NNtG: Ghosts of Fear Street #12: Night of the Werecat

How about another trip to kid friendly Shadyside? After our last book, I think I'm in the mood for at least one more for now. And this one is definitely one I've at least had an interest in. I have often talked about books that have most likely "inspired" people, especially the furry fandom. And let's be honest. This one wouldn't be a surprise if this was one of those cases. So is this the cat's meow or fit for the litter box? It's Night of the Werecat.

COVER STORY

Oh yeah. You can't convince me that this wasn't a "furry awakening" cover. But, taking that out of consideration, this is still a great cover. I really like the detail of the split-face. Half cat, half girl, along with a decent freaked out kid face, which some books have a hard time nailing. I like the touch of the glowing amulet to make the readers realize what may be causing this. And if you want to know our protagonist loves cats, there's definitely plenty of examples of that. Her cat wallpaper, her cat bedspread, her cat ornaments. So if you're hoping for a book that offers in cats, both regular and the were variety, the cover at least has you covered in those departments. 

I'll also talk about the reprint cover too because eh, why not? While not as over the top as the original, it still does the trick in just how detailed our werecat design is. And the mixture of human and cat features that blend very well to make the design striking. Though having both human ears and cat ears does seem a bit silly. Two solid covers, but for the sake of cheese, I like the first more.

STORY

Wendy Chapman loves gymnastics, but can't quite ace the balance beam. She's not very balanced for said balance beam. Doesn't help when bully Nancy Morrow is literally at the bleachers pantomiming Wendy's eventual fall, which does happen. Turns out that Wendy's stressed as the meet is coming and the top three girls in the group will be representing Shadyside. Nancy also gets in a few more digs into Wendy for Wendy's other obsession, cats. Wendy really loves cats. Of course, like most of these stories, her parents won't actually let her have a cat, so she compensates with lots of cat-related materials. And, coincidentally, there's a cat show going on right as Wendy leaves with her friend Tina Barnes.

The cat show is filled with cats of every breed. Wendy loves it, but is also frustrated at her parents not letting her have a cat. But she's already planning for a lucrative future in being a crazy cat lady, so priorities? As Wendy and Tina check things out, they find a strange shop called "Mrs. Bast's Cat Curios". After a chapter stinger of Wendy... being attacked by the shop curtains I think... they meet Mrs. Bast. She's an old lady with a white Persian cat named Samantha. She lets the girls look around. Among the items, Wendy finds a necklace with a black cat charm in the middle, with a star on the cat's head. Wendy wants it, but Mrs. Bast says it isn't for sale... despite literally being lumped in with the other assorted items but sure. 

Mrs. Bast tells Wendy that the necklace is a werecat charm. The kids are confused, but Mrs. Bast says that werecats are very real, and she's even seen seen some lurking in the woods by, where else, Fear Street. The girls get a chuckle, with Tina saying that maybe her cat Shalimar is a werecat, but Mrs. Bast tells them that werecats are the mortal enemies of real cats and Tina's cat would be pretty much torn to shreds if it ever got near one. Mrs. Bast mentions that a human turns into a werecat after midnight and turns back the next day. But with each night and with the moon growing stronger, the werecat becomes more powerful. And when the moon is full, the human will become a werecat forever. Samantha causes Mrs. Bast to lose her attention long enough for Wendy to snatch the charm and vamoose. 

Wendy puts on the charm and the two make their leave, all while all the cats at the show start hissing and being really aggressive. Wendy heads home and pleads with her mother to get a cat, but no such luck. I think I know where this twist is going but we're super early. Also we meet Wendy's older brother Brad who drinks milk out of the carton and would rather have an armadillo. Later that night, as Wendy is in her room, she notices a strange light outside. Not to mention her body is starting to feel itchy and tingly before she starts to grow claws, then fur, then just becomes a full on cat. And not like a human-sized cat like the cover would have you believe, but like a normal looking cat, save for the star on her head. So that's a letdown. She leaps out the window and goes after a mouse before waking back up in her room like she didn't just chow down on Mickey. But as she gets up, sure enough, there's a dead mouse on the floor.

At gym the next day, Nancy once again starts bugging Wendy about her cat obsession, even mocking her cat shirt and throwing it into the showers. Her cat hatred comes from being allergic. Her Wendy hatred just comes from being an asshole. Regardless, if Wendy had any reasons before to want revenge on Nancy, she sure does now. Wendy then sleeps over at Tina's, only for the werecat to happen to her again. After clawing up Tina's couch, she sneaks out without Tina noticing. She hunts for more insects and mice, but ends up scared by the neighboring dog, who can't chase her due to being tied down. In any other situation, this would be a prime candidate for a Tom and Jerry gag. 

Werecat Wendy then decides to sneak into Nancy's house. First getting Nancy's clothes full of fur before getting on her bed and trying to, I guess, claw Nancy. Nancy wakes up with a sneezing fit and at first shuts the window, but when she sees Wendy, she panics and sends her outside. As Wendy heads home, satisfied enough with screwing around with Nancy, she then spots another cat. A black cat with a similar star on its head. Another werecat. Much larger than Wendy. The other werecat attacks an alley cat before chasing after Wendy. But she makes it home just in time for the spell to wear off. She heads back to her room and tries to take off the werecat charm, but it won't leave the necklace no matter how hard she tries. So yeah, she's screwed. 

The next gym day comes and Wendy apologizes for suddenly disappearing from Tina the previous night. Meanwhile, Nancy is a mess, full of allergies, while Wendy is now more graceful on the balance beam. So at least the cat instincts are paying off for something. Meanwhile, Nancy fails on account of the allergies screwing her on the balance beam. Wendy makes the top three, but does feel bad for Nancy, who didn't make it. That while yes, she did treat Wendy like crap this entire time, it was still Wendy that cost Nancy her shot. But, again, that's what Nancy was doing to her the entire time, going back to our first chapter. Don't try to make us sympathize with her, book.

But the focus is now on getting rid of the necklace. Or at least finding Mrs. Bast to find out how to do such a thing. But, as you'd expect, when Wendy and Tina make it to the cat show, it's gone. And so is Mrs. Bast. So much for that plan. That night, it happens again. Wendy becomes a werecat and is again being stalked by the large black werecat. It chases Wendy up a tree, but then disappears just as the spell leaves Wendy, who is now a human stuck up a tree. She climbs down until the branches finally give way and she falls. Though she doesn't get hurt so that's less of a concern. 

Wendy calls Tina and tells her about the werecat stuff. But Tina doesn't believe her because... I guess this one can just count as having no actual reason to believe her. But as Wendy arrives, she suddenly is in the mood to eat Tina's canary. And despite Wendy literally about to do what Sylvester never could, Tina still thinks it's a jape. They then find Tina's cat Shalimar who freaks out and scratches Wendy before running away. They find the cat, only to then see Mrs. Bast run off with it. The girls follow Mrs. Bast to where else, Fear Street. They see Mrs. Bast pouring some sort of powder on the cat and barge in, thinking it must be a spell. Turns out that this wasn't Shalimar, but a different cat. Wendy asks about the necklace, but Mrs. Bast says that it can't be taken off... unless you find the other clasp to take it off, which happens to work. Okay then. Also, we learn she's not an evil witch, but a cat groomer and the powder stuff was part of the cleaning. The girls find the actual Shalimar and leave.

That night, Wendy is glad to finally be done with all this werecat stuff. Except when the full moon rises, she turns into a werecat yet again. Yeah, turns out taking the necklace off wasn't the cure, whodathunk? She sees the black werecat outside yet again and eventually just full on leaps through the window. The book makes it sound graceful and cool, but I just think of Garfield being thrown out of the window. When she hits the yard, she spots not one, but TWO werecats, who come up to Wendy and... purr and cuddle her. YEP, I was certain of the twist but this confirms it. She returns to her room as now three werecats follow her. They then transform...

TWIST ENDING

... into her parents and Brad. Yep. Who didn't see this coming? Turns out that the pendant was actually property of their family but got lost a long time ago. Ever since first encountering the pendant, their entire family lineage have had the werecat curse on them. It also explains everything else. The parents not wanting real cats in the house, Brad drinking milk out the carton (I mean, that's a stretch, but it was sort of my first clue), and the whole incident outside. Of course they're werecats and of course this was all yet another puberty allegory. I know this isn't written by Stine but he can't keep getting away with it! 

CONCLUSION

Ghostwriter this time is Kathryn Lance. She had a bit more of a notable career than most ghostwriters for the series. This includes her own short-lived book series Phantom Valley (under the name Lynn Beach). She also served as a a confirmed ghostwriter for Give Yourself Goosebumps as well as Why I Hate Jack Frost for More & More & More Tales to Give You Goosebumps. She also wrote hundreds of scripts for soap operas, wrote a soap opera called The Halls of Haywood High for Senior Scholastic Magazine, and wrote one of the first notable fitness books about running, Running for Health and Beauty. She also sadly passed away on January 29th, 2022. 

So, given that she had ties with Goosebumps, it makes the comparisons to this book and a lot of Goosebumps make more sense. As Night of the Werecat really doesn't feel all too different from most Goosebumps books with the same type of concept and the same type of twist. Which on its own works fine, kind of gives me a Teen Wolf vibe, more so the 80s movie. And the idea of this family of cat humans is a really cool idea. As is the whole werecat thing as well. While the book doesn't get too much time to have fun with the "being a cat" stuff, what we get still works well and adds for some fun scenes with Wendy on the prowl. 

But when you consider how so many of these books do the same thing and almost always boil the concept to a puberty allegory, it does water the book a bit. And that's not even a Goosebumps thing. Best example currently is Pixar's Turning Red which does a similar take on an animal transformation = puberty allegory. So while it's a crutch more often than not, it also can work when given the right circumstances and concept. So, while predictable, it still works to make for one of the better Ghosts books. 

Wendy is a decent protagonist. You get her plight over wanting a cat, though the book doesn't fully get a chance to have fun with that obsession before we go into the werecat stuff. And her journey as a werecat, including all of the things she ended up causing because of it, is still intriguing. Not exactly treading fresh ground, but still a decent adventure. And that's probably the best way to describe this book. Decent. Nothing truly groundbreaking or incredible, but everything involved still works to make for a book that's an easy recommend. It's not perfect, but it's definitely solid regardless. just don't go in shocked by the outcome. Night of the Werecat gets a B+.