Rings On Her Fingers is a story from More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. It tells the story of a girl with the rings on her fingers as the purpose of how this story is driven. Retold from a tale collected by Richard M Dorson in Buying the Wind. As well as "Folklore from Socorro, New Mexico" by Dorothy J. Baylor, and "The Thievish Sexton" by Katherine M Briggs and Ruth L. Tongue.
Plot
Daisy Clark had been in a coma for more than a month when the doctor said that she had finally died. She was buried on a cool summer day in a small cemetery about a mile from her house. "May she always rest in such peace," her husband said. But she didn't. Late that night a grave robber with a shovel and a lantern began to dig her up. Since the ground was still soft, he quickly reached the coffin and got it open. His hunch was right. Daisy had been buried wearing two valuable rings--a wedding ring with a diamond in it, and a ring with a ruby that glowed as if it were alive.
The thief got down on his knees and reached into the coffin to get the rings. But they were stuck fast on her fingers. So he decided that the only way to get them was to cut off her fingers with a knife. But when he cut into the finger with the wedding ring, it began to bleed, and Daisy Clark begin to stir. Suddenly she sat up! Terrified, the thief scrambled to his feet. He accidentally kicked over the lantern, and the light went out. He could hear Daisy climb out of her grave. As she moved past him in the dark, he stood there frozen with fear, clutching the knife in his hand.
When Daisy saw him, she pulled her shroud around her and asked, "Who are you?" When the grave robber heard this "corpse" speak, he ran! Daisy shrugged her shoulders and walked on, and never once looked back. But in his fear and confusion, the thief fled in the wrong direction. He pitched headlong into her grave, fell on the knife, and stabbed himself. While Daisy walked home, the thief bled to death.