Premise
When Alison accidentally kills a cat, she’s devastated about it. But the unfortunate incident soon turns into a nightmare when the seemingly dead cat keeps on making an appearance… again, and again… and again! Wanting to get to the bottom of the mystery, Alison ventures into something far more dangerous… more than what she could bargain for.
Overview
Name – Cry of the Cat [#1 of the ‘Series 2000’ series]
Author – R.L. Stine
Genre – Children/Horror/Mystery
First Published – January, 1998
Cover Rating (featured image) – 8/10 (pretty good!) [Paperback]
This Edition Published -January 1998 by Scholastic
Chapters – 29
Pages – 119
Review
NO Spoilers
I absolutely love the Goosebumps series. R.L. Stine, the author, has really done a fantastic job of writing these horror tales that will give you the creeps, ultimately making him a household name, especially among children.
Cry of the Cat is the first book in a new, revamped series titled ‘Series 2000’. I have read the very first book in the original series, Welcome to Dead House, and I loved it! And so, when I got my hands on the book in question here, I couldn’t wait!
Here’s the plot in brief –
The story follows siblings Tanner (5) and Alison Moore (12) as they go about their lives. The former is busy watching TV, while the latter is preparing for her role in a school play. But their world is turned upside down very quickly when Alison accidentally runs over a cat, killing it. Alison can’t get the cat out of her head. And to make matters even worse, the cat is seemingly not dead! It keeps making surprise appearances, reminding Alison that she messed with the wrong cat. And it wants revenge.
Alison needs to sort this mess… and fast. With help from her classmate Ryan (smart; great-looking guy with a cool sense of humor), and her younger brother Tanner (who looks like a little mouse), Alison sets out to find out the truth behind the strange cat and the mystery surrounding it. The path leads them to a strange looking house where the cat seemingly resides. Alison is greeted by Crystal, a girl similar age to her, and who reluctantly agrees to help. But she has a warning in store for Alison –
“He’s not an ordinary cat,” she said through gritted teeth. “You shouldn’t have messed with Rip.”
OK. The cat’s named ‘Rip’. That’s quite the irony, no?
Anyways, as Alison and her companions are dragged deeper into the mystery surrounding Rip, the nightmares soon turn into reality when no one around Alison is out of danger from the “dead” cat. Crystal has yet another warning in store for Alison when they meet next –
“I warned you,” she whispered. “Rip is not an ordinary cat. Rip won’t stop. Not until he gets what he wants.”
Well, Rip is certainly not ordinary that’s for sure.
Rip (bright yellow eyes; grey fur; white triangle behind his ear; curved teeth; purple tongue; pointed white teeth) is out for revenge for he was killed not once… not twice… but three times by the same girl. Yup, you heard that right. Here’s an excerpt from the book depicting just that –
“The grass felt icy and wet on the soles of my bare feet. The moonlight made the yard glow like silver.
My heart pounded as I leaned down to examine the cat.
Yes. The same cat. Rip. Rip once again.
Not breathing. Not moving.
His yellow eyes locked in a glassy, blank stare. His legs stiff and straight, pointing up to the moon.
Rip. Dead for the third time. Rip. The cat that refused to stay dead.”
What soon follows is a game of cat and mouse (no pun intended) between Rip and Alison, which threatens to endanger the whole community. With the old house keeping more secrets than one, and Crystal seemingly not what she looks, Alison must find a way to stop Rip once and for all before it’s too late… for everyone.
What was good?
- A quick, easy read.
- The ending was pretty good.
What was bad?
- The plot was a little bit basic; and although picked up towards the end, but could’ve been better throughout.
- There weren’t many “goosebumps” moments in this one.
References present
- ‘Tom & Jerry’ (which Tanner spends too much time watching, along with Alison).
- ‘Godzilla’ (t-shirt worn by Tanner).
Final thoughts
Overall, a pretty decent start to a new sub-series, the ‘Series 2000’. And although there wasn’t too much to the story itself until the very end, it made for a good reading altogether.
Rating: – 7/10 (Pretty decent)
