Raw Head and Bloody Bones
Raw Head and Bloody Bones, also known as "Rawhead", "Bloody Bones", "Ol' Bloody Bones", etc.
Origin: (earliest known story/scenario the creature appears in, indicate whether this is uncertain)
Contents
Description
"Rawhead and Bloody Bones
Steals Naughty Children from their Homes
Takes them to his dirty den
And they are never seen again!"
— English Nursery Rhyme
"Raw Head lived in a dark cupboard, usually under the stairs. If you were heroic enough to peep through a crack you would get a glimpse of the dreadful, crouching creature, with blood running down his face, seated waiting on a pile of raw bones that had belonged to children who told lies or said bad words...."
— Ruth Tongue, Somerset Folklore
Ol' Bloody Bones is an evil bogeyman said to haunt deep pits, abandoned coal mines and stone quarries, caves, the basements or cupboards of decaying rural shacks, sink holes, deep ponds, and the like, where it waits for disobedient children to ignore their parents' warnings and come near enough that Bloody Bones grabs them and drags them into the depths. The legend originates in 16th Century England, but made its way to the Americas where it became part of the folklore of the Southern United States, including some African-American folklore; the original legend is regarded as lost except for the vague references to the name, and modern variants of the story describe Raw Head and Bloody Bones variously as one creature, two different creatures, or two parts of the same creature (i.e., a disembodied head peeled of its skin, and a headless bloody skeleton stripped of its flesh.)
The short story "Rawhead Rex" and the movie loosely based on it portray the monster as a sort of corrupt fertility god, a gruesome, bloody, skeletal giant with long sharp teeth, worshiped by mad cultists converted from a defiled church, and repelled by artifacts holy to a feminine creative force depicted in idols as a pregnant woman; in this version, the creature might be thought of loosely as an avatar of Shub-Niggurath.
Ol' Bloody Bones might otherwise be regarded as having a sort of rural cult that leaves sacrifices near the dark, abandoned places in the hills where the monster is believed to live, or to hang up talismans they hope will repel the creature, in the hopes that Ol' Bloody Bones might leave wandering children that get too near to his lair in peace.
Heresies and Controversies
Keeper Notes
Cult
Ol' Bloody Bones is not typically worshiped by cultists, so much as feared as a bogeyman who haunts the hills and forests by night, requiring talismans to be hung around the rural cultists' shacks, and periodic sacrifices to keep him away; children are warned to avoid the places that Bloody Bones haunts: deep pits, abandoned coal mines and stone quarries, caves, the basements or cupboards of decaying rural shacks, sink holes, deep ponds, and the like, where it waits for disobedient children to ignore their parents' warnings and come near enough for Bloody Bones to grab them and drag them into the depths. Not "cultists" in the traditional sense of the term, the locals are mostly frightened but simple country folk; their talismans take the form of simple wooden picket crosses decorated by wildflowers, and bits of broken mirror that may turn the beast away when he sees his own reflection, and sacrifices may range from small gifts of a portion of the autumn harvest or saucers of honey, milk, or candy left beside the entrances of abandoned ruins, caves, or mines, up to the sacrifice of actual living children should Ol' Bloody Bones' reign of terror prove exceptionally severe to the the locals.
At least one, more organized cult dedicated to the beast in the small town of Hainted Holler in the hills near the Western Virginia border, based their activities on certain contents of a filthy, stained, battered and antiquated old hand-written copy of the Red Book of Appin, which included dubious rites by which sacrifices might be made to summon the beast up from the abysses of the Hollow Earth, to offer in exchange for innocent blood spilled yearly, unnatural favors which may cause the Autumn harvest to flourish and the cult to flourish from the corrupt fruits of their sacrifice. The cult, which replaced the local Southern Baptist church, came to the attention of investigators long after the cults neighbors began to shun the cultists, because the harvested vegetables and fruit had taken on an unpleasant and repellent character, while the cult itself was forced to continue the yearly sacrifices anyway for fear of reprisals from Bloody Bones.
Associated Mythos Elements
- tome: Red Book of Appin
- race: Human Cultists
- location: The coal mines and Hainted Holler Southern Baptist Church, near the vague and shifting border of Eastern Kentucky, Northeastern Tennessee, and Western Virginia
- deity: might be conflated as an avatar of Shub-Niggurath
References
- story: "Rawhead Rex" by Clive Barker
- film: Rawhead Rex (1986 film)
- film: Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974 franchise)
