Cat: A Ghost Story

by Max Doty

A short story about a boy, his fears, and an unfamiliar house in the

"Before Tom disappeared from his own backyard, he and Daniel had spent holidays together, sleeping on each others’ floors, telling ghost stories so they’d be too scared to go to sleep. A year ago, Tom had told Daniel about the Windigo, a white, hairy beast that lived in the hills.

It had a massive head, the size of a lion’s, but its face was tiny, like a cat’s—or at least, that what you thought until it opened its jaws. Its mouth was hidden under fur, but when it opened wide, you could see three rows of teeth running ear to ear..."

9 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 8, 2012

About the author

Max Doty is a veteran game-writer who served as the Head of Content for Choices: Stories You Play and Surviving High School for which he also wrote two spin-off novels. His screenplay “Almost Kings” won Netflix’s inaugural “Find Your Voice” award and was made into a feature film.

Max regularly contributes to reddit’s NoSleep forum as scarymaxx, where his works often appear at the top of the charts.

He holds a BA and an MA from Stanford University as well as an MFA from Arizona State University.

His debut horror novel The House that Eats the Dead will be published by Tor Nightfire in the UK and by Bantam in the US in August 2026.