The Wicked Cat

Spooksville #10

by Christopher Pike

It seemed like a normal cat -- at first.

Adam and his friends are exploring the area around Spooksville when they come across a black cat. It seems like a friendly animal: it purrs when they rub its back, and licks its paws like any other cat.

But then if follows them back to town, and strange things begin to happen. A tree falls down, and a house catches fire. Each time something bad happens, the cat is there -- watching, with its strange green eyes.

And it won't go away.

Adam and his friends don't know what to do. Especially when the cat begins to use its powers on them.



Cover art by Lee MacLeod

Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Middle Grade, Paranormal, Childrens, Fiction, Supernatural

115 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Christopher Pike is the pseudonym of Kevin McFadden. He is a bestselling author of young adult and children's fiction who specializes in the thriller genre.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

McFadden was born in New York but grew up in California where he stills lives in today. A college drop-out, he did factory work, painted houses and programmed computers before becoming a recognized author. Initially unsuccessful when he set out to write science fiction and adult mystery, it was not until his work caught the attention of an editor who suggested he write a teen thriller that he became a hit. The result was Slumber Party (1985), a book about a group of teenagers who run into bizarre and violent events during a ski weekend. After that he wrote Weekend and Chain Letter. All three books went on to become bestsellers.

Reviews

[Evelyn (devours and digests words) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story was a tragedy in of itself. Dang! In the early to late 1990s, it seems middle grade books are bolder. Talk about kids being walled alive, turned into an animal slave for centuries and stories of brutal vengeance? This book is IT.

I really appreciated all that when I was a kid, not going to change now!

[Nightshade]

I read this as a child. For some reason it keeps coming back into my mind. I might give it a go as an adult. I was very much into Spooksville and Goosebumps when a young`un.

[Carrie (brightbeautifulthings) · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Adam and his friends come across a black cat near the cemetery, they’re instantly wary. Nothing is as it seems in Spooksville, and they’re distrustful of a cat following them home–all except Sally, who bonds with it instantly. Then dangerous things begin to happen. A tree falls down, a porch catches on fire, and all the while, the cat is watching with its strange green eyes. Trigger warnings: death/child death, fires, drowning, mild injury.

It was nice to get back into this series after a hectic couple of months. Not for the first time, I wish that I’d stumbled across these when I was the target audience because Adam, Sally, Watch, and Cindy make lovely literary friends. The books have settled into a familiar pattern. Someone (usually Sally) gets the group into some supernatural trouble, Adam or Cindy tries to save her, and Watch ends up saving everyone. There are repeat appearances by Bum, the former mayor turned “bum” who functions as the wise old man figure when the group needs help, and Ann Templeton, the mysterious witch from the castle on the hill, who might be good or bad but is usually playing to her own agenda.

The Wicked Cat doesn’t deviate a lot from this formula, and it doesn’t need to. The plot takes a couple of unexpected twists, and while cats aren’t particularly scary even when they have supernatural powers, talking skeletons of dead children certainly are, so it makes up the horror in other ways. There isn’t a lot added to the series arc as a whole or the overall character development in this book, but it’s a quick, entertaining read. Pike has noted in the past couple books that summer is coming to an end, so I’m interested to see what horrors the Spooksville crew might face in school.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

[Marikiya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mientras los demás niños de mi generación leían Pesadillas yo leía Fantasville!! Encontrar libros de esta colección en mercadillos o tiendas de segunda mano siempre es una alegría para mí porque puedo volver a las aventurillas de miedo de mi infancia. Qué majos son los cuatro niños del pueblo, qué repelente el gato, qué previsible (pero disfrutable) se te hace la historia con 28 años.... por qué no puedo volver a tener 8 para estas cosas??? ^^

[Florence Mullot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Je poursuis ma lecture de Spooksville avec le regard du chat (et cette fois, je vais essayer de ne pas me tromper et de poster ma chronique sous le bon tome, promis !). Et je dois dire que ce tome dix est bien plus intéressant que le précédent, d'autant plus qu'Anne Templeton refait son apparition (j'avoue, je continue uniquement pour en savoir plus sur la sorcière).

Nos quatre amis pour cette dixième aventure font la rencontre d'une superbe chatte lors d'une de leur promenade. Etrangement, elle rebute Tic-Tac, Cindy et Adam mais pas Sally qui décide d'adopter la bête contre l'avis général (oui, Sally n'a aucun instinct de survie et n'apprend pas de ses erreurs, que voulez-vous). Sans trop de surprise, la chatte n'est pas ce qu'elle paraît être et les ennuis (re)commencent.

Schéma identique où l'un des enfants commet une erreur et les trois autres doivent sauver la journée, certes, mais ici, j'avoue que j'ai trouvé l'ensemble du roman plus palpitant. Peut-être est-ce grâce à la présence d'Anne Templeton et que l'animal « maléfique » est lié à l'ancêtre de la sorcière, mais il n'en reste pas moins que je n'ai pas vu les pages défiler. Je suis en règle générale plutôt fantaisie/fantastique que science-fiction également. Un peu de magie, un sort à briser, et me voilà happée dans ma lecture.

Si Sally est encore tournée en dérision par son manque de jugeotte et son caractère peu amène, les trois autres amis ont au moins le mérite de faire marcher leurs méninges et d'essayer de trouver des alliés. Ils se montrent inventifs, surtout les garçons autant ne pas le cacher, et avec leurs petits moyens, nous les voyons essayer de résoudre eux-mêmes leurs problèmes.

J'avoue cependant que le côté assez misogyne de la série commence à me hérisser le poil. Mis à part Anne, les autres personnages féminins sont souvent mis en avant avec leurs défauts. Jessie, nouveau protagoniste, ne déroge pas à la règle, alors qu'en fin de compte, elle est aussi une victime. Jack, lui, est montré sous son meilleur jour, je dirais presque, bien évidemment. Et c'est dommage car avec le recul, ce sont plus les points négatifs des personnages qui ressortent. Je ne suis pas certaine que le jeune public verra tout cela sous le même angle, mais il n'empêche que Spooksville pêche à ce niveau-là.

La fin reste bon enfant, comme à chaque fois avec une petite dose de dérision et d'humour qui ne fait pas de mal. de quoi faire redescendre le côté « horreur » du roman et éviter les cauchemars à nos têtes blondes.

[Elusive · Rating 4 out of 5]

In ‘The Wicked Cat’, Adam, Sally, Watch and Cindy are hanging out when they stumble upon a black cat. Sally uncharacteristically takes an instant liking to it. Soon they realize that strange things happen when it is around.

The way the mysterious cute cat behaved appeared completely normal but it was anything but. It certainly put the spooks in Spooksville, what with the randomly falling tree, house porch ablaze, etc.

Intelligent, cunning and manipulative, it made a major move, namely tricking Sally into turning herself into a cat, so that it could take on a human form. Sally being under Cindy’s care was priceless.

The cat-racter, Jessie used to be best friends with a witch, Madeline but their friendship fell apart as they liked the same boy, Jack. Madeline transformed her into a cat and chained him in a cave after murdering him.

The ending was a-meow-zing. Madeline’s great-great-great-great-granddaughter, Ann turned Jessie into a white cat and Jack a Siamese cat so they could live happily ever after. Upon reverting to her human form, Sally complained about Cindy withholding chicken.

Overall, ‘The Wicked Cat’ had magic, chicanery and playfulness in spades.

[Luchito Luconi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me produce cierta nostalgia leer este tipo de libros, ya que gracias a este género comenzó mi amor por la lectura. El segundo tomo que leo de la colección de Fantasville y la verdad este hasta el momento es mi favorito. Una temática muy parecida a R.L. Stine, Christopher Pike crea esa misma atmósfera de misterio y terror.

[Ana Ibarra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stuff starts happening from the beginning which for a short story is actually really good, it keeps it interesting in every page.
I like how it continues to have the same 4 friends and each new adventure has some either town history or a random real life fact, I don't know, maybe it helps to keep it relatable.

[Selina Lybrook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty cool book, at first i wasn't expecting jack to be alive and im happy he got another body because a cat is better than nothing and Jessie will learn her manners agian as a cat with jack as i should always be and will be an eternal friendship.

[Pug · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was already a lousy book, but then when it was revealed that it was a witch/familiar and not an actual cat, that was even more crappy and I lost any remaining interest. Just as bad as R.L. Stine.

[Bec D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this not knowing it was number 10 in the series. It is quite ok. I laughed out loud. It’s a great scary book for kids.

[Ronnie Rice Talbot · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Great Lite Read.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a tame little adventure in Spooksville. Compared to everything else the kids have been through, dealing with grumpy magic cat is easy. A fun quick read but not very memorable.

[Solim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easily the best one of the series.

[Jennie Born · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story was incredibly cute. I love the way it ended, but felt the ending was a bit rushed.

[Allira Mckavanagh · Rating 3 out of 5]

gives hocus pocus vibes

[Becca Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved this one, the end not quite as much, but one of my favorites as a kid

[Liz Logan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A younger version of Goosebumps with a weirder reality. Fun but I did not realize I had grabbed book 10. Still accessible though.