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Spooksville #10
The Wicked Cat
It seemed like a normal cat -- at first.
Adam and his friends are exploring the area around Spooksville when they come across a black cat. It seems like a friendly animal: it purrs when they rub its back, and licks its paws like any other cat.
But then if follows them back to town, and strange things begin to happen. A tree falls down, and a house catches fire. Each time something bad happens, the cat is there -- watching, with its strange green eyes.
And it won't go away.
Adam and his friends don't know what to do. Especially when the cat begins to use its powers on them.
Cover art by Lee MacLeod
Adam and his friends are exploring the area around Spooksville when they come across a black cat. It seems like a friendly animal: it purrs when they rub its back, and licks its paws like any other cat.
But then if follows them back to town, and strange things begin to happen. A tree falls down, and a house catches fire. Each time something bad happens, the cat is there -- watching, with its strange green eyes.
And it won't go away.
Adam and his friends don't know what to do. Especially when the cat begins to use its powers on them.
Cover art by Lee MacLeod
115 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
About the author
Christopher Pike
262 books5,503 followersChristopher Pike is the pseudonym of Kevin McFadden. He is a bestselling author of young adult and children's fiction who specializes in the thriller genre.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
McFadden was born in New York but grew up in California where he stills lives in today. A college drop-out, he did factory work, painted houses and programmed computers before becoming a recognized author. Initially unsuccessful when he set out to write science fiction and adult mystery, it was not until his work caught the attention of an editor who suggested he write a teen thriller that he became a hit. The result was Slumber Party (1985), a book about a group of teenagers who run into bizarre and violent events during a ski weekend. After that he wrote Weekend and Chain Letter. All three books went on to become bestsellers.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
McFadden was born in New York but grew up in California where he stills lives in today. A college drop-out, he did factory work, painted houses and programmed computers before becoming a recognized author. Initially unsuccessful when he set out to write science fiction and adult mystery, it was not until his work caught the attention of an editor who suggested he write a teen thriller that he became a hit. The result was Slumber Party (1985), a book about a group of teenagers who run into bizarre and violent events during a ski weekend. After that he wrote Weekend and Chain Letter. All three books went on to become bestsellers.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
March 4, 2026
I'm finally in double digit numbers with the Spooksville series.This one is called The Wicked Cat.I was really excited about this one.The story begins with the gang of Sally,Adam,Watch and Cindy hanging out going down a path when they see this cat.Sally immediately befriends this cat and they notice it dosen't have any tags,so she decides to keep it.The kids go get ice cream and the cat climbs on the table so Cindy swats it away and gets scratched on the ankle in the process.The kids then go to Sally's house to play chess.They leave the cat outside and hear a dog barking and then suddenly a loud crash.Adam and watch climb the fence and see that the tree was burned down.Watch thinks its from lasers,but he says there are no lasers here anymore.He mentions the lasers from the last book.The tree ends up falling on the dogs leg hurting the dog.Cindy and Sally begin arguing about this cat.The kids then go to a movie when the cat appears in the theater and agian Sally and Cindy begin to argue.They end up going to Cindys house when Cindy tells Sally the cat has to stay outside.They begin to smell smoke or something like that.I dont remember exactly how they discover it and go outside and see that Cindy's porch is on fire.They put it out,but the damage is done.The girls fight agian and everyone is pretty suspicious of the cat.Sally gets offended and leaves.That night we get a pretty fun chapter with just Sally.We learn she doesn't like being alone and is actually sad.She goes to bed and lets the cat sleep with her when she has a dream the cat is talking to her and wants to give Sally powers.The next day the group is back at the ice cream shop eating donuts waiting on Sally to show up.She never does though and instead this girl Jess shows up.She begins talking to the kids as if she knows them.She wants to know what they have planned for today.They all claim that they are waiting on Sally before they can start.She claims to have spoken to Sally and says that she dosen't want to hang out that she's still mad at them.She claims to know alot more and says she got a cat of her own.Jess asks the waitreess for a bowl of milk and I think you can all see where this is going.They walk out the store and Jess proceeds to kick the cat following her.This is a different cat.Cindy gets mad and eventhough claims to dislike cats claims no animal should be treated this way.Jess goes on about her way and Adam says he wants to see Sally.They go looking for her,but she's not at her house.They go to the beach where they find Bum.They tell him about the cat and Sally and he claims that she's not around that this Jess girl was the cat and turned her into a cat so she could become human.He talks about familiars,which I had no intrest in.They are basically witches battery packs.The group goes to See Anne templeton and ask for her to switch Sally back,but claims she can't and Jess has to be willing to turn back to human.This leads to what is probably my least favorite Spooksville scene and that is Adam trying to flirt with Jess and makeing her go swimming,telling her about math and exagerating everything humans do to get her to want to switch back.Meanwhile,Cindy hangs with Bum and Watch goes back to the witches castle.I'll admit this book was not my favorite in the series,but it does get pretty good towards the end.It turns out Jess got turned into a cat by Madeline templeton a long time ago,because they both liked this boy.Jess lures Adam to a cave where Madeline templeton killed Jack,the previous guy she liked and she chains Adam up and is going to seal up the wall to starve him to death.This is basically the end Jess ends up luring Cindy as well.There is a pretty fun twist that I enjoyed involving Jack that caught me off guard.The Wicked Cat wasn't one of my favorites in the series,but it did have some fun stuff in it.The beginning was fine.The whole Jess acting like a cat thing was not for me.I give The Wicked Cat a four out of five stars.
July 15, 2021
This story was a tragedy in of itself. Dang! In the early to late 1990s, it seems middle grade books are bolder. Talk about kids being walled alive, turned into an animal slave for centuries and stories of brutal vengeance? This book is IT.
I really appreciated all that when I was a kid, not going to change now!
I really appreciated all that when I was a kid, not going to change now!
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January 20, 2026I read this as a child. For some reason it keeps coming back into my mind. I might give it a go as an adult. I was very much into Spooksville and Goosebumps when a young`un.
January 29, 2020
When Adam and his friends come across a black cat near the cemetery, they’re instantly wary. Nothing is as it seems in Spooksville, and they’re distrustful of a cat following them home–all except Sally, who bonds with it instantly. Then dangerous things begin to happen. A tree falls down, a porch catches on fire, and all the while, the cat is watching with its strange green eyes. Trigger warnings: death/child death, fires, drowning, mild injury.
It was nice to get back into this series after a hectic couple of months. Not for the first time, I wish that I’d stumbled across these when I was the target audience because Adam, Sally, Watch, and Cindy make lovely literary friends. The books have settled into a familiar pattern. Someone (usually Sally) gets the group into some supernatural trouble, Adam or Cindy tries to save her, and Watch ends up saving everyone. There are repeat appearances by Bum, the former mayor turned “bum” who functions as the wise old man figure when the group needs help, and Ann Templeton, the mysterious witch from the castle on the hill, who might be good or bad but is usually playing to her own agenda.
The Wicked Cat doesn’t deviate a lot from this formula, and it doesn’t need to. The plot takes a couple of unexpected twists, and while cats aren’t particularly scary even when they have supernatural powers, talking skeletons of dead children certainly are, so it makes up the horror in other ways. There isn’t a lot added to the series arc as a whole or the overall character development in this book, but it’s a quick, entertaining read. Pike has noted in the past couple books that summer is coming to an end, so I’m interested to see what horrors the Spooksville crew might face in school.
I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.
It was nice to get back into this series after a hectic couple of months. Not for the first time, I wish that I’d stumbled across these when I was the target audience because Adam, Sally, Watch, and Cindy make lovely literary friends. The books have settled into a familiar pattern. Someone (usually Sally) gets the group into some supernatural trouble, Adam or Cindy tries to save her, and Watch ends up saving everyone. There are repeat appearances by Bum, the former mayor turned “bum” who functions as the wise old man figure when the group needs help, and Ann Templeton, the mysterious witch from the castle on the hill, who might be good or bad but is usually playing to her own agenda.
The Wicked Cat doesn’t deviate a lot from this formula, and it doesn’t need to. The plot takes a couple of unexpected twists, and while cats aren’t particularly scary even when they have supernatural powers, talking skeletons of dead children certainly are, so it makes up the horror in other ways. There isn’t a lot added to the series arc as a whole or the overall character development in this book, but it’s a quick, entertaining read. Pike has noted in the past couple books that summer is coming to an end, so I’m interested to see what horrors the Spooksville crew might face in school.
I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.
September 28, 2017
Mientras los demás niños de mi generación leían Pesadillas yo leía Fantasville!! Encontrar libros de esta colección en mercadillos o tiendas de segunda mano siempre es una alegría para mí porque puedo volver a las aventurillas de miedo de mi infancia. Qué majos son los cuatro niños del pueblo, qué repelente el gato, qué previsible (pero disfrutable) se te hace la historia con 28 años.... por qué no puedo volver a tener 8 para estas cosas??? ^^
April 23, 2022
Je poursuis ma lecture de Spooksville avec le regard du chat (et cette fois, je vais essayer de ne pas me tromper et de poster ma chronique sous le bon tome, promis !). Et je dois dire que ce tome dix est bien plus intéressant que le précédent, d'autant plus qu'Anne Templeton refait son apparition (j'avoue, je continue uniquement pour en savoir plus sur la sorcière).
Nos quatre amis pour cette dixième aventure font la rencontre d'une superbe chatte lors d'une de leur promenade. Etrangement, elle rebute Tic-Tac, Cindy et Adam mais pas Sally qui décide d'adopter la bête contre l'avis général (oui, Sally n'a aucun instinct de survie et n'apprend pas de ses erreurs, que voulez-vous). Sans trop de surprise, la chatte n'est pas ce qu'elle paraît être et les ennuis (re)commencent.
Schéma identique où l'un des enfants commet une erreur et les trois autres doivent sauver la journée, certes, mais ici, j'avoue que j'ai trouvé l'ensemble du roman plus palpitant. Peut-être est-ce grâce à la présence d'Anne Templeton et que l'animal « maléfique » est lié à l'ancêtre de la sorcière, mais il n'en reste pas moins que je n'ai pas vu les pages défiler. Je suis en règle générale plutôt fantaisie/fantastique que science-fiction également. Un peu de magie, un sort à briser, et me voilà happée dans ma lecture.
Si Sally est encore tournée en dérision par son manque de jugeotte et son caractère peu amène, les trois autres amis ont au moins le mérite de faire marcher leurs méninges et d'essayer de trouver des alliés. Ils se montrent inventifs, surtout les garçons autant ne pas le cacher, et avec leurs petits moyens, nous les voyons essayer de résoudre eux-mêmes leurs problèmes.
J'avoue cependant que le côté assez misogyne de la série commence à me hérisser le poil. Mis à part Anne, les autres personnages féminins sont souvent mis en avant avec leurs défauts. Jessie, nouveau protagoniste, ne déroge pas à la règle, alors qu'en fin de compte, elle est aussi une victime. Jack, lui, est montré sous son meilleur jour, je dirais presque, bien évidemment. Et c'est dommage car avec le recul, ce sont plus les points négatifs des personnages qui ressortent. Je ne suis pas certaine que le jeune public verra tout cela sous le même angle, mais il n'empêche que Spooksville pêche à ce niveau-là.
La fin reste bon enfant, comme à chaque fois avec une petite dose de dérision et d'humour qui ne fait pas de mal. de quoi faire redescendre le côté « horreur » du roman et éviter les cauchemars à nos têtes blondes.
Nos quatre amis pour cette dixième aventure font la rencontre d'une superbe chatte lors d'une de leur promenade. Etrangement, elle rebute Tic-Tac, Cindy et Adam mais pas Sally qui décide d'adopter la bête contre l'avis général (oui, Sally n'a aucun instinct de survie et n'apprend pas de ses erreurs, que voulez-vous). Sans trop de surprise, la chatte n'est pas ce qu'elle paraît être et les ennuis (re)commencent.
Schéma identique où l'un des enfants commet une erreur et les trois autres doivent sauver la journée, certes, mais ici, j'avoue que j'ai trouvé l'ensemble du roman plus palpitant. Peut-être est-ce grâce à la présence d'Anne Templeton et que l'animal « maléfique » est lié à l'ancêtre de la sorcière, mais il n'en reste pas moins que je n'ai pas vu les pages défiler. Je suis en règle générale plutôt fantaisie/fantastique que science-fiction également. Un peu de magie, un sort à briser, et me voilà happée dans ma lecture.
Si Sally est encore tournée en dérision par son manque de jugeotte et son caractère peu amène, les trois autres amis ont au moins le mérite de faire marcher leurs méninges et d'essayer de trouver des alliés. Ils se montrent inventifs, surtout les garçons autant ne pas le cacher, et avec leurs petits moyens, nous les voyons essayer de résoudre eux-mêmes leurs problèmes.
J'avoue cependant que le côté assez misogyne de la série commence à me hérisser le poil. Mis à part Anne, les autres personnages féminins sont souvent mis en avant avec leurs défauts. Jessie, nouveau protagoniste, ne déroge pas à la règle, alors qu'en fin de compte, elle est aussi une victime. Jack, lui, est montré sous son meilleur jour, je dirais presque, bien évidemment. Et c'est dommage car avec le recul, ce sont plus les points négatifs des personnages qui ressortent. Je ne suis pas certaine que le jeune public verra tout cela sous le même angle, mais il n'empêche que Spooksville pêche à ce niveau-là.
La fin reste bon enfant, comme à chaque fois avec une petite dose de dérision et d'humour qui ne fait pas de mal. de quoi faire redescendre le côté « horreur » du roman et éviter les cauchemars à nos têtes blondes.
February 18, 2022
In ‘The Wicked Cat’, Adam, Sally, Watch and Cindy are hanging out when they stumble upon a black cat. Sally uncharacteristically takes an instant liking to it. Soon they realize that strange things happen when it is around.
The way the mysterious cute cat behaved appeared completely normal but it was anything but. It certainly put the spooks in Spooksville, what with the randomly falling tree, house porch ablaze, etc.
Intelligent, cunning and manipulative, it made a major move, namely
The cat-racter, Jessie
The ending was a-meow-zing.
Overall, ‘The Wicked Cat’ had magic, chicanery and playfulness in spades.
The way the mysterious cute cat behaved appeared completely normal but it was anything but. It certainly put the spooks in Spooksville, what with the randomly falling tree, house porch ablaze, etc.
Intelligent, cunning and manipulative, it made a major move, namely
The cat-racter, Jessie
The ending was a-meow-zing.
Overall, ‘The Wicked Cat’ had magic, chicanery and playfulness in spades.
May 20, 2022
Me produce cierta nostalgia leer este tipo de libros, ya que gracias a este género comenzó mi amor por la lectura. El segundo tomo que leo de la colección de Fantasville y la verdad este hasta el momento es mi favorito. Una temática muy parecida a R.L. Stine, Christopher Pike crea esa misma atmósfera de misterio y terror.
April 13, 2023
Stuff starts happening from the beginning which for a short story is actually really good, it keeps it interesting in every page.
I like how it continues to have the same 4 friends and each new adventure has some either town history or a random real life fact, I don't know, maybe it helps to keep it relatable.
I like how it continues to have the same 4 friends and each new adventure has some either town history or a random real life fact, I don't know, maybe it helps to keep it relatable.
August 18, 2020
Pretty cool book, at first i wasn't expecting jack to be alive and im happy he got another body because a cat is better than nothing and Jessie will learn her manners agian as a cat with jack as i should always be and will be an eternal friendship.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 18, 2025
It was already a lousy book, but then when it was revealed that , that was even more crappy and I lost any remaining interest. Just as bad as R.L. Stine.
June 12, 2022
I read this not knowing it was number 10 in the series. It is quite ok. I laughed out loud. It’s a great scary book for kids.
September 21, 2022
A Great Lite Read.
May 28, 2024
This was a tame little adventure in Spooksville. Compared to everything else the kids have been through, dealing with grumpy magic cat is easy. A fun quick read but not very memorable.
January 3, 2025
Easily the best one of the series.
January 16, 2026
This story was incredibly cute. I love the way it ended, but felt the ending was a bit rushed.
October 20, 2022
gives hocus pocus vibes
May 9, 2013
loved this one, the end not quite as much, but one of my favorites as a kid
July 31, 2016
A younger version of Goosebumps with a weirder reality. Fun but I did not realize I had grabbed book 10. Still accessible though.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews