The Second Cat Megapack. George Zebrowski
First Reginald Bretnor Megapack
The Cthulhu Mythos Megapack
The Philip K. Dick Megapack
The Ghost Story Megapack
The Second Ghost Story Megapack
The Third Ghost Story Megapack
The Horror Megapack
The M.R. James Megapack
The Murray Leinster Megapack
The Second Murray Leinster Megapack
The Macabre Megapack
The Second Macabre Megapack
The Martian Megapack
The Mummy Megapack
The Andre Norton Megapack
The Pinocchio Megapack
The H. Beam Piper Megapack
The Pulp Fiction Megapack
The Randall Garrett Megapack
The Second Randall Garrett Megapack
The First Science Fiction Megapack
The Second Science Fiction Megapack
The Third Science Fiction Megapack
The Fourth Science Fiction Megapack
The Fifth Science Fiction Megapack
The Sixth Science Fiction Megapack
The Steampunk Megapack
The Vampire Megapack
The Werewolf Megapack
The Wizard of Oz Megapack
WESTERNS
The B.M. Bower Megapack
The Max Brand Megapack
The Buffalo Bill Megapack
The Cowboy Megapack
The Zane Grey Megapack
The Western Megapack
The Second Western Megapack
The Wizard of Oz Megapack
YOUNG ADULT
The Boys’ Adventure Megapack
The Dan Carter, Cub Scout Megapack
The G.A. Henty Megapack
The Rover Boys Megapack
The Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Megapack
The Tom Swift Megapack
AUTHOR MEGAPACKS
The Achmed Abdullah Megapack
The Edward Bellamy Megapack
The B.M. Bower Megapack
The E.F. Benson Megapack
The Second E.F. Benson Megapack
The Max Brand Megapack
The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack
The Wilkie Collins Megapack
The Philip K. Dick Megapack
The Jacques Futrelle Megapack
The Randall Garrett Megapack
The Anna Katharine Green Megapack
The Zane Grey Megapack
The Second Randall Garrett Megapack
The M.R. James Megapack
The Murray Leinster Megapack
The Second Murray Leinster Megapack
The Andre Norton Megapack
The H. Beam Piper Megapack
The Rafael Sabatini Megapack
INTRODUCTION: ALL CATS ARE GRAY…, by Robert Reginald
Our second anthology of cat stories includes feline fantasies, science fiction tales, mysteries, mythology, westerns, romances, memoirs, horror, shapechangers, tales of cat lovers and cat haters, and some pieces that just defy description. Cats have beguiled writers for as long as fiction has existed. There’s something about our mysterious feline companions that intrigues and captivates our fellow humans, who will do anything and everything to please Their Majesties, in the hope for a ten-minute purr in return.
Our late cat Nipper saw himself as monarch of all he surveyed, and disliked other members of his species to the point where he attack them on sight, despite his diminutive size; he’d also sit perched on the top of the living-room couch, gazing out the picture window, and gnash his teeth (you could hear them grinding!) at any birds that dared trespass on his sacred territory. With us, however, he could be either distant or cozy—depending on the season! He was never gray.
Noteworthy in this new compilation are: the classic tale, “The Cats of Ulthar,” a story by H. P. Lovecraft; “The Cat with the Tulip Face,”
A. R. Morlan’s moving prequel to her long horror novel, The Amulet; “The Mountain Cage,” by Pamela Sargent (best-known for her Venus Trilogy of novels), a period piece looking at the leaders of Nazi Germany through the eyes of their pets; “The Black Cat of the Old Manor House,” the story of an horrific cat visitation by the well-known ghost hunter, Elliott O’Donnell; “Traps,” by Jack Dann and George Zebrowksi, where we meet some alien felines on a distant world—and NOT in a nice way; “Cat on a Hot Tar Roof,” by Gary Lovisi, an amusing sequel to “Mrs. Milligan’s Cat” from The [First] Cat Megapack; “Shireen and Her Friends,” the autobiography of a Persian cat; “Cat Thief,” a crime story by Ernest Dudley; and Reginald Bretnor’s “Cat,” in which the discovery of a cat language has unexpected consequences—twenty-five tales in all, plus a play about a cat who changes into a woman, and three poems. Enjoy!
—Robert Reginald, 7 July 2013
THE CATS OF ULTHAR, by H. P. Lovecraft
It is said that in Ulthar, which lies beyond the river Skai, no man may kill a cat; and this I can verily believe as I gaze upon him who sitteth purring before the fire. For the cat is cryptic, and close to strange things which men cannot see. He is the soul of antique Aegyptus, and bearer of tales from forgotten cities in Meroe and Ophir. He is the kin of the jungle’s lords, and heir to the secrets of hoary and sinister Africa. The Sphinx is his cousin, and he speaks her language; but he is more ancient than the Sphinx, and remembers that which she hath forgotten.
In Ulthar, before ever the burgesses forbade the killing of cats, there dwelt an old cotter and his wife who delighted to trap and slay the cats of their neighbors. Why they did this I know not; save that many hate the voice of the cat in the night, and take it ill that cats should run stealthily about yards and gardens at twilight. But whatever the reason, this old man and woman took pleasure in trapping and slaying every cat which came near to their hovel; and from some of the sounds heard after dark, many villagers fancied that the manner of slaying was exceedingly peculiar. But the villagers did not discuss such things with the old man and his wife; because of the habitual expression on the withered faces of the two, and because their cottage was so small and so darkly hidden under spreading oaks at the back of a neglected yard. In truth, much as the owners of cats hated these odd folk, they feared them more; and instead of berating them as brutal assassins, merely took care that no cherished pet or mouser should stray toward the remote hovel under the dark trees. When through some unavoidable oversight a cat was missed, and sounds heard after dark, the loser would lament impotently; or console himself by thanking Fate that it was not one of his children who had thus vanished. For the people of Ulthar were simple, and knew not whence it is all cats first came.
One day a caravan of strange wanderers from the South entered the narrow cobbled streets of Ulthar. Dark wanderers they were, and unlike the other roving folk who passed through the village twice every year. In the market-place they told fortunes for silver, and bought gay beads from the merchants. What was the land of these