11:52 AM

ok but ive heard scaryir

Posted by: Anonymous | July 22, 2010 02:17 PM

Watch Out...

Posted by: raw head | July 22, 2010 10:53 PM

Freaky... :( I am really freaked out but I will get over it! lol

Posted by: Kennja (: | July 23, 2010 06:19 PM

Nice combination of a Razorback hog, panther, bear, and raccoon.

Posted by: Anonymous | July 29, 2010 09:56 AM

thats just weird.....not scary....weird....u can do better than that

Posted by: dont read my name :) | July 30, 2010 05:09 PM

it wasnt that scary. ive heard scarier. but i guess i can say its okay. im only reading ghost stories because i want to be a ghost hunter really bad when im older.

Posted by: Anonymous | August 2, 2010 02:30 PM

cool pig,,,hahahahha

Posted by: chim | August 7, 2010 03:55 AM

soooo cool ive been readin tons all nite and thats totaly awsome like the rest so scary to i need more!

Posted by: not avalibal | August 8, 2010 08:44 PM

thx for a great storie....
middle school

Posted by: zombie ninja | August 9, 2010 12:46 PM

poor old lady, but now I have a story to scare my friends

Posted by: Alice :3 | August 17, 2010 01:50 PM

Rawhead Rex is a much better story. I give this story a 2 out of 5. It tries hard but only mildly entertains

Posted by: satan | August 21, 2010 09:37 PM

OMG! That was so scary!

P.S. GO RAW HEAD!

Posted by: Old Betty's child and her grand niece | August 21, 2010 09:40 PM

OMG! I LOVE that story!It was so freaky!

P.S.that stupid hunter better be glad i'm out here and he's in there!!!!

Posted by: Anonymous | August 22, 2010 10:43 AM

Go raw head p.s. watch out stupid good fer nothing hunter!

Posted by: Anonymous | August 24, 2010 06:53 PM

These stories r good but i think there should b some scarier 1's cos i love a good scare!!

Posted by: ghosts rock | September 1, 2010 05:01 AM

That is so scary.

Posted by: Anonymous | September 3, 2010 11:59 PM

Not scary, but it's an amazing story. <3 I love how the witch is actually seen as a good person here. It'd freak anyone out though if you were in the woods where pigs are normally

Posted by: Ree | September 5, 2010 01:06 AM

Dang this is so suspenceful

Posted by: Dillion | September 6, 2010 08:36 PM

Yes, I can agree with some other of the comments here. It was similar to The Red Riding Hood. But it was still okay, though not something so scary that it gave me shivers ;D

Posted by: Chaiseni | September 11, 2010 12:48 AM

that pig was tight!!!he was the shytt!!

Posted by: punkprincess | September 12, 2010 02:14 PM

poor piggy

Posted by: CG | September 14, 2010 12:44 PM

My father use to try to scare my sisters and i with the phrase "Raw Head and Bloody bones is gonna get yah". I ask him a few years ago and he couldn't recall it. This is the first time i've ever heard the whole story. Great story; now i can pass it along.

Posted by: fred wilhite | September 16, 2010 09:20 AM

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSoooooooooooooo cool

Posted by: genny | September 16, 2010 04:13 PM

i almost wet my pants!!!!

Posted by: sammy | September 27, 2010 10:09 AM

I loved it! That fact that pig got revenge. Awesome!

Posted by: Meg | September 28, 2010 02:08 PM

that was scary cool

Posted by: Anonymous | September 29, 2010 06:20 PM

This is a True story.

One time my friend Jessica and I were watching t.v. in her living room and all of asuden we heard a noise outside and we ran outside to see what it was but nothing was there so we ran back inside thinking that it was the dog or something then we heard a tapping noise but it went TAP TAp Tap tap and it got softer every time it happened then we started to freak out so we ran to her sisters room and we asked her sister if she heard the noise and she says what noise and we say just come in the living room with us and she brought her dolls with her and we sat in the room and then we heard it again so we went outside and there we saw a rock lay there but it was a red rock and we thought there is no red rock and so we took it inside and got a magnifing glass to look at it closely then we filled her sink up with hot water and dipped it in there and the red came off so we just layed it back outside and the next day we looked on the news and we saw that there had been a murder with something the night that we found the rock and we still don't know what happened.

Posted by: Avery | October 2, 2010 07:19 PM

wow

Posted by: Anonymous | October 5, 2010 07:21 AM

awsome!!!!! loved it but im kinda scared of my grandma hog.....but still awesome!!!!!!!

Posted by: victoria | October 8, 2010 09:25 AM

wasnt really scary but a good story with a point to it.

Posted by: Anonymous | October 10, 2010 11:29 AM

did he kill the hunter???? cus i think he did

Posted by: jake | October 10, 2010 02:13 PM

I too had been scared silly by my father telling stories of Raw Head Bloody Bones when me and my brother and sister were young. Now I know "the rest of the story".

Posted by: Lynn | October 12, 2010 12:19 PM

My papaw told us about bloodybones and rawhide. I'd beg him to tell me stories as he was really good at it. I painted an oil painting dedicated to his stories. Now I find it's rawhead.... Hmmm. Also his story chnged Each time. Interesting to read and learn more!

Posted by: Misty | October 13, 2010 07:44 PM

I'm 43 and I remember, as a child, my dad holding open the back door and calling into the night for Bloody Bones to "come n git me" unless I agreed to behave myself. This story is like hearing from a childhood acquaintance...in a twisted way. Dad grew up in the Nash County, NC area.

Posted by: DIGBY67 | October 18, 2010 12:29 AM

i want a hog now! he can f-in ride a horse1

Posted by: linda | October 18, 2010 11:35 AM

i think it was gross

Posted by: Anonymous | October 22, 2010 10:04 AM

I was raised hearing this story also. Now I also know the rest of the story!

Posted by: doodle | October 24, 2010 09:36 PM

i think it was very gross
WICKED

Posted by: Elise | October 25, 2010 09:10 AM

that was not scary but it isgood

Posted by: DD | October 25, 2010 09:54 AM

i loved this

Posted by: melissa | October 26, 2010 07:41 PM

i loved this story i want the book

Posted by: melissa | October 26, 2010 07:42 PM

this story is so long!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Anonymous | October 27, 2010 02:59 PM

I remember my 6th grade English teacher reading this to us on Halloween!!! It was the day I went vegetarian ahahah no joke

Posted by: KenzyHope | October 27, 2010 04:36 PM

Haha... one word ppl, scary version of LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD! lol

Posted by: Jazmine | October 28, 2010 12:08 AM

i think it was stupid and weird hahaha lol

Posted by: chris | October 28, 2010 10:47 AM

that stuff is wack yo hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahaha i love this site

Posted by: Anonymous | October 28, 2010 10:49 AM

uhhh....not that scary.....At all.

Posted by: Anonymous | October 30, 2010 02:37 PM

I thought that it was not scary but just very freaky boy did I have wierd pictures in my head. p.s i feel bad for the lady and the piggy

Posted by: none of your bisnuss | October 30, 2010 04:10 PM

it was so coll and i think the guy that got eaten diserved it

Posted by: person | October 31, 2010 01:04 PM

make more things die and id like it:)

Posted by: damien | October 31, 2010 04:42 PM

Freakin sweet. I mean enchanted pigs...OMG.

Posted by: Anonymous | October 31, 2010 11:22 PM

I use a version of this story on our Haunted Hayride we do as a Relay For Life fundraiser. The part of the story where the old woman is looking for Raw Head is when I yell out in the darkness RAW HEAD (as loud as I can yell). At other points I yell out RAW HEAD and BLOODY BONES LIIIIIVVVES!!!
It scares most people or at least makes them uneasy. LOL

Posted by: Karen Rowe | November 1, 2010 11:49 AM

ok.

Posted by: Anonymous | November 3, 2010 07:50 PM

That was freaky and kinda gross, but it was NOT scary.

Posted by: anonymous | November 4, 2010 12:01 PM

that was really creepy.. im never going 2 eat pork againnn!!

Posted by: Anonymous | November 6, 2010 05:58 PM

Freaky... Loved it! I especially love how he didn't just KILL the hunter, he ATE the hunter!
PS that's why I only eat animals that were raised on a farm for the purpose of eating.

Posted by: Renee | November 20, 2010 05:54 AM

it had little red riding hood and the headless horsemen but it was still a really good story

Posted by: Anonymous | December 11, 2010 03:49 PM

AHAA. The pig rides the horse:L:L:L.

Posted by: sammmm<3 | December 12, 2010 01:31 PM

way to scary but heard it

Posted by: Kenzie | December 23, 2010 07:06 PM

that is one of the scariest things i have ever read and i read some freaky stuff

Posted by: Autumn | December 31, 2010 05:24 PM

My mother spent her childhood growing up in East Tennessee. I remember her telling me some stories that her grandmother and father told her. One was of a witch that would turn her husband into a mouse. Divorsays like that one...hehehe.(I spelled it phonetically because I don't have a hyphened E on my keyboard.)I guess Mountain people do have a strange sense of humor. But I love my fort huggin ancestors by god. We're pioneer people and we built this country. Mountain people are the sweetest people on this earth. And the least understood. Be proud of your heritage people. Love the story by the way.

Posted by: Kelly | January 7, 2011 12:36 AM

Posted by: Anonymous | January 7, 2011 08:49 AM

Anyone feel like Bacon?

Posted by: Matt | January 10, 2011 06:10 PM

I like this story! It reminds me a little of Little Red Riding Hood when he said "What'd you got them whatever for?" I said that because he was talking about that tail, teeth, eyes, etc.

Posted by: Cody | January 11, 2011 06:58 PM

whaat??!!? oh kaaaay, that was weird,but it did get spooky at times, and hahaha niice combination of racoons and panther,LOL

Posted by: nunna ur biznezz | January 15, 2011 11:37 PM

This is creepy for me cuz I live in Missouri and I own a summer place in the Ozarks!! O_O

Posted by: Angel | January 20, 2011 11:50 AM

good story, not the least bit scary, tho.

Posted by: alexandra | January 21, 2011 10:33 AM

sound familiar... maybe... Little red riding hood?

Posted by: Annymous | January 26, 2011 01:35 PM

i love this story

Posted by: jazz | January 29, 2011 05:11 PM

it was ok ands people you really dont have to b so mean gosh i mean seriously u can b so rude

Posted by: taylor | February 5, 2011 01:41 PM

i wud hate being ate by a pig!!! dude tink about it WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: ashley.p | February 7, 2011 02:57 PM

Serves that hunter right for killing poor Raw Head. He must've been such a cute lil hog.

Old Betty knows her stuff.

Posted by: sidheag | February 8, 2011 04:17 AM

it sounded a bit like little Red Riging Hood

Posted by: Rihanna | February 10, 2011 06:18 PM

Im glad Im a vegetarian.

Posted by: lisby | February 19, 2011 10:04 PM

IT WAS ALLRIGHT NOT THE SCARIEST

Posted by: Anonymous | February 22, 2011 03:29 PM

Haha thats why im a vegetarian!! Great story!!

Posted by: Krissy | February 25, 2011 08:40 PM

Weird and somewhat original, but not scary and sounded at the end like Sleepy Hollow

Posted by: Emily | March 3, 2011 01:57 AM

the hunter should have won i don't like pigs

Posted by: anynonomous | March 16, 2011 08:01 PM

I liked it, i think the hunter deserved what he got!!!!!!! :)

Posted by: Kelly | March 21, 2011 03:04 AM

now that was awesome raw head is awesome

Posted by: Devon | March 29, 2011 01:53 PM

Kinda scary, reminds me a little of Red Riding Hood.

And If I find a razorback pig, I'm staying away from it now. :S

Posted by: Leeon | April 3, 2011 01:18 PM

I remember being little and every Halloween my grandpa would say "better watch out for raw head and bloody bones!" nobody would tell me the story either so I was always freaked out lol. Now that I've read the story, it reminds me of Little Red Riding Hood and The Headless Horseman all jumbled up into one.

Posted by: Josie | April 11, 2011 01:27 PM

Wow that was really scary I will never hunt hog EVER!

Posted by: Hannah | June 21, 2011 11:37 AM

it was ok :S

Posted by: Anonymous | June 24, 2011 07:05 AM

I will never eat ham again

Posted by: Miller | July 3, 2011 10:05 AM

Okay I get scared easily but that wasn't very scary.... Good story though

Posted by: Not Here | July 5, 2011 05:23 PM

cool story it was kinda scray

Posted by: Anonymous | August 2, 2011 11:26 AM

remides me of little red riding hod