What do you think?
Rate this book
Magicats!
Magical stories from science fiction and fantasy's greatest writers.
Fey cats.
Funny cats.
Deadly cats.
Cats that dreams are made of.
Cats to haunt your nightmares.
Magicats!
Space-time for springers / Fritz Leiber --
The game of rat and dragon / Cordwainer Smith --
The cat from hell / Stephen King --
Out of place / Pamela Sargent --
Schrödinger's cat / Ursula K. Le Guin --
Groucho / Ron Goulart --
My father, the cat / Henry Slesar --
The cat man / Byron Liggett --
Some are born cats / Terry and Carol Carr --
The cat lover / Knox Burger --
Jade Blue / Edward Bryant --
Tom cat / Gary Jennings --
Sonya, Crane Wessleman, and Kittee / Gene Wolfe--
The witch's cat / Manly Wade Wellman --
Antiquities / John Crowley --
A little intelligence / Randall Garrett --
The cat / Gene Wolfe --
Afternoon at Schrafft's / Gardner Dozois, Jack Dann, and Michael Swanwick.
Fey cats.
Funny cats.
Deadly cats.
Cats that dreams are made of.
Cats to haunt your nightmares.
Magicats!
Space-time for springers / Fritz Leiber --
The game of rat and dragon / Cordwainer Smith --
The cat from hell / Stephen King --
Out of place / Pamela Sargent --
Schrödinger's cat / Ursula K. Le Guin --
Groucho / Ron Goulart --
My father, the cat / Henry Slesar --
The cat man / Byron Liggett --
Some are born cats / Terry and Carol Carr --
The cat lover / Knox Burger --
Jade Blue / Edward Bryant --
Tom cat / Gary Jennings --
Sonya, Crane Wessleman, and Kittee / Gene Wolfe--
The witch's cat / Manly Wade Wellman --
Antiquities / John Crowley --
A little intelligence / Randall Garrett --
The cat / Gene Wolfe --
Afternoon at Schrafft's / Gardner Dozois, Jack Dann, and Michael Swanwick.
270 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1984
9 people are currently reading
251 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
April 1, 2017
Short story collections are always a mixed bag, and this book is no exception. You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both, and here you have 17 stories about our feline friends. I've already forgotten quite a few of these tales, but some were outstanding enough to earn this book a four star rating.
Among the highlights:
Groucho a funny story about reincarnation and revenge by Ron Goulart.
The Cat Man by Byron Liggett which features an atoll overrun by ravenous cats.
And Randall Garrett's A Little Intelligence - a juicy murder mystery about three racist aliens being housed in a convent. (Yes. You did read that correctly.)
Stories by Manly Wade Wellman, Stephen King, and Fritz Leiber are also worth a read.
I would guess that even ailurophobes might like some of these tales, but cat fanciers should beware - things don't always end well for the pussies in these stories.
Among the highlights:
Groucho a funny story about reincarnation and revenge by Ron Goulart.
The Cat Man by Byron Liggett which features an atoll overrun by ravenous cats.
And Randall Garrett's A Little Intelligence - a juicy murder mystery about three racist aliens being housed in a convent. (Yes. You did read that correctly.)
Stories by Manly Wade Wellman, Stephen King, and Fritz Leiber are also worth a read.
I would guess that even ailurophobes might like some of these tales, but cat fanciers should beware - things don't always end well for the pussies in these stories.
November 18, 2025
A Goodreads reviewer whose opinion I really respect wrote an intriguing review recently of a Pamela Sargent novel first published in 1980. It has since gone out of print and it may be difficult to obtain. While searching for it I did note that she contributed a short story to this collection. For probably nostalgic reasons I bought a copy.
Most of the stories in this collection were written in the 1950’s and 1960’s with the earliest dating back to 1939 and the most recent from 1984, the date of publication for this volume. The stories could have been found in their original form in the pulpy magazines that were popular in my youth. I’m talking about magazines such as Amazing Stories, Weird Tales, or the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. I had subscriptions to no less than three of these types of magazines. I have a vivid recollection of eagerly awaiting their arrival in the post, then sequestering myself in my bedroom not to emerge until I had read each issue from cover to cover.
Today short stories are not really my thing, especially those volumes that feature the work of a single author. A quick overview of what others say when they review collections of short stories here on Goodreads might often reveal the phrase “hit or miss”. But those short story collections that are thematic, where stories are collected from a wide variety of authors yet focused on a single theme or topic, I believe yield more thrilling content. That is true of this volume anyway.
Quite ironically the big name authors who contributed to this collection are probably responsible for the most lackluster stories. But as for the others, they almost always elicited a satisfactory sigh or laughter at the end. It so reminded me of that joy I felt as a child when I was conditioned to treat each story as a jewel unto itself. Reading this volume brought back much of that nostalgic wonder I had as a child, in particular because I tend to keep my books of short stories up in my bedroom on my bedside table. There is a warm and cozy feeling that comes from curling up with some exciting short stories of science fiction and fantasy and staying up half the night to read just one more.
Most of the stories in this collection were written in the 1950’s and 1960’s with the earliest dating back to 1939 and the most recent from 1984, the date of publication for this volume. The stories could have been found in their original form in the pulpy magazines that were popular in my youth. I’m talking about magazines such as Amazing Stories, Weird Tales, or the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. I had subscriptions to no less than three of these types of magazines. I have a vivid recollection of eagerly awaiting their arrival in the post, then sequestering myself in my bedroom not to emerge until I had read each issue from cover to cover.
Today short stories are not really my thing, especially those volumes that feature the work of a single author. A quick overview of what others say when they review collections of short stories here on Goodreads might often reveal the phrase “hit or miss”. But those short story collections that are thematic, where stories are collected from a wide variety of authors yet focused on a single theme or topic, I believe yield more thrilling content. That is true of this volume anyway.
Quite ironically the big name authors who contributed to this collection are probably responsible for the most lackluster stories. But as for the others, they almost always elicited a satisfactory sigh or laughter at the end. It so reminded me of that joy I felt as a child when I was conditioned to treat each story as a jewel unto itself. Reading this volume brought back much of that nostalgic wonder I had as a child, in particular because I tend to keep my books of short stories up in my bedroom on my bedside table. There is a warm and cozy feeling that comes from curling up with some exciting short stories of science fiction and fantasy and staying up half the night to read just one more.
February 10, 2022
Idea originale, una serie di racconti con i gatti come protagonisti. Oltre al sempre grande Stephen King, troviamo una raccolta di autori più e meno noti, che spazia dal fantasy, alla fantascienza, all'horror. Alcuni racconti mi sono piaciuti più di altri, ovviamente, ma nel complesso è proprio una bella antologia.
January 16, 2019
Ik was een beetje teleurgesteld na het lezen van deze verhalenbundel. Door de titel dacht ik dat het vooral fantasyverhalen met als hoofdpersoon een kat zouden zijn, maar een groot deel is Science Fiction. Niet dat daar wat mis mee is, maar die verhalen waren erg vaag en zonder doel. Een paar verhalen staken er met kop en schouders boven uit, namelijk Groucho, mijn vader de kat, misplaatst en de heksekat.
March 7, 2023
I like reading about cats, and I like short stories, so collections of cat stories are an obvious thing for me to read. This is one I've been meaning to get to for a while, because I've enjoyed some other anthologies edited by this team. Now that I've read it, I can safely say this ends up in the place most anthologies do for me - there are some stories I enjoyed, some I didn't much care for, though in this case there weren't really any that I loved or loathed.
This volume presents 18 stories about our favorite felines in a variety of genres, including sci-fi and fantasy but also horror and humor. It kicks off with two I've read before, Space-Time for Springers and The Game of Rat and Dragon, both of which are enjoyable reads. And the first reminds me I need to get more into Fritz Leiber's non-Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser work. I've also read Le Guin's Schrodinger's Cat before, but I don't really care for that story.
The other fifteen are a mismash of stories I've never read by authors I have heard of and stories I've never read by authors I've never heard of. Highlights include Groucho, in which a Hollywood writer is reborn as a cat and might just get to start that acting career after all, Some Are Born Cats, where it seems that while cats are not universally alien, some are, and A Little Intelligence, where a nun's investigation of the murder of a cat helps her solve a much bigger crime and avert an interplanetary diplomatic incident. The Cat Man and The Cat from Hell are nice horror stories, though perhaps not the best reading for those who can't stand to see cats harmed. And there's some good humor stories, including a dissolute man trying to trick his way into an inheritance by playing at being a cat and an argument between a wizard and his familiar. Many of the other stories weren't all that engaging or enjoyable, but they did generally have the virtue of being short.
And in general this was a quick read, with only 270 pages of stories. I did appreciate the discussion in the introduction of all the other cat stories out there they discarded for one reason or another, as well as the bibliography at the end. I already have the sequel to this collection and some other cat anthologies, but even if I didn't the bibliography here definitely gives me plenty to keep going with. Overall, I'm not sure I'd immediately recommend this compared to some of the more recent offerings I want to get around to, but it does have some stories that are worth checking out and I had a reasonably fun time reading it.
This volume presents 18 stories about our favorite felines in a variety of genres, including sci-fi and fantasy but also horror and humor. It kicks off with two I've read before, Space-Time for Springers and The Game of Rat and Dragon, both of which are enjoyable reads. And the first reminds me I need to get more into Fritz Leiber's non-Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser work. I've also read Le Guin's Schrodinger's Cat before, but I don't really care for that story.
The other fifteen are a mismash of stories I've never read by authors I have heard of and stories I've never read by authors I've never heard of. Highlights include Groucho, in which a Hollywood writer is reborn as a cat and might just get to start that acting career after all, Some Are Born Cats, where it seems that while cats are not universally alien, some are, and A Little Intelligence, where a nun's investigation of the murder of a cat helps her solve a much bigger crime and avert an interplanetary diplomatic incident. The Cat Man and The Cat from Hell are nice horror stories, though perhaps not the best reading for those who can't stand to see cats harmed. And there's some good humor stories, including a dissolute man trying to trick his way into an inheritance by playing at being a cat and an argument between a wizard and his familiar. Many of the other stories weren't all that engaging or enjoyable, but they did generally have the virtue of being short.
And in general this was a quick read, with only 270 pages of stories. I did appreciate the discussion in the introduction of all the other cat stories out there they discarded for one reason or another, as well as the bibliography at the end. I already have the sequel to this collection and some other cat anthologies, but even if I didn't the bibliography here definitely gives me plenty to keep going with. Overall, I'm not sure I'd immediately recommend this compared to some of the more recent offerings I want to get around to, but it does have some stories that are worth checking out and I had a reasonably fun time reading it.
January 6, 2019
This is an interesting collection of short stories that involve cats, most of them originally published in the 1950s - 1970s. It features some big names in science fiction & fantasy, including Ursula K. Le Guin, Cordwainer Smith, Gene Wolfe, John Crowley, Randall Garrett, Fritz Leiber, and Stephen King. As with any collection, there's a range of styles, but most of them are serious in tone, not as cutesy as the title might suggest.
One of my favorites is Cordwainer Smith's "The Game of Rat and Dragon," a futuristic tale where human telepaths link up with cats to fend off alien menaces, relying on split-second reflexes, while "planoforming" through the "hollow aching horror of space." Great SF concept, and the story is fleshed out with believable characters and a moving plot.
Another favorite is Ron Goulart's "Groucho," a funny tale about a desperate Hollywood hack whose talented writing partner dies. He goes to bizarre lengths to bring him back -- but the other writer returns as a cat. Things get weirder from there, but the frosting on top is the amusing Hollywood setting and voice.
I also enjoyed Pamela Sargent's, "Out of Place," which explores what happens to the already simmering American suburbs when suddenly everyone can hear what animals are really thinking. It was originally published in The Twilight Zone Magazine, and has that same great vibe.
One more to mention is Randall Garrett's mystery story, "A Little Intelligence." Our main character is the head nun of a future holy order; she's charged with hosting the visiting alien delegation while they try to negotiate an end to the war. But even in the cloister, they're not safe from politics--or violence.
I enjoyed many of the others too. None of these are my new favorite SFF story, but it's a solid collection, and I would recommend it to lovers of classic SFF. Be warned, though, that some of the cats in these stories meet grisly ends.
One of my favorites is Cordwainer Smith's "The Game of Rat and Dragon," a futuristic tale where human telepaths link up with cats to fend off alien menaces, relying on split-second reflexes, while "planoforming" through the "hollow aching horror of space." Great SF concept, and the story is fleshed out with believable characters and a moving plot.
Another favorite is Ron Goulart's "Groucho," a funny tale about a desperate Hollywood hack whose talented writing partner dies. He goes to bizarre lengths to bring him back -- but the other writer returns as a cat. Things get weirder from there, but the frosting on top is the amusing Hollywood setting and voice.
I also enjoyed Pamela Sargent's, "Out of Place," which explores what happens to the already simmering American suburbs when suddenly everyone can hear what animals are really thinking. It was originally published in The Twilight Zone Magazine, and has that same great vibe.
One more to mention is Randall Garrett's mystery story, "A Little Intelligence." Our main character is the head nun of a future holy order; she's charged with hosting the visiting alien delegation while they try to negotiate an end to the war. But even in the cloister, they're not safe from politics--or violence.
I enjoyed many of the others too. None of these are my new favorite SFF story, but it's a solid collection, and I would recommend it to lovers of classic SFF. Be warned, though, that some of the cats in these stories meet grisly ends.
January 11, 2023
• Voorwoord (KatSF) • by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann (aka Preface (Magicats!) 1984 )
4/5 • Tijdruimte voor Springers • [Gummitch the Cat] • (1976) • by Fritz Leiber (aka Space-Time for Springers 1958 )
5/5 • De Duivelskat • by Stephen King (aka The Cat from Hell 1977 )
5/5 • Misplaatst • by Pamela Sargent (aka Out of Place 1981 )
3/5 • Schrödingers Kat • by Ursula K. Le Guin (aka Schrödinger's Cat 1974
4/5 • Groucho • by Ron Goulart
3/5 • Mijn Vader, de Kat • by Henry Slesar (aka My Father, the Cat 1957 )
3/5 • Sommigen Worden Als Kat Geboren • by Terry Carr and Carol Carr (aka Some Are Born Cats 1973)
1/5 • Tom de Kater • by Gary Jennings (aka Tom Cat 1970 ) [as by Garry Jennings]
2/5 • Sonya, Crane Wessleman, en Katjaa • by Gene Wolfe (aka Sonya, Crane Wessleman, and Kittee 1970 )
3/5 • De Heksekat • by Manly Wade Wellman (aka The Witch's Cat 1939 )
4/5 • Tijdruimte voor Springers • [Gummitch the Cat] • (1976) • by Fritz Leiber (aka Space-Time for Springers 1958 )
5/5 • De Duivelskat • by Stephen King (aka The Cat from Hell 1977 )
5/5 • Misplaatst • by Pamela Sargent (aka Out of Place 1981 )
3/5 • Schrödingers Kat • by Ursula K. Le Guin (aka Schrödinger's Cat 1974
4/5 • Groucho • by Ron Goulart
3/5 • Mijn Vader, de Kat • by Henry Slesar (aka My Father, the Cat 1957 )
3/5 • Sommigen Worden Als Kat Geboren • by Terry Carr and Carol Carr (aka Some Are Born Cats 1973)
1/5 • Tom de Kater • by Gary Jennings (aka Tom Cat 1970 ) [as by Garry Jennings]
2/5 • Sonya, Crane Wessleman, en Katjaa • by Gene Wolfe (aka Sonya, Crane Wessleman, and Kittee 1970 )
3/5 • De Heksekat • by Manly Wade Wellman (aka The Witch's Cat 1939 )
August 9, 2017
Too strange for me!
I like three of the stories in this book: "The Cat from Hell" (read before & love it), "The Witch's Cat" (very dark, almost too dark for me, however, very intense & a satisfying end), & "A Little Intelligence" (sci fi murder mystery with an interesting conclusion).
Book was a birthday gift for me, and while I love the cover art & was excited to read this, not sure I'd recommend it to anyone. Other stories include little boys that drink cat's milk & call the cat "mama" as well as people who hook up their brains to cats and seem to have some type of romantic interaction.
Again, too weird for me! And I mean weird in a way that doesn't make sense and leaves you thinking "huh?"
I like three of the stories in this book: "The Cat from Hell" (read before & love it), "The Witch's Cat" (very dark, almost too dark for me, however, very intense & a satisfying end), & "A Little Intelligence" (sci fi murder mystery with an interesting conclusion).
Book was a birthday gift for me, and while I love the cover art & was excited to read this, not sure I'd recommend it to anyone. Other stories include little boys that drink cat's milk & call the cat "mama" as well as people who hook up their brains to cats and seem to have some type of romantic interaction.
Again, too weird for me! And I mean weird in a way that doesn't make sense and leaves you thinking "huh?"
November 17, 2024
Premessa: per apprezzare questo libro, bisogna che piacciano i gatti, i racconti fantastici, le antologie e il gusto retrò di certa letteratura "minore" del secolo scorso.
A me, ha entusiasmato il tema, il connubio gatti s fantastico, e già di per sé questo merita le 4 stelle.
Manca la quinta, perché dei 18 racconti antologizzati alcuni non sono proprio capolavori, ma tra questi ce ne sono altri di altissimo pregio.
Il mio preferito è, probabilmente, il primo, la storia di un micino molto intelligente che si è convinto che, raggiunto un anno di età, si sarebbe trasformato in un essere umano...
A me, ha entusiasmato il tema, il connubio gatti s fantastico, e già di per sé questo merita le 4 stelle.
Manca la quinta, perché dei 18 racconti antologizzati alcuni non sono proprio capolavori, ma tra questi ce ne sono altri di altissimo pregio.
Il mio preferito è, probabilmente, il primo, la storia di un micino molto intelligente che si è convinto che, raggiunto un anno di età, si sarebbe trasformato in un essere umano...
May 19, 2022
I confess I only read a couple stories out of this. It’s a fun idea! I liked the introduction: these folks are committed to the bit. The Stephen King story was predictably gory, and the part where he’s describing the dude’s car is unintentionally hilarious. Ursula K LeGuin’s story was the sort of thing I would have loved to have a full novel about because she crams so many ideas in it.
Anyway, maybe someday when I don’t have a hundred other books to read, I’ll finish this.
Anyway, maybe someday when I don’t have a hundred other books to read, I’ll finish this.
August 23, 2025
Collection of short stories about cats.
Space-time for springers by Fritz Leiber 😺😺
The cat from hell by Stephen King 😺
Out of place by Pamela Sargent 😺😺😺
Schrödinger's cat by Ursula K. Le Guin 😺😺😺
Groucho by Ron Goulart 😺😺
My father, the cat by Henry Slesar 😺😺😺😺
Some are born cats by Terry & Carol Carr 😺😺😺😺😺
Tom cat by Gary Jennings 😺😺
Soyna, Crane Wessleman, and Kittee by Gene Wolfe 😺
The witch's cat by Manly Wade Wellman 😺😺😺😺😺
Space-time for springers by Fritz Leiber 😺😺
The cat from hell by Stephen King 😺
Out of place by Pamela Sargent 😺😺😺
Schrödinger's cat by Ursula K. Le Guin 😺😺😺
Groucho by Ron Goulart 😺😺
My father, the cat by Henry Slesar 😺😺😺😺
Some are born cats by Terry & Carol Carr 😺😺😺😺😺
Tom cat by Gary Jennings 😺😺
Soyna, Crane Wessleman, and Kittee by Gene Wolfe 😺
The witch's cat by Manly Wade Wellman 😺😺😺😺😺
July 7, 2018
My favorite story in this whole book was "Some Are Born Cats". I also enjoyed the stories "The Witch's Cat" and "A Little Intelligence". I did not like any of the first few stories at all, because they were confusing, and the second last story was confusing as well. The last story was good too though.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
did-not-finish-or-start
May 4, 2023DNS 5/4/23 No longer interested
October 3, 2024
Quite a good a varied collection of sci-fi, fantasy and horror stories featuring cats!
September 1, 2016
Someone gave me a copy of Magicats! back in '85. I had read about half of it back then and loved several of the stories. I recently tracked down another copy and read all of the stories this time. My memory did not disappoint. There are some real gems in here. I'll mention a few.
Stephen King's "The Cat From Hell" is a suspenseful story about a professional hit-man being hired by an eccentric older man to kill his pet cat of all things. However, this so-called easy job doesn't turn out the way he thought it would. Many Fritz Leiber fans are familiar with his Gummitch, the super-kitten, stories. One of his most well-known is within these pages. For those familiar with the late Manley Wade Wellman's stories, "The Witch's Cat" has his usual love of writing about "mountain folk." This tale focuses upon a small community's local witch, including her familiar--a mostly black cat. Said cat is caught between a home he loves and his love for the local townspeople and must make a choice.
However, without doubt, the most memorable story, and really the reason I tracked down this book again, was Byron Liggett's "The Cat Man." The story is about an author who has retired to very small and secluded island that he has recently bought. Its only other inhabitants are a group of cats that he brings with him. The story is told from the point of view of the supply-man who comes to the author's island every few months. As time progresses, the number of cats grows and grows. The results become horrific.
There are some other great stories here, as well as a couple of stinkers. But I really loved this book and recommend it to SF&F/Horror genre fans. Enjoy!
Stephen King's "The Cat From Hell" is a suspenseful story about a professional hit-man being hired by an eccentric older man to kill his pet cat of all things. However, this so-called easy job doesn't turn out the way he thought it would. Many Fritz Leiber fans are familiar with his Gummitch, the super-kitten, stories. One of his most well-known is within these pages. For those familiar with the late Manley Wade Wellman's stories, "The Witch's Cat" has his usual love of writing about "mountain folk." This tale focuses upon a small community's local witch, including her familiar--a mostly black cat. Said cat is caught between a home he loves and his love for the local townspeople and must make a choice.
However, without doubt, the most memorable story, and really the reason I tracked down this book again, was Byron Liggett's "The Cat Man." The story is about an author who has retired to very small and secluded island that he has recently bought. Its only other inhabitants are a group of cats that he brings with him. The story is told from the point of view of the supply-man who comes to the author's island every few months. As time progresses, the number of cats grows and grows. The results become horrific.
There are some other great stories here, as well as a couple of stinkers. But I really loved this book and recommend it to SF&F/Horror genre fans. Enjoy!
November 17, 2008
Someone from work set this aside for me - I wasn't going to pick it up (I like cats, I don't necessarily want to read about them incessantly), but it had a short story by Stephen King I hadn't read. Some really good stories, some not so much. Light read.
December 23, 2019
Best grouping of short stories ever.
it's an old book and out of print, but if you can find it in your library nab it!
The best of these stories is Ursla's... I swear it's just something she copied from her dream journal.
it's an old book and out of print, but if you can find it in your library nab it!
The best of these stories is Ursla's... I swear it's just something she copied from her dream journal.
June 5, 2010
A great collection of 18 short stories and yeah they are about cats, but you
don't have to be a feline fanatic to appreciate them.
'The Game of Rat and Dragon' by Cordwainer Smith is my fav, a sci-fi tale;
I've read that one several times.
September 15, 2013
Verhalenbundels ... ze zijn toch niet aan mij besteed, maar toch blijf ik ze kopen. Ik heb dus alleen maar het verhaal van Stephen King gelezen. Dat bleek ik dus toch al ergens anders gelezen te hebben. Toch een leuk tussendoortje :-)
September 26, 2013
Bella raccolta di racconti di fantascienza sui gatti. Alcuni di essi mi hanno lasciato un po' l'amaro in bocca in quanto restano col finale aperto, altri mi hanno lasciato letteralmente l'angoscia addosso!
Dev'essere per questo che, ultimamente, faccio sogni strani sui gatti...
Dev'essere per questo che, ultimamente, faccio sogni strani sui gatti...
April 16, 2013
Anthology. Some stories I had read multiple times before, some were new to me. Some I skipped after the first few pages. I really enjoyed the Manly Wade Wellman story.
February 4, 2014
This book, full of short stories involving cats, is an excellent book for cat lovers (like me!) and for book lovers. It is certainly worth reading and is a joy to read! I loved reading it!
May 5, 2016
So much fun!
September 3, 2014
I read this years ago, what seems like many lifes ago, and I still recall these stories.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews