Look What the Cat Dragged In

In this tale of two kitties, cartoonist Penny Padgett and her beloved white cat Popcorn live with her boyfriend Dean in his Philadelphia home. When Popcorn goes missing during a blizzard through a kitchen window that Penny’s sure she closed, she’s devastated.

With the inspiration for the fourth book in her successful Penny and Popcorn series missing, Dean hopes inviting her to a party at the mansion of an influential client will get her mind off her loss. Soon after arriving, she meets the second cat in this story - a black cat named Godfrey who takes a very unusual liking to her.

When this wealthy client needs to travel for a month, who better to care for Godfrey than Penny? Seeing a chance to impress her, Dean pressures Penny into agreeing, and soon Godfrey is making himself at home. It seems he’s not your ordinary house cat, though, when increasingly mysterious and even menacing things start happening soon after his arrival. 

I liked the idea of the story well enough. Though a possession story is far from unique - even one involving animals - the premise of bringing something with ‘extra company’ into your home unwittingly is enough to make me give those cute little fluffballs a bit of side-eye before getting too close! 

You’ll have to suspend all kinds of disbelief, but it’s supernatural horror so I don’t think it’s aiming for realism. I can see shades of different movies in this story like Midsommar, The Wicker Man, Rosemary’s Baby or The Skeleton Key. If you have a weak stomach, I recommend skimming or skipping this - at least in the second half. The story goes from slow to gonzo pretty quickly.

If you like horror with creepy supernatural entities, pagan rituals, covens, a fair amount of gooey and gross, and an unwitting main character who has to contend with them all, this may be right up your alley. Though OTT, the ending made the journey worth it for me! 

I listened to this on audio, narrated by the excellent Stephanie Németh-Parker, who narrated all voices: human, animal and “other” perfectly!

★★★ ½ 

Thanks to Macmillan Audio, NetGalley and author Jason Rekulak for this ALC to honestly review. It’s out on October 13, 2026.