Tall Betsy

On Centenary Avenue, she can be seen.

Tall Betsy is the lady in black.

For scaring night owls, she has a hack.

Now, if you're good and go home early, you won't get got by this gruesome girly.

They'll search for you all over, I bet.

So go home early on Halloween night, and November 1st, you'll be all right.

Trick-or-treating is so much fun, but if you see Tall Betsy, you better run.

Now we talk about the story of the infamous Tall Betsy.

Often, it's treated as a single phrase, raw head and bloody bones.

But you might just encounter bloody bones, or maybe simply raw head, or scratch eyes, or tall Betsy, or one of a dozen combinations or iterations or side characters that all harken back to the same idea, a warning to children who are prone to misbehave.

If you're bad, the monster will get you.

So, it's understood that good behavior is the only protection.

We found many local stories across the archives, dating back more than 100 years and from all over the United States.

Better come on in the house, or Rawhead and Bloody Bones will get you.

Or Straighten up and behave, or else face the wrath of Tall Betsy and Bloody Bones.

Or We always understood Rawhead and Bloody Bones would catch us out by ourselves sometime and get us.