Customer Reviews

Dead Cats Bouncing

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In 2000 Gerard Houarner and artist GAK published a small chapbook called Dead Cat Bounce. It was the story of, well, a dead cat. It went on to become a finalist for Bram Stoker award.

Two years later, out comes this book, Dead Cats Bouncing, from Bedlam Press, an anthology edited by the creators, Gerard Houarner and GAK.

With a contents pages that reads like a who's who of the small press horror scene, we're treated to 15 new Dead Cat stories, plus the original, by authors like Jack Ketchum, Ed Lee, Charlee Jacob, Yvonne Navarro, and Brian Keene. The styles of the stories range wildly from the original short-burst sentence style of the first Dead Cat, to more traditional flowing prose, all the way to sing-songy rhythms like John Skipp's contribution "Soul Maggot Jamboree".

And accompanying the great stories are the pencilled drawings of GAK, an artist with a definite Gahan Wilson influence, with a terrific eye for the smaller details--and he draws a hell of a dead cat.

Dead Cats Bouncing is one surprise after another. For example, I did something I don't normally do when reading an Ed Lee story: I laughed.

Or there's the entertaining way Paul Di Filippo wrote his story, "Mehitabel in Hell".

This is a book for the kid in every adult, for the person who's seen what else is on the shelves and just wants something unexpected.

Call it a book of bedtime stories for the already-damaged child.

Call it whatever you want, just grab it quick before Gerard and GAK do it again with another Dead Cat book, or better yet, Dead Cat the Animated Series. And then it'll be Dead Cat stuffed toys for everyone.

When I purchased Dead Cats Bouncing, I wasn't sure what to expect from the onslaught of talented, if somewhat depraved, mentalities communing inside this work. I somewhat expected a book of horrific tale exclaiming the high points of depravity, reflecting what I had tasted before from the likes of Edward Lee and Jack Ketchum in the past. So, it came as quite a surprise to find that this weren't horror stories at all but were instead demented children's tales about a cat that had returned to the land of the living with a belly full of love/or hate-depending on whose recount of the experience you read. Better yet, all of these are numbered and signed by all the contributing authors, something I missed out on when reading the books description, including the likes of: Gerard Houarner, Charlee Jacob, Jack Ketchum, Edward Lee, Tom Piccirilli, Linda Addison, John Skipp, Yvonne Navarro, Terry McGarry, Paul Di Filippo, Charlee Jacob, David Niall Wilson, Gene O'Neil, Brain Keene, Mick Farren, and Gak.

The premise of these tale, forged by Gak and Houarner as they sought and almost captured a Stoker Award, focuses on the exploits of Dead Cat, who was a sacrifice to the goddess Bastet and finds that being in the land of the dead is quite boring. There are no happy hunting grounds filled with birds or mice, no naps and dreams of bliss, or any of the other things that a cat needs to enjoy themselves when finding oneself outside the land of the livelihood. In fact, all Bastet tells him to do is, "eat sand." So, what's a cat to do when confronted with a dilemma like this? Why, return to the land of the living without becoming alive, of course! Most of these portraits of the Dead Cat's "life" are written in choppy sentences, focusing themselves from the thoughts of Dead Cat himself and not in the narration aspect of storytelling, with a few of the writers deviating from that course. At first I found this practice somewhat questionable, but I soon overcame this initial hesitation and found the style enjoyable and, in many instances, funny. This came as quite a surprise, too, because I never thought of many of these writers in the comedic sense before reading DCB.

This isn't to say that the book is a challenging read, because that is far from the case. I found myself finishing it within an hour, covering the two-hundred plus pages of large print in what amounted to no time at all and longing for more. Still, the captivating prospects of a cat that evades death for no other reason than boredom is something worthwhile and deserving of a look, especially if you want to see writers in a different light. Recommended for the oddities, young and old (with attention paid to the profane, of course)!

As a lover of both felines and horror books, I simply had to have this book. Especially considering the star studded cast of writers who have participated in its making.

Jack Ketchum, Edward Lee, Gerard Houarner, Charlee Jacob, Tom Piccirilli, and more. Plus the gleeful discovery that the book is autographed by each and every author! The book starts out with an introduction called "Dead Cat Pimping" by Dead Cat himself.

Each chapter beyond that is a separate journey starring Dead Cat, as he finds himself defending a battered woman, meeting a lovely female feline in Chicago, fighting a futuristic battle in Slide, meets and greets a famous kitty named "Socks" and does shady things with it, gets mistaken for a cosmetics test animal, crashes a stuffy cat show, survives an encounter with Frankenpup, misses a dinner of young birds because he had indulged in dead catnip, falls back into hell with Dr. Booty, discovers more hells than his own, teams up with a dead human who was killed by a hooker, chases a dead rat named Jake, and flees from a lovestruck mouse.

Dead Cat is full of adventure in this collection of stories, but I found the prose somewhat stifled by the fact that the requirement for writing a story in the book was to use choppy and unstructured sentences. While adorable and entertaining for a moment, this writing style does tend to get in the way of the Author's real talents. I believe I would have enjoyed the book more if the choppy, staccato sounding dialogue had been restricted to Dead Cat's thoughts, rather than the entire body of the story.

The illustrations by GAK are wonderful (though too few in my opinion), and besides, his name sounds like a cat hacking up a hairball. GAK.

If you like this book, make sure to pick up the sequel to it, called "Dead Cat: Bigger Than Jesus". Though a much smaller chapbook, it actually utilizes the structure much better and has new stories that are worthwhile additions to Dead Cat's adventures. Enjoy!

This anthology is part of a series that includes 4 chapbooks and 2 anthologies. It has to be the strangest series of books I have ever read, but I enjoyed them none-the-less. These are quite literally the adventures of a cat that returns from the Egyptian land of the dead. He's bored there and decides to return to the living - only he's still dead, and rotting a little, but he doesn't let it get him down.

Dead Cat first appeared in "Dead Cat Bounce," a short story/chapbook. Then Gak & Houarner had the brilliant idea to let other authors play with their new creation resulting in this anthology. Each author has a different take on a short adventure of Dead Cat. There are poems and stories, each varying according to the author's talents. So, Edward Lee's entry is a little more hard edged than Yvonne Navarro's tale. While most of the authors represented write horror, I wouldn't classify this as such. This is definitely dark comedy, but not for children. As other reviewers mentioned, the grammar is deliberately bad. Sentences are choppy to reflect how a dead cat, whose brain has decayed and never took an English class, might speak and think. I agree that this could get a bit tedious after awhile, but the sheer playfulness of the stories, albeit in a very dark humor, are worth the annoyance. Especially considering this is a very quick and fun read.

I have to add that Gak's artistic contribution really make this work top notch. Normally, I'm indifferent to artwork in a book. However, Gak breathes "life" into the character, and his artwork adds even more humor. My only criticism is that there were too few illustrations to complement the prose. This book was released as both a trade paperback and a hardcover, both signed limited editions. It can still be found on the second hand market. Since this was signed by all contributors on a bound-in limitation page it's worth the high price tag. Highly recommended!

Dead Cat Bounce: Story by Gerard Houarner ; Illustrated by Gak
Dead Cats Bouncing
Dead Cat: Bigger Than Jesus
"Dead Cats Lick"
"The Dead Cat Poets Cabal"
Dead Cat Traveling Circus of Wonders and Miracle Medicine Show (Signed Edition)