The thing without a name, and other strange tales from the Ozark Hills

by Ida Chittum

Granny Grit entertains and terrifies her grandchildren with strange tales of her youth and the old days in the Ozark Mountains.

101 pages, Unknown Binding

Published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enter the mysterious world of Granny Grit, a lean, weathered and leather-tough sage who resembled “a crisp twit of twine with a knot for a head.” Her stories captivate and terrorize her young audience, and her voice rings with the authority of the aged and the language of the Ozark hills. Granny weaves spine-chilling tales that introduce her throng to a bizarre cast of characters: a madwoman who fashioned pictures from rocks, a chicken who swallowed an elephant, a woman who conjured and lived with ghosts to stave off her loneliness. There are crying trees, gypsies, and a creeper; colorful oddballs with distinctive names, like hot-tempered Nashville Grit and Young Ep, whose quest to find the end of the rainbow leads him back home. And, as the title promises, there is the “thing without a name,” a formless, faceless changeling with rancid breath—and a tale that Granny Grit expertly crafts to entice the children to practice good behavior. Read The Thing Without a Name. I guarantee you will delight in these mysterious, spooky, bone-chilling yarns — and, that you will never let your hands dangle over the edge of the bed at night.

[Anike Wariebi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unforgettable and wonderfully eerie

The Thing Without a Name has stayed with me ever since I first began to read it. Ida Chittum captures that perfect mix of mystery, fear, and wonder that few stories ever achieve. It’s spooky without being gory, and deeply human beneath the chills. I still think about it — a haunting little masterpiece that deserves huge attention.