Old Woman All Skin and Bone Kitty: ⭐⭐ Winterjoy:⭐⭐⭐
We are on the sixth story in our Super Cool Scary Stories Book Club Thing. It is hard to believe that we have been doing this for six months! It’s been really fun, too, and I’ve learned so much in my research. Old Woman All Skin and Bone is the last entry in the jump scare section of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. I’m excited to dive into the next section and learn even more in the coming months. If you’d like to start from the beginning of this series, please visit the original post here.
Old Woman All Skin and Bone
There was an old woman all skin and bone
Who lived near the graveyard all alone.
O-o o-o o-o!
She thought she’d go to church one day
To hear the parson preach and pray.
O-o o-o o-o!
And when she came to the church-house stile
She thought she’d stop and rest awhile.
O-o o-o o-o!
When she came up to the door
She thought she’d stop and rest some more.
O-o o-o o-o!
But when she turned and looked around
She saw a corpse upon the ground.
O-o o-o o-o!
From its nose down to its chin
The worms crawled out, and the worms crawled in.
O-o o-o o-o!
The woman to the preacher said,
“Shall I look like that when I am dead?”
O-o o-o o-o!
The preacher to the woman said,
“You’ll look like that when you are dead!”
(Now scream:)
“AAAAAAAAAAAH!”
~*~*~*~
It is stated that this is a traditional tale in America and the British Isles. Among sources sited by Schwartz is Richard Chase. This was was edited in 1956 and printed in American Folk Tales and Songs (1). I rather like this style better than the song style.
LADY ALL SKIN AND BONES
(Quietly:) There was a lady all skin and bones,
And such a lady was never known.
Oh, she walked out all on a day.
Yes, she walked down to the church to pray.
Oh, she walked up and she walked down,
And she spied a dead man on the ground.
And from his nose into his chin,
The worms crept out and the worms crept in.
(Quieter now:) She walked over to yonder stile,
And there she tarried a little while.
Then she walked on, up to the door,
And there she tarried a little more.
(Really quiet now:) This woman to the parson said,
“Will I be so when I am dead?”
The parson to the woman said,
(Very loud:) “YES!”
———
The earliest version of this story was printed in 1810 in Gammer Gurton’s Garland (2). There, it is titled The Gay Lady Who Went to Church.
I strongly suggest that you go through the posts at (3) if you want to read tons of interesting variations that people learned over the years. Mudcat is an amazing resource of folklore and music. It has an invaluable wealth of knowledge recorded that you really wouldn’t get anywhere else unless you talked to all these people personally.
Now for review time!
Kitty
- In what environment did you read the story? On my couch, with my cat sleeping next to me and the dog in the chair.
- Do you remember having read this story as a kid? Absolutely! I remember being so scared when we would sing this in school. This one and Who Has Seen the Wind by Christina Rosetti would scare the bajeezus out of me as a 5 year old.
- Analyze the actions of the characters in the story. Did they make sense? Would you have done anything differently? The old lady is just walking down to the church, so there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m kind of mad at the preacher, though, because he has dead corpses lying around. It’s not a new corpse, either, because it’s already rotting. I wouldn’t go back to that church if I were that old lady.
- Which was your favorite and least favorite characters and why? I hated both characters. The old woman asks a stupid question (Did she think he was going to say, “Oh, no! We’re going to send you to the taxidermist!” or something?) As for the preacher, I already stated that he has a disorganized church if corpses are just laying around in the church yard already rotting and not being buried in a timely fashion.
- What did you think of the storytelling style? The oo-oo-oo in the middle of every line was annoying.
- Examine the art for the story. What are your thoughts on it? I think the artwork tells a little more of the story. The old woman isn’t just asking him straightforward if that’s what she is going to look like when she’s going to die. She’s being dramatic, grabbing his jacket and desperately asking him, “OMG is THAT what I’m going to look like when I die?!” I like it.
- Your overall rating and why: ⭐ ⭐ It’s a pretty good spooky story if you tell it right.
Winterjoy
- In what environment did you read the story? On the floor of my apartment again! (I never leave)
- Do you remember having read this story as a kid? Yes. “The worms crawled out and the worms crawled in” is so iconic! It was probably the basis for many childhood nightmares.
- Analyze the actions of the characters in the story. Did they make sense? Would you have done anything differently? It was nice of her to go to church. Sounds like she doesn’t visit very much (the heathen!). I know she’s old but the resting so much would have me concerned. She should probably see a doctor for that fatigue. She did, all of a sudden, become concerned with her health when she asked what she would look like after death so there’s that.
- Which was your favorite and least favorite character and why? My favorite character was the corpse cause he’s just chilling doing corpse things. And he’s feeding the worms. That’s very helpful. My least favorite character is this old woman. Like, why are you so tired?
- What did you think of the storytelling style? I guess hearing it as a song would be cool.
- Examine the art for the story. What are your thoughts on it? The art is always good. The corpse behind the woman is great and corpse-y.
- Your overall rating and why: ⭐⭐⭐? Extra points for the iconic line. Minus points for bland ending. The pastor could have said “We shall find out now” or something.
Sources:
- https://mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=10191
- https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34601
- https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=35197#4077181