Cat: Fiendish Feline Frights
Do you like cats? Everyone likes a cat! But what about cats that are out to kill you!? Maybe the 45th instalment in the original Fear Street series will help you decide.
Blurb
Marty and his friends, known by his basketball teammates as “the three musketeers”, chase and torment a stray cat that was hiding underneath the bleachers in the school gym for tripping Marty over. Marty accidentally kills the cat – right in front of the president of the Animal Rights Club at Shadyside High.
It is from then that Marty believes that cats everywhere are seeking revenge against him. Not only that, but it feels like the whole school is against him too. It is then that things start taking a murderous turn for Marty and his friends…
Themes in Cat
Eco-Horror
Eco-horror is where the threat takes the form of something in the natural world, as opposed to a person or something supernatural. This can either be through the environment, extreme weather, killer plants, or in this case animals. Films that can be classed as eco-horror from the 90s are Tremors (1990), Mimic (1997) and Lake Placid (1999). Later films in the genre include Black Sheep (2006), The Happening (2008), and Annihilation (2018).
Cat makes use of this theme through the main narrative. Marty and his friends play their hand in the stray cat’s death, then Mother Nature starts to show her claws – in the form of gangs of angry, hissing felines hungry for revenge! However, another added layer to eco-horror themes is the animosity displayed by the Animal Rights Club towards Marty and his friends. This adds an interesting element to the story. There is even a time later on in the book where Marty weaponises this eco-horror, and aims it back at the club.
B-Movie Narrative
The narrative of Cat feels like that B-movie. The ‘killer’ cats are regular-sized cats, supposedly with the ability to overpower three athletic teenagers, making the threat humorously unbelievable. The characters in this novel are particularly one-dimensional – even for a Fear Street book, and without giving away any spoilers, the ending is completely left-field.
Summary
Despite the campiness of this book, there was the odd moment of effective, bone-crunching horror. This touched a nerve as I cannot stand the thought of an animal being harmed. I also enjoyed how eco-horror themes have been used in a somewhat novel way. Both nature and nature-weaponised-by-humans become threats.
I certainly got “it’s so bad it’s good vibes” near the end of the book. While I am not averse to cheese from time to time, the murder mystery themes in the main plot simply didn’t cut it for me. It wasn’t until I reached the conclusion of the book that I could really appreciate the real B-movie vibes. Essentially, it’s the wacky twist in the conclusion that saves this book for me – making it fairly entertaining and saving it from being an absolute flop!
While this definitely isn’t the best Fear Street book that I’ve read, I would still recommend it for someone looking for novelty.
So, if curiosity gets the better of you, give it a go! Curiosity might have killed the cat, but it won’t kill you!
