CatsCast

Laura Pearlman (Host), Matt Dovey (Back cover art), Dave Robison (Audio production)
Author : Jennifer Lee Rossman Narrator : Diane Severson Host : Laura Pearlman Audio Producer : Dave Robison
This story originally appeared in From a Cat's View: An Anthology of Stories Told by Cats
The Cemetery Cat
by Jennifer Lee Rossman
Night crept into the cemetery earlier than in the rest of town, and dawn came later than usual.
Perhaps the mountains to either side snatched up the sun in late afternoon and held it ransom until long after breakfast. Or maybe Nature, lover of all things atmospheric, decided a glorified skeleton farm was too unsettling a place on which to bestow so many hours of daylight. Gothic iron fences and chipped granite angels looked best in twilight, after all, especially when the fog blew in from the river to wind around the gravestones like tulle.
Whatever the reason, geology or spookiness, cemetery nights were longer, and people avoided cemeteries at night. As if ghosts and ghoulies only worked the late shift, and the daylight would protect them from invisible echoes of the past and the dark things that hovered at the corners of their eyes.
Nonsense. It was the same superstitious thinking that made otherwise rational people toss spilt salt over their shoulder and say their prayers at night. But if they believed the nonsense protected them—and kept them from admitting they were nothing but helpless specks of carbon and water floating in an infinite void of evil that wanted to steal their souls and wear their faces like Halloween masks—so what? If a little nonsense keeps society from falling apart, more power to them.
But cats know better.
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Author: Y.M. Resnik Narrator: Tatiana Grey Host: Laura Pearlman Audio Producer: Dave Robison
This story is a CatsCast Original
Lost in Translation
by Y.M. Resnik
            The first sign of trouble came from the panda enclosure. Speak Now Zoo's headliner attraction spent most of her time munching bamboo and sleeping. Occasionally, she'd climb a tree. Never in Laura's ten-year tenure as proprietress had Mindy, the Giant Panda, actually acknowledged the onlookers who paid to speak to her through the universal translation app.
            So why was she now uttering string after string of gibberish? 
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Released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives International 4.0 license.

Author: Jenny Hart Narrator: Katherine Inskip Hosts: Laura Pearlman and Katherine Inskip Audio Producer: Wilson Fowlie
This story is a Cast of Wonders and CatsCast original.
The Gingerbread House
by Jenny Hart
The air has only just begun to smell of autumn as I head for Gingerbread Cottage, where I am to house sit two cats for the winter. I have packed warm clothes and antihistamines, and the emailed instructions are both simple and strange. Feed the cats and clean up after them and yourself. But don't let them out, no matter how much they ask.
Read the rest on Patreon.
 
Released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives International 4.0 license.

August, 2024 Author: Carolina Valentine Narrator: Laura Pearlman Host: Laura Pearlman Audio Producer: Dave Robison
This story is a CatsCast original.
The Invention of a Cat
by Carolina Valentine 
The haunting had started at 2 a.m., and my local Joann didn't open until nine. I was in the parking lot at 8:30, and while several Joann employees passed by my car on the way to the doors, I kept scrolling on my phone, feigning disinterest, instead of begging to be let in early. Even after the night I'd had, I wasn't going to be That Customer. 
            I focused my bloodshot eyes on the featured article in the Journal of Theoretical Witchcraft—something about the potency of blood moon spells—and checked once or twice on the spectral wound I'd slathered in dubious Taint-Be-Gone and expired Neosporin. Despite the mustiness of the gauze wrapping I'd found for it, the four claw-like marks probably wouldn't fester.
            In theory. Which is what I did. Theory.
Read the rest on Patreon.
Visit us at https://escapeartists.net/catscast/.
Released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives International 4.0 license.

Author: Annie Reed Narrator: Summer Brooks Host: Laura Pearlman Audio Producer: Wilson Fowlie
This story originally appeared in Pulphouse Fiction Magazine.
Queen of the Mouse Riders
 by Annie Reed
Gurgling yowls echoed off the tiled floor in Sarah's bathroom. Bounced off the ceiling, gaining strength, and intruded on what was turning out to be a very, very nice dream featuring the star of a movie she'd watched just before bed.
In the dream, the star turned his incredibly expressive eyes in Sarah's direction, smiled his best enigmatic smile, and said, "Pardon me, darling, but is that your cat?"
(In the dream he'd turned British. She happened to know he'd been born and raised in the Bronx. Dreams were just plain weird sometimes.)
"Yes," she said. "She's apparently caught a mouse."
Starlight the Cat had a battle cry like a two-note yodeler gargling mouthwash. She reserved that particular cry for whenever she caught a mouse. Or something that looked like a mouse. Or a mouse-shaped stuffed toy.
Most of the time she'd only caught one of her toys. Thank goodness. But on at least on memorable occasion she'd interrupted a visit from Sarah's mother by presenting a live mouse as the third course for their lunch date.
Sarah's mother was deathly afraid of mice.
Read the rest on Patreon.
Visit us at https://escapeartists.net/catscast/.
Released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives International 4.0 license.