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Here Kitty Kitty!
by Mr. Miller

Somewhere in the 60's and 70's there was this kick over killer animals, probably an answer to all the killer bugs of the radioactive-fearing 50's movies. Here's a few of those animal attack numbers focus of the feline persuasion.

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If you've ever had a cat for a pet, then you will certainly recognize the scenario that I am about to present. Any cat that I have owned, or have known, was capable of rendering me spineless by giving me this certain piercing stare. You know the kind of look I'm talking about? It's that look with the eyes closed only a quarter way, and the body, whether lying or sitting, remains still as night, and it seems to be saying directly to you "frankly, I can rip out your eyes if I so felt like it." This penetrating stare is most disturbing when you find your cat sitting over you as you wake up. That fixated gaze is probably the reason why dogs are man's best friend. You don't hear about any superstitions based on or around the lovable dogs, do you? Nope. It's always the cats that they warn you not cross paths with, especially those of the black coated variety.

Here are three more good reasons why we are so leery of those brooding tabbies: FERAL; CLAW; AND THE CATS. These three ferocious feline fables of the paperback nature will surely give one pause when Mittens gives you that half-eyed glare. I'm sure there are quite a few more killer kitty paperbacks out there (you can loosely include PET SEMETARY in there) but these three fall into a strict category. That category being the category of paperback books that Mr. Miller has read that involve killer cats. So, if I've ignored one of your favorites please don't feel slighted, just let me know what book it is so that I can join in on the fun.

Somewhere in the 60's and 70's there was this kick over killer animals, probably an answer to all the killer bugs of the radioactive-fearing 50's movies. But the paperback book that put this genre squarely on the map had to be Peter Benchley's JAWS. The story of the 30 foot long, blood-crazed shark was made more famous by the Speilberg film, but it wasn't the beginning of the animal attack genre. Earlier in the 70's, even before Benchley's 1974 novel, were films like THE DAY OF THE ANIMALS; WILLARD; FROGS, just to name a few.

FERAL, written by Beron Roueche (published by Pocket Books, 1974), came out generally the same time as JAWS did, but I can't quite say if it was in answer to the hype of Benchley's novel, or if was just coincidence. The books bare no real similarities, but the thin volume of the paperback FERAL seems to have been rushed.

FERAL is about a young couple who had fallen so much in love with there Long Island summer home that they've ended up buying it, so that they can live in it year round. They disregard the ripped apart cat corpse in their bedroom, and settle in for a long hard winter in the sticks. Before they know it, more animal corpses show up, and the young couple fear there is a pack of wild cats hanging out in the woods behind their home. As is common in most of these pets-gone-crazy stories, the cats are strays that had been left behind by vacationers who took off home and left their summer pets behind. And as per usual, the townies never believe there is a problem with "killer" cats – "They're just hungry strays, is all!" And, as usual, they're dead wrong, killed by their tender-loving tabbies.

A similar scenario makes up the gory story of CLAWS, by Jack Younger (Manor Books, 1976); stray cats swarm on the unsuspecting town of Marblehead, Mass., home, as the books protagonist, Lou Stuart, points out, of H.P. Lovecraft. Lou is visiting Marblehead trying to get some inspiration for the pulp paperback novels that he writes. Little does he know he will find plenty of horrors to write about when herds of hungry strays that litter the streets start chomping on the towns folk, who have become trapped on the small island community after a storm floods their bridges – their only means on and off the island.

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Jun 09 2002, 04:23:24
  
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