History Main / PrematurelyMarkedGrave

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E8MotherSimpson Mother Simpson]]": When Homer fakes his death, Patty and Selma visit Marge to present her a gravestone with Homer's name on it, revealing they have been saving for it since Marge's wedding day. After Marge throws them out, they start using it as a coffee table.

* Creator/AAPessimal's ''{{Discworld}}'' fic '''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10383608/5/The-Prospectus The Prospectus]]''', aimed at parents of prospective Assassins' Guild School pupils, describes the exciting range of craft activities open at the School. Stomemasonry, for instance, has boys carving their own tombstones (with dates of demise left blank) as, well, you never know. similarly, the Woodwork Department turns out coffins and caskets to a ''very'' high professional standard. This is designed to focus the minds of student Assassins on the unfortunate fact they are aspiring to enter a high-risk profession, and it also means [[CrazyPrepared all eventualities of a typical School term are covered]].

* Creator/AAPessimal's ''{{Discworld}}'' fic '''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10383608/5/The-Prospectus The Prospectus]]''', aimed at parents of prospective Assassins' guild School pupils, describes the exciting range of craft activities open at the School. Stomemasonry, for instance, has boys carving their own tombstones (with dates of demise left blank) as, well, you never know. similarly, the Woodwork Department turns out coffins and caskets to a ''very'' high professional standard. This is designed to focus the monds of student Assassins on the unfortunate fact they are aspiring to enter a high-risk profession, and it also means [[CrazyPrepared all eventualities of a typical School term are covered]].

* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', one of Harry's enemies bought him a tombstone engraved with "Here Lies Harry Dresden. He Died Doing The Right Thing." [[spoiler:He eventually finds himself in said grave... and finds it rather homely, what with being dead at the time]].

* In ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'':
** Because Dwarves get annoyed if their loves ones are without proper burial, it is common to pre-build coffins in case several Dwarves die at once. To control who is buried in a coffin, it can be assigned to only house a specific individual.
** [[UpperClassTwit High-ranking nobles]] will actually insist that they be given a tomb once they move to your fort, even if they are young and at no risk of dying. If they prove annoying enough, they may get to make use of that tomb [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident in short order]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Patty & Selma hate their brother-in-law Homer so much they bought a gravestone in anticipation of his death. They use it as a coffee table until they get to use it.

* Game writer ScottAdams' ''Voodoo Castle''. In one room you can find a graveyard which has one grave with a beam of light shining on it and a sign that says "This grave reserved for you!"

** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E12TheEmpath The Empath]]", the PowerTrio found two scientists dead in experiment cases and three more cases with their names.

** 2nd pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Commander Gary Mitchell has gained tremendous psionic powers, threatening the Enterprise and its crew. When Captain Kirk tracks him down and confronts him, Mitchell causes a grave and a headstone to appear. The headstone has Kirk's name and the stardates of his birth and (anticipated) death.
** In "The Empath", the PowerTrio found two scientists dead in experiment cases and three more cases with their names.

* In ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come takes Ebenezer Scrooge to a vision of a future Christmas, where Scrooge witnesses the funeral of a rich man who is mourned by nobody. Finally the ghost shows Scrooge the man's tombstone; it is Scrooge's own.
* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', Reg Shoe has his own grave in the cemetery at Small Gods. Only, as Reg died and came back a Zombie, he's not yet ready to occupy it: he overnights once a year on the anniversary of his death, though. The existance of zombies seriously annoys the sexton at Small Gods, as it really messes up the paperwork when dead people won't bloody well stay dead and keep insisting on resurrecting themselves.

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E6RevelationOfTheDaleks Revelation of the Daleks]]", the Doctor visits a graveyard planet and comes across a memorial with his face carved on it. He assumes it is genuine and means he's going to die, in the past, quite soon in his own timeline; it is actually part of a trap set by Davros.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' settings:
** In the TabletopGame/PointsOfLight setting, the Shadowfell is a dark and creepy undead-filled mirror of the real world. Where towns are found in the real world, the Shadowfell often has graveyards instead, with the living citizens' names on the tombstones.
** TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}} module I6 ''Ravenloft''. An NPC named Ireena Kolyana is accompanying the {{PC}}s so they can protect her. Deep in the crypts under Castle Ravenloft she (and they) will discover an empty crypt with her name on it - her intended resting place after Strahd turns her into a vampire.

* ''Film/HighNoon''.

-->—-''Memoirs of Frederick Baron Trenck, Written by Himself''

* In the covers to ''ComicBook/KravensLastHunt'', we see a grave marked for ComicBook/SpiderMan with either an empty tomb or Spidey himself rising form the ground, showing that he is far from dead.

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', Reg Shoe has his own grave in the cemetery at Small Gods. Only, as Reg died and came back a Zombie, he's not yet ready to occupy it: he overnights once a year on the anniversary of his death, though. The existance of zombies seriously annoys the sexton at Small Gods, as it really messes up the paperwork when dead people won\'t bloody well stay dead and keep insisting on resurrecting themselves.

* On ''Series/{{Justified}}'', one of the many abusive things Arlo Givens did to his son Raylan was to put up a grave marker with Raylan\'s name next to their house. When Raylan's mother died, Arlo decided to bury her in the plot next to the house and he got such a great deal on the gravestone that he decided to save money and ordered gravestones pre-made for himself and Raylan. Arlo was not deliberately malicious in this instance but he still insisted on putting up the markers to 'reserve' the spots rather than storing them in the shed or basement. So poor Raylan spent a large part of his childhood being greeted by the sight of his own gravestone every time he left his house.

** 2nd pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Commander Gary Mitchell has gained tremendous psionic powers, threatening the Enterprise and its crew. When Captain Kirk tracks him down and confronts him, Mitchell causes a grave and a headstone to appear. The headstone has Kirk\'s name and the stardates of his birth and (anticipated) death.

* In ''[[VideoGame/NancyDrew Ghost of Thornton Hall]]'', Nancy\'s name appears on a previously-blank tombstone once things start getting creepy.

* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy''. A variation of this appears in "Know it All Ed," in which a squirt gun craze (actually turkey basters) cause the cul-de-sac kids to adopt a Wild West atmosphere; the Eds are set to face the Kankers in a high noon style showdown, but as they journey to the construction sight, they pass what looks like three graves dug in the ground for them - Ed thinks it\'s cool, and Double D is only frightened even more, but Eddy brushes it off. After they continue on their way, it turns out that they were individual mud pits that Rolf dug for his pigs.

* The grave is put there by one person as a threat to another he is facing.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' episode "Club [=SpongeBob=]", Patrick is seen building coffins for himself, [=SpongeBob=] and Squidward when they're lost in a kelp forest.

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E6RevelationOfTheDaleks Revelation of the Daleks]]", the Doctor visits a graveyard planet and comes across a memorial with his face carved on it. [[{{Cliffhanger}} Which then collapses onto him]].

* The short comic ''[[http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=109863&page=1 It's Your Funeral Nintendo... Again]]'' features one with the date being updated. This is the comic that provides the page image for ItWillNeverCatchOn.

->''Under my feet was a tombstone carved with a death's head under which I was to be buried, and marked with my name.''

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E6RevelationOfTheDaleks Revelation of the Daleks]]", the Doctor visits a graveyard planet and comes across a memorial with his face carved on it. [[Cliffhanger Which then collapses onto him]].

-->Under my feet was a tombstone carved with a death\'s head under which I was to be buried, and marked with my name.
-->—Memoirs of Frederick Baron Trenck, Written by himself

!Examples

* In the Creator/ECComics story "Impending Doom!" (''Tales from the Crypt'' #20), a man comes across a stonecutter cutting his name into a gravestone. The date of birth is his own, and the date of death is today\'s date, which turns out to be prophetic, of course.

* In the ''{{Discworld}}'', Reg Shoe has his own grave in the cemetery at Small Gods. Only, as Reg died and came back a Zombie, he's not yet ready to occupy it: he overnights once a year on the anniversary of his death, though. The existance of zombies seriously annoys the sexton at Small Gods, as it really messes up the paperwork when dead people won\'t bloody well stay dead and keep insisting on resurrecting themselves.

* In FazilIskander's story "[[http://lib.ru/FISKANDER/stories_engl.txt_with-big-pictures.html#9 Old Crooked Arm]]," a man was falsely reported dead while recovering in a hospital. By the time the truth was discovered, the funeral, including a grave, was prepared. The guy ordered that it be kept ready just in case... which turned out to be long enough that he had to put a fence around the grave due to all the ''other'' people falling in.

* ''DungeonsAndDragons'' settings:

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Patty & Selma hate their brother-in-law Homer so much they bought a gravestone in anticipation of his death. They use it as a coffee table until they get to use it.

* In the Creator/ECComics story \"Impending Doom!\" (\'\'Tales from the Crypt\'\' #20), a man comes across a stonecutter cutting his name into a gravestone. The date of birth is his own, and the date of death is today\'s date, which turns out to be prophetic, of course.
* \'\'ComicBook/{{Tintin}}\'\': In \'\'Recap/TintinCigarsOfThePharaoh\'\', Tintin and Snowy enter an Egyptian tomb where several bodies of other archeologists are who dared to enter it have been mummified. They all stand next to each other on display. At the end of these, to his horror, there are empty sarcophaguses bearing the names of himself, Snowy and Dr. Sarcophagus. He immediately realizes he needs to escape.

* In the \'\'{{Discworld}}\'\', Reg Shoe has his own grave in the cemetery at Small Gods. Only, as Reg died and came back a Zombie, he\'s not yet ready to occupy it: he overnights once a year on the anniversary of his death, though. The existance of zombies seriously annoys the sexton at Small Gods, as it really messes up the paperwork when dead people won\'t bloody well stay dead and keep insisting on resurrecting themselves.
* In \'\'Literature/TheDresdenFiles\'\', one of Harry\'s enemies bought him a tombstone engraved with \"Here Lies Harry Dresden. He Died Doing The Right Thing.\" [[spoiler:He eventually finds himself in said grave... and finds it rather homely, what with being dead at the time]].
* In FazilIskander\'s story \"[[http://lib.ru/FISKANDER/stories_engl.txt_with-big-pictures.html#9 Old Crooked Arm]],\" a man was falsely reported dead while recovering in a hospital. By the time the truth was discovered, the funeral, including a grave, was prepared. The guy ordered that it be kept ready just in case... which turned out to be long enough that he had to put a fence around the grave due to all the \'\'other\'\' people falling in.
* Corwin from \'\'Literature/TheChroniclesOfAmber\'\' had a [[TheExile longtime, sudden and unexplained exile]], (longtime even for an immortal) and eventually his family presumed he was dead and built him a memorial tomb. When Corwin does finally return he is very amused by this, and occasionally likes to sit there and think, as it\'s a fairly scenic and undisturbed place. He also takes an inordinate amount of pleasure in pissing on his own grave.

* In \'\'Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperman\'\' episode \"The Bully of Dry Gulch\", Clark, Lois, and Jimmy find Jimmy\'s tombstone in the local boot hill, a threat from the local gunslinger who disliked him.
* On \'\'Series/{{Justified}}\'\', one of the many abusive things Arlo Givens did to his son Raylan was to put up a grave marker with Raylan\'s name next to their house. When Raylan\'s mother died, Arlo decided to bury her in the plot next to the house and he got such a great deal on the gravestone that he decided to save money and ordered gravestones pre-made for himself and Raylan. Arlo was not deliberately malicious in this instance but he still insisted on putting up the markers to \'reserve\' the spots rather than storing them in the shed or basement. So poor Raylan spent a large part of his childhood being greeted by the sight of his own gravestone every time he left his house.
* In the \'\'Series/RemingtonSteele\'\' episode \"Elegy in Steel\", Laura and Steel are in pursuit of Major Descoine (after he threatened to kill them in the next hour) when they come across a selection of tombstones. Two of them have their names and that day\'s date carved on them (the date was that of the original broadcast of the episode).
* \'\'Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries\'\':
** 2nd pilot \"Where No Man Has Gone Before.\" Commander Gary Mitchell has gained tremendous psionic powers, threatening the Enterprise and its crew. When Captain Kirk tracks him down and confronts him, Mitchell causes a grave and a headstone to appear. The headstone has Kirk\'s name and the stardates of his birth and (anticipated) death.
** In \"The Empath\", the PowerTrio found two scientists dead in experiment cases and three more cases with their names.

* \'\'DungeonsAndDragons\'\' settings:
** In the TabletopGame/PointsOfLight setting, the Shadowfell is a dark and creepy undead-filled mirror of the real world. Where towns are found in the real world, the Shadowfell often has graveyards instead, with the living citizens\' names on the tombstones.
** TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}} module I6 \'\'Ravenloft\'\'. An NPC named Ireena Kolyana is accompanying the {{PC}}s so they can protect her. Deep in the crypts under Castle Ravenloft she (and they) will discover an empty crypt with her name on it - her intended resting place after Strahd turns her into a vampire.

* In \'\'VideoGame/DwarfFortress\'\':

* In the MysteryCaseFiles game \'\'Escape From Ravenhearst\'\', the Master Detective finds a tombstone with her title on it, and a date-of-death that matches the RealLife date on which the scene is played.
* Game writer ScottAdams\' \'\'Voodoo Castle\'\'. In one room you can find a graveyard which has one grave with a beam of light shining on it and a sign that says \"This grave reserved for you!\"
* In \'\'[[VideoGame/NancyDrew Ghost of Thornton Hall]]\'\', Nancy\'s name appears on a previously-blank tombstone once things start getting creepy.

* In [[http://meninhats.com/d/20040721.html one strip]] of \'\'Webcomic/MenInHats\'\', Aram leads Beriah on a 3-hour walk. Beriah wonders what this "adventure" will lead to, which turns out to be an empty grave with his name on it and the epitaph, "Frankly he was rather annoying."

* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy''. A variation of this appears in \"Know it All Ed,\" in which a squirt gun craze (actually turkey basters) cause the cul-de-sac kids to adopt a Wild West atmosphere; the Eds are set to face the Kankers in a high noon style showdown, but as they journey to the construction sight, they pass what looks like three graves dug in the ground for them - Ed thinks it\'s cool, and Double D is only frightened even more, but Eddy brushes it off. After they continue on their way, it turns out that they were individual mud pits that Rolf dug for his pigs.
* \'\'WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}\'\'. After Rango takes on the job of the new sheriff of Dirt, the citizens already prepare for his demise, including the undertaker constructing a new coffin for him.
* \'\'WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons\'\': Patty & Selma hate their brother-in-law Homer so much they bought a gravestone in anticipation of his death. They use it as a coffee table until they get to use it.