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Book details

  • Genre:fiction
  • Sub-genre:Horror
  • Language:English
  • Pages:136
  • Hardcover ISBN:9798350996456

Tales of Terror

Overview

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

Tales of Terror is a chilling collection of spooky tales unlike anything you have ever read. Explore the deep, dark heart of Hill country where ravenous monsters, supernatural forces, and ghosts prowl the woods and caves.  Ida Chittum was a master storyteller who grew up in the Ozarks of Missouri where she was immersed in folkloric legends of monsters like the Whistler, the Thing Without a Name and the Hairy Hand. There's also more than a hint of the monstrous in these stories about ordinary people who do terrible things.

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About The Author

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).
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Book Reviews

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Margaret
Tales of Terror “Tales of Terror” is a delightful collection of 18 short stories by Ida Chittum (1918-2002), with an intro by her daughter, writer Samme Chittum. It’s set in the remote Ozark Mountains of Missouri, land of rolling hills, abandoned mine shafts, and sinkholes. Ida was inspired by the rich folklore and storytelling tradition she grew up with—tales of ghosts, spirits, and both supernatural and human monsters. And sympathy for the downtrodden. From the opening pages of her first story, “The House the Dovers Didn’t Move Into” (you’ll find out why) to the last, “Courtland Wethers and the Pit,” about a pit with agency (don’t ask), you know you’re in the hands of a masterful writer. Read and enjoy but don’t turn the lights out! Read more
E
A Favorite Tale: The Anatomy of Excellence To read Ida Chittum’s horror is to invite magic into your home; to know her is to have glimpsed the soul of someone who understood both the shadow and the light. Her stories remain excellent not only for their craftsmanship, but for the humanity that suffuses every page. For anyone seeking a horror story that chills the spine but warms the heart in its subtle way, I cannot recommend her work enough. So, find a quiet evening, curl up in the corner of your favorite room, and let Ida’s tales carry you into the exquisite darkness—where fear is a companion, and the home becomes a theater for the imagination. Read more
Jessi
Tales of Terror So pleased to see this collection back in print. I read these as a child and they stuck in my memory for sure - the perfect mix of creepy, mysterious, funny, sad, and terrifying. Bought a copy for each of my family members and my library. Read more
Charles
Tales of Terror These amazing Ozark Hill tales of the supernatural, invisible, and horror are so magically told that you will want to read them again and again. Told by gifted storyteller and fiction writer Ida Chittum, these otherworldly short stories take place among an Ozark Hill people so isolated that they do not come into contact with people from the outside world. Hauntings, ghosts, monsters, murder, revenge, and the supernatural take place in the surreal beauty of the trees, wildlife, caves, graves and abandoned wells of the Ozark Hills, where shadows come alive. Tales of Terror is a very special book by a writer ahead of her time. These stories effortlessly transported me to places I had never been, and I loved it! This book is a "must read." I highly recommend it, and am currently sharing it with family and friends. If I had the ability to give higher praise, I would give it. Read more
Jon
Tales of Terror by Ida Chittum Fifty years I ago I fell in love with the voice of Ida Chittum. Rare and authentic, these wonderfully quirky and scary stories from the Ozarks are being republished I’ve found. Her unforgettable tales of murder, mayhem and creature packed gems are uniquely haunting. Rereading them again tickles me into that pleasant half knowing, half naïve sense of reading that enjoys the journey as much as the destination with details that are just right and never heavy handed. Black and white illustrations by Franz Altschuler add to Chittum’s backwoods terror. Read more
James
Spooky tales from a master storyteller A haunted well, rampaging ghosts bent on revenge and a terrifying giant at the top of the stairs. All of this and more made this 1975 collection of short stories a cult classic. Fans of Ida Chittum will be thrilled to get their hands on this beautiful second edition, complete with stunning illustrations by Franz Altschuler. Read more
Anike
Stories that don't just scare—they transport! Tales of Terror, by Ida Chittum, is a collection of Ozark horror tales as chilling as they are beautifully told. Each story unspools at its own pace, like a story told around a campfire—steady, deliberate, but always with a sense of doom lurking just around the corner. With a folksy voice, steeped in the rhythms of rural life, where hardship is woven into every sentence and superstition lingers, the stories pull you deep into the lives of mountain folk grappling with poverty and something far more sinister. The stories feel like tales passed down over generations—each one infused with dread, but also a love for place and people. The stories are atmospheric, unsettling, and full of heart, Tales of Horror doesn’t just scare—it transports. Read more
Diane
The title says it all! Curled up in my cozy Manhattan apartment, I read Tales of Terror with a lump of fear in my gut as I remembered that my grandparents had come from the same dark hills and pits that the young Ida had inhabited. Her legacy of vengeful, named spirits and monstrous events kept me peering from the black night outside my window, back to the weak yellow of my reading lamp. Read more