Ghost Cats of The South

by Randy Russell

In this companion volume to the popular GHOST DOGS OF THE SOUTH, award-winning folklorist Randy Russell presents more than 20 original stories of cats who reach between the worlds of life and death. Each story is birthed from existing folklore, noted incidents of ghost cats, and first-person accounts. No mere compendium of reported incidents and sightings, this ghostly volume introduces the reader to the fuller circumstances and personalities of known encounters with cats who have landed on their feet in the afterlife.

Genres: Cats, Nonfiction, Supernatural, Horror

265 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2008

About the author

Novelist. Ghost Lore. Ghostlorist.

Reviews

[Kate Buchanan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really did enjoy the spooky stories especially since they were set in so many familiar places. Some stories were better than others.

[Chelsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could have easily been 5 stars for me;. It has everything I love like cats, ghosts, a southern setting, but the writing was just awful. The foreshadowing was so heavy in the first few lines of each short story that I could easily see how the story would end. On top of that, the author didn't spend enough time setting up an atmosphere, which is crucial with books of this nature in my opinion. Also, the storytelling was just so mediocre, even though the stories themselves were all quite interesting.

It sucks, I wanted to love this, but I just couldn't get past the terrible writing.

[Garry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has taken a place of honor on my friends desk down at the Knoxville Voice. It is my sincere desire to "acquire" this tome of lore through dubious means and explore it's "treasures" at length in the complacencey of my domesticated cubicle, and then sneakily sneak it into her mailbox (please don't read anything into my writing about sneaking things into her mailbox as ours is strictly a plutonic above board relationship).

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun collection of cat-related ghost stories. There is a wide range, from the terrifying to the more friendly cat ghosts. I loved the illustrations, which appeared to be Victorian-era photographs of cats, sometimes with their owners.

[Lex · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book wasn't as good as "Ghost Dogs of the South." Some of the stories weren't interesting or weren't quite explained clearly. However, it was enjoyable, and some of the stories were downright chilling!

[Andria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little collection of short ghost stories from around the southern US ranging from funny to melancholy to, in one or two cases, actually creepy. Not much else to this one, but it's a nice little read around Halloween for cat lovers 👻😼

[Shaunda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely collection of short stories. Gentle creepiness.

[Laura Weigand · Rating 3 out of 5]

some of the stories were interesting. but didn't thrill me.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look. You can judge me. The back cover's review was all about how they had to pick it up based on the cover. You should NEVER read a book just because the cats' eyes had some kind of gloss that made them shiny on the cover, but if you do, that certainly isn't the way to recommend it.

That said, I loved this book. It had really great stories from Appalachia, native Americans, etc, and the tones were also really good. They changed for each story. I hope to use some of these for random storytimes in my future.

[Louise Pare-Lobinske · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book because it's about cats and I was just curious enough to spend the money. It's not bad - only one truly awful passage ("His Jerry Lee Lewis hair caught flame. It went up like a great ball of fire."). The cats are varied: some sweet, some scary, some sad. Usually the ghost is the cat, although sometimes it's the owner too. The last story was about a wish-granting cat that saved another cat from death. I'm not sorry I bought the book.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book on a trip to North Carolina - it was pretty hokey, but I think gave some good insight into the nature of "tales" in the South - a quick read.

[Jessica Jewett · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a book of stories and some are better than others. It's a bit like looking at how Southern stories are shaped.