Breaking Cat News by Georgia Dunn for October 08, 2023

Pucky with the Mom Cat paw of NOPE trying to sooth the savage, but adorable, Ora Zella. OMC I love the drawings in this strip!

Sunday Funday

I remember seeing those – I recognize the art style, nice work Georgia! – but avid reader that I’ve always been, they still somehow missed me completely. I wanted weirdness in my fiction, but I wanted to enjoy it, so I stayed in sci-fi/fantasy rather than horror.

I know the stories of which she speaks, they’re still in print. I’ve never read ‘em, but I’m a 70s kid, and most of my scary story books were 50s and 60s stuff from the library.

Cousin Beatrix will be so upset if that book is damaged.

Much more of the cat’s alter egos and we would all be messed up forever.

We finally get a glimpse into Iggy’s world. I like it too Iggy, my dark and strange little friend. Cue up Grimly Fiendish by The D@mned.

As a child of the ‘70s and ’80s. (early Gen X now in my late 50’s) I loved horror films as a kid, my fave show back in the ’70s was Creature Feature on WTOG-44 on Saturdays with Doctor Paul Bearer (actually a very talented DJ from nearby Winter Haven/Polk County)! Phantasm (The Ball/Sphere!), The Thing, Alien, The Shining, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween etc….. All simply awesome. Thanks for the tribute to a most excellent genre Georgia, I know I was spouting off about the film media but I loved the books too, I loved Salem’s Lot both the book and the TV adaptation.

Now we know her inspiration for the Swan Eaters. I can’t wait for her to finish it.

I read those books when I was kid, too. I bought the new collection of all three combined a while back. I even just recently watched a movie that I think was based on those stories. Awesome!

Ora just eats up knowledge…

I love Georgia’s pencil sketches!

Who knows what cats will fall for these books? Maybe even Oliver?

I keep expecting Salem Hawker to show up in one of these strips.

Yeah, Ora! We must respect literature!

I don’t think I ever got into the Scary Stories books. I was more of a Goosebumps kid. Ah, nostalgia…

Simon & Schuster: “Stephen Gammell is the beloved illustrator of more than fifty books for children, including Song and Dance Man by Karen Ackerman, which received the Caldecott Medal, and two Caldecott Honor Books…”

I love what Georgia’s done here, imitating the art from those wonderful books! ❤ Not that the art is exactly the same, but I’m reminded of James Thurber’s “The Catbird Seat” story which was my favourite bedtime story as a child. My elder brother used to read it to me and do all the voices perfectly.

I don’t know Stephen Gammell, but from that little glimpse of his style it seems as though his works were just the traumatising tales children need to read in order to develop that deep sense of insecurity they need for future life.

Typo on the 2nd book’s cover “forver”

And it is day four of preparation. I’m sure none of you need to concern yourselves about the inconvenience of the re-education camps.

Ora, be nice to books. They are a treasure. They can take you anywhere. There are even books about cats.

I just googled Stephen Gammell, to look at his art work, and Georgia has captured his style, very well! Now, OZ, spit that out! Those books were awesome!

I’m with Elvis. Don’t wanna see it, don’t wanna hear it.

Meanwhile, Back on the Nile

At the oPyramid (Formerly the You Call This a Pyramid)

Beatrixia: We’ve found a trove of lost scrolls just in time for the Feast of Candy. Here’s a favorite of mine: Stories to Read on a Dark and Stormy Night.

Elvis-Anum: I remember this one from when I was a kitten: I Missed Out on Candy Because I Was Waiting For Some Stupid Gourd.

Lupinium: And don’t forget this fright-filled story: The Exercise.

*Thomios: Then there’s my favorite: The Werefloof. (Oct. 21st, 2018) Here’s an excerpt:

Whenever any heard the howl, "Hellooooo! They knew no the werefloof was near. No one was immune from the werefloof’s hugs. The people decided they would go out and hunt for the floof. Finally, they found him!

The people called out, “I wanna hug him first!” “No, me!” Finally the floof said, “Get in line, there’s plenty of hugs for everyone.” Finally the town folk all got their hugs and were forced to live in joy and happiness forever.

You are definitely a 90s kid if you read at least one of the Scary Stories books. (I read all three.) There is even a Scary Stories book that was printed without the illustrations and it was not well received, proving what I’ve said all along, that the stories alone were not enough, the drawings made the books! Even today, the books are as popular as ever. There’s a documentary on Amazon Prime Video about the books that I highly recommend.

I’m a child of the 50’s so my scary books leaned more to Poe when I was young. In the 70’s, I rode with a group of friends and we had a trip planned to Florida from Michigan. My bike was in the shop so I pillioned with a friend. Boring when you’re on the back so I read an unknown author’s first book that had just been released, Stephen King’s Carrie on the way down. I was hooked! Some time later, I read ’Salem’s Lot. For three weeks, I locked all the doors and windows just before sundown, closed all the curtains and wouldn’t unlock them until half an hour after the sun was up. There’s a lot he writes that I don’t care for and some that is absolutely brilliant (things like Shawshank come to mind) but his horror is some of the best. (not Cujo. Refuse to read Cujo)

I found them on A’zon. They’re titled Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, More Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark and Scary Stories 3; More Tales To Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz/author and Stephen Gammell/illustrator. They look wonderful! Georgia did a fantastic job emulating the illustrating style. I am loving today’s strip!

Oh I used to LOVE those books and how creeped out they made me feel!

Is there anything Georgia can’t do artistically? Her drawings of the cats in that style are amazing!!

Eh no thankses. Me not into silly superstition scarings. But one written by alien astronuts from outer spaces. Now that is one kook book me is scare of.

Now I need to go look. I think I have Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark with my books in my basement.

My friend used to read scary stories, but I always stuck with science fiction, Carl Hiaasen, Sherlock Holmes, etc.

The only scary book I ever enjoyed was Alfred Hitchcock’s “13 Stories They Wouldn’t Let Me Do On TV”; some thoroughly terrifying tales in that little book!

Ora Zella looks sorta like a tardigrade.

I love Iggy’s creepy look with his toothsome grin. I expect Georgia will win some awards one day.

It’s close to midnight

And Ora Z is lurking in the dark

Under the night light

She’s a sprite that bites your book just like a shark

Just a bad dream?

And Pucky takes the book away before she eats it

Screams from one Siamese

As horror makes Elvis close his eyes

He’s traumatized

‘Cause she’s a killer, incontrite

And no one’s books are safe

When Ora Z’s about to strike

You know she’s built for, skilled for bites

She’s fighting with your book and she’s a killer

Thriller delight, yeah

Ooh

…Darkness falls across the land

The midnight hour is close at hand

Ora roams in search of books

To terrorize all those she took

And Ora Z shall be found

Without the urge to settle down

Must grab and chew all books like heck

With pure joy for all she wrecks

- Rod Temperton – Thriller – Michael Jackson

I loved the horror genre in my late teens and into my 30’s. I eagerly anticipated each new Stephen King book, but he last me with “Pet Sematary.” To me, his scariest book was “The Dead Zone.” I also loved “The Exorcist” and “Rosemary’s Baby.” I still like a bit of the supernatural, but I prefer the tamer “witch cozy,” “ghost cozy,” and “supernatural cats mystery” genres. I’m currently enjoying a series written by 3 author, each focusing on a different character, about a group of supernaturals who get trapped for eternity in a Magical Renaissance Faire.

I enjoyed the works of Rudyard Kipling when I was a kid. Many other authors but he was my favorite, that and my Children’s Stories of the Bible

Those are the tiniest Ora Zella toe beans. (tiny squeee)

I love the scary book version of OZ!!! I laughed hard enough to scare on of my cats!

I still remember “The Thing” all these years later.

Igula, the resident horror-fan, looks so happy and comfortable. He’s lucky to have a family that shares his interests!

Welp, now I’m going to have nightmares of a GIANT Ora Z cat-er-pillar bulldozing through my bookshelves, screeching “Die library, DIE!” Thanks, Georgia! XD

(Shudder) The illustrations alone will keep me up every night.

Ah yes and my favorite scary book from the 80’s, published in 1981. 101 Uses For A Dead Cat. Now there was a thriller if there ever was one. It attempted to answer one of the great mysteries of all time. “Since time immemorial mankind has been plagued by the question, ‘What do you do with a dead cat?’”

Pfft. This ‘80s kid was reading things like The Tell-Tale Heart and compilations of stories set in the Cthulhu mythos.

.

I don’t know if that’s wholly responsible for how I turned out, but it can’t have helped.

Scaredy cats, love the sketches.

Agree with everyone that Stephen Grammel’s art is amazing and Georgia Dunn’s tribute to him in today’s strip is wonderful. Hope he’ll hear about it and take a look. I’d never heard of him as a child and with Elvis, probably that wasn’t a bad thing. Would have been too frightened (had nightmares about Barnabas Collins!) and spent several nights without any sleep and the lights on after I read Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu…

It was 1940, & my mother had the Red & Blue Book Fairy Tale stories. I was 4 years old & terrified of the ‘Troll Under the Bridge’.

Love the fangs, Elvis hiding his eyes, Ora Zella trying to eat the book……….

I read the first book again for the first time in forever a couple weeks ago. Not as scary as it was when I was a kid but one of the stories has a full page picture that I wasn’t expecting and that jump-scared the heck outta me.

Panel 4, wooly bear Cat-erpillar?

What incredible illustrations today. Wow. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I have to go with the very scary Iggy. He just looks too pleased with his sinister self. We may have to keep an eye on that boy.

Personally I just pretty much went to Rod Serling.

Georgia just posted on facebook: “I grew up absolutely enthralled by the “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” series, written by Alvin Schwartz and showcasing beautifully frightening illustrations by Stephen Gammell. They always felt like penciled cobwebs, spinning nightmares—in the best way possible! If you can get your hands on that original book series, it’s my favorite thing to read in October. Genuinely so scary, it feels like curling up with a round of tales told by a campfire. The gorgeously eerie artwork of Stephen Gammell gives Alvin Schwartz’ words an atmosphere and life of their own,… Those books are an EXPERIENCE. Many BCN readers have recognized other nods to the stories retold in those books, in some of the ‘Spooky Space Heater Campfire Kitty Tales’ over the years. Their influence on me was strong and I feel like those books remain the best compilation of American urban legend folklore.I started gobbling up the Scary Stories series in first grade, but I was a spooky child much like our beloved Iggy in the comic. Use your best judgment to know if you or the kids in your life can handle them… but for the spooky-loving folks who love a good scare out there, these hauntingly lovely books are required reading. Especially this time of year!Thank you Stephen Gammell, for capturing gorgeous nightmares at the tip of your pencil and sharing them with us!”

I wish the whole strip were back at these types. The ongoing saga of moles and raccoons can’t compete with the old version of BCN like the Sunday strips.

This one is for you, Robin!

https://www.gocomics.Com/baldo/2023/10/08

Ora Zella, that is not what is meant by: “Some books are to be tasted, others sampled, and some few to be chewed and digested.”

“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” H.P. Lovecraft. I loved him in junior high along with classics like Dracula. “Weird” stories like HP or Shirley Jackson are related to horror but different. Well, a lot of genres overlap so one person’s horror story is the next person’s suspense, or psychological thriller.

I think the best ones are where you’re made to think differently about what reality is, which may or may not scare the @#⋇1 out of you. Scrooge’s whole reality and thought pattern are reset in one night by ghosts. Or where the worldbuilding is so detailed or close to reality (done their research, used real folklore or traditional magick) it imprints on you and stays with you afterwards. I recommend Night of the Demon for that, it’ll definitely scare the @#⋇1 out of you. (It gets honorable mention in “Science Fiction Double Feature” in Rocky Horror !)

As we Orbsters all know, just because a story has ghosts doesn’t make it scary! I have always pictured something a lot like Georgia’s ghost dimension when I imagine the next life. Her ghost cats and Freddie are perfect.