Tales of Terror

A collection of short stories set in the Ozarks dealing with murders, monsters and events both natural and supernatural.

"What do we know of the world invisible? What do we know of the mystery of those sleep visions called dreams, those voices and scenes that come to us all in the night? No more than the austere ant working under our feet all day long knows of us.'' Thus begins "Vision of Roses,'' one of eighteen short stories from Tales of Terror, Ida Chittum's most popular book among the thirteen she authored in as many years. Tales of Terror, published by Rand McNally in 1975, marked a distinct shift in her repertoire. Her transformation from housewife to published author was made possible by a talent for crafting humorous stories for children. By contrast, Tales of Terror took a left turn onto a lonesome dirt road into the dark heart of Hill country. It was a world she knew well. Unlike her stories for small children, which are pure fictional fun, Tales of Terror serves up real human drama, including murder and madness, as well as stories of hauntings and the supernatural. Writers who gravitate to horror do so for many reasons. In Chittum's case, she was inspired by folkloric legends of monsters like the Whistler. Possessed of supernatural intelligence, the Whistler "lay out of sight in the piney woods, luring innocents to their dooms by whistling low, provocative tunes.'' There's also more than a hint of the monstrous in these stories about ordinary people who do terrible things.

The late Ida Chittum is best known for her chilling and thrilling tales of ghosts, backwoods murders and monsters set in the Ozarks of Missouri where she was reared, the seventh child from a family of ten. Accompanied by her pet mule, Leonette, young Ida sought out strange people and places, including haunted homesteads and remote ravines, home to the Monster of Poot Hollow. She learned the art of telling tales from reclusive hill folk, who wiled away the hours spinning yarns both funny and frightening. Among Chittum's most popular books were Tales of Terror (1975) and The Thing Without a Name (1981), collections of short stories about restless spirits and sightless monsters who crawled from caves to roam the woods on moonlit nights. The mother of five and housewife from Findlay, Illinois began writing at age 52 and went on to author 13 books for children and young adults, including the delightful Farmer Hoo and the Baboons (1971), which won the Lewis Carrol Shelf award, followed by Clabber Biscuits (1972), as well mysteries such as The Hermit Boy (1972) and children's picture books, including The Cat's Pajamas (1980).