Cemetery Soup

Cemetery Soup is the twenty-fifth story from More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. It is meant to be comedic and tells the story of a woman who finds herself being haunted after making soup with a bone. Inspired by a tale from Folk Beliefs of the Southern Negro by Newbell N. Puckett.

Plot

On her way home from the market, the woman took a short cut through the cemetery. There, sticking up out of the ground, she saw a big bone. She picked it up and looked it over carefully.

"This will make a very good soup bone," she said. "I think I'll take it home. It's perfect weather for hot soup." When she got home, the first thing she did was start the soup. Into the big soup pot went water, carrots, green beans, corn, barley, onions, potatoes, a snitch of beef, some salt and pepper, and--the bone. She brought it all to a boil, then brought it down to a simmer.

"Yum!" she said, sniffing it and tasting it. "I can hardly wait till supper." Suddenly she heard a small voice. "Please give me back my bone." The woman paid no attention. Soon she heard the voice again. "May I have my bone back, please?" The woman was reading the newspaper, and again she didn't take any notice. In a little while, the voice spoke up once more. It was beginning to sound angry. "Give me back my bone!" The woman kept on reading the paper. "Some people are too impatient," she muttered. Once more the voice spoke. Now it sounded very angry, and it was so loud that the whole house shook.

"I WANT MY BONE BACK!"

The woman reached into the pot, grabbed the bone, and threw it out the window. In a voice just as loud, she shouted,

"TAKE IT!"

There was an eerie silence. Then the woman heard footsteps scurrying away from the house down the road toward the cemetery. And she got up and served herself some soup.

Stories
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark	Strange and Scary Things • The Big Toe • The Walk • What Do You Come For? • Me Tie Dough-ty Walker! • A Man Who Lived In Leeds • Old Woman All Skin and Bone • The Thing • Cold As Clay • The White Wolf • The Haunted House • The Guests • The Hearse Song • The Girl Who Stood on a Grave • A New Horse • Alligators • Room for One More • The Wendigo • The Dead Man's Brains • May I Carry Your Basket? • The Hook • The White Gown • High Beams • The Babysitter • The Viper • The Attic • The Slithery-Dee • Aaron Kelly's Bones • Wait Till Martin Comes • The Ghost with the Bloody Fingers
More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark	Hoo-Ha's • Something Was Wrong • The Wreck • One Sunday Morning • Sounds • A Weird Blue Light • Somebody Fell From Aloft • The Little Black Dog • Clinkity-Clink • The Bride • Rings On Her Fingers • The Drum • The Window • Wonderful Sausage • The Cat's Paw • The Voice • "Oh, Susannah!" • The Man In The Middle • The Cat in a Shopping Bag • The Bed by the Window • The Dead Man's Hand • A Ghost in the Mirror • The Curse • The Church • The Bad News • Cemetery Soup • The Brown Suit • Ba-Rooom! • Thumpity-Thump
Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill your Bones	Boo Men • The Appointment • The Bus Stop • Faster And Faster • Just Delicious • Hello, Kate! • The Black Dog • Footsteps • Like Cats' Eyes • Bess • Harold • The Dead Hand • Such Things Happen • The Wolf Girl • The Dream • Sam's New Pet • Maybe You Will Remember • The Red Spot • No, Thanks • The Trouble • Strangers • The Hog • Is Something Wrong? • It's Him! • T-H-U-P-P-P-P-P-P-P! • You May Be The Next...