Ready for some spooky reads? Especially with cats in them? If you’re looking for the perfect cat stories to get you in the Halloween spirit, we’ve got some great suggestions for you. Check them out from your local library or snag them for your digital reading device – whatever you do, just make sure you enjoy yourself, even if you have to leave the lights on.
SPOOKY BLACK CATS
You may have noticed that cats – especially black cats – have often been given a negative reputation in folklore since the witch-obsessed Middle Ages. They’ve been accused of being witches in disguise, witches’ familiars, the devil in disguise, and more – which is just rank prejudice plain and simple! But it does mean they’ve made their way into a number of folktales – as you can see in creepy stories like “The Black Cat’s Message” and “Wait Until Emmett Comes” as retold by S.E. Schlosser in her collections Spooky Southwest and Spooky South.
TAILYPO
This mysterious creature of rural American folklore is described as a cat-like creature with bright eyes and a long tail – that is lost to the predations of a hungry hunter and his hounds, who eat the tail. What happens next is a disturbing nightmare of attrition, as the hounds disappear one by one until the huntsman faces the consequences of gobbling up Tailypo’s tail alone. If you’ve got some appropriately-aged kids in your life, there’s a surprisingly sweetly-illustrated storybook version of Tailypo that’ll still scare the spit out of you – written by Joanna Galdone and illustrated by Paul Galdone.
THE WAMPUS CAT
The Wampus Cat is another figure from American folklore, with as many different tales about it as there are regions where those tales are told! True facts: there are many. Most stories of the wampus cat come out of Appalachia, and seem to be rooted in Cherokee folklore.
In some stories, the wampus cat is half-cat, half-woman. In other stories, it’s a giant cat-like creature that can walk on two legs and has glowing eyes. Sometimes, it’s a transformed witch (the witch-as-shapeshifter trope got around, y’all.) You can find tales of the wampus cat in S.E. Schlosser’s Spooky South or Jeffrey Scott Holland’s Weird Kentucky. You can also read a version of a Cherokee tale at this Appalachian History blog.
PROTECTOR CATS
Cats have protected our homes from vermin for as long as they’ve lived with us, so it’s perhaps not surprising that some people have seen cats as protectors against evil spirits or negative energy as well. If you dig this idea, check out “The Price” by Neil Gaiman about one black cat’s fight to protect its family – you can find this story in his collection Smoke and Mirrors. You’ll also find a protector cat in his book Coraline, helping the titular young girl who’s stumbled into a hungry thing’s world; this cat is instrumental in helping Coraline triumph and find her way back home.
This book by Neil Gaiman is appropriate for readers from age 8 to undead.
DIGITAL STORIES
If you’re craving something less wordy, there are tons of spooky films featuring important cats that’ll fulfill your Halloween cravings. Neil Gaiman’s Coraline mentioned above is also an enchanting and macabre stop motion animated film by Laika, and the mysterious and helpful protector cat is voiced by the incomparable Keith David. Fan-favorite Hocus Pocus heavily features a talking black cat, who’s really Thackery Binx, a cursed boy. And for those seeking some Clarissa Explains It All realness, revisit the late 90’s TV show Sabrina the Teenage Witch starring Melissa Joan Hart and the cursed witch in talking-black-cat-form Salem Saberhagen.
Ready to be deliciously disturbed by all those bumps in the night? Enjoy exploring these spooky stories! And tell us – what are your favorite Halloween-appropriate cat tales?
