Black Cat Tales: An Anthology of Black Cats edited by Francesca Maria and Mark S. Causey
Black Cat Publishing (June 13, 2025)
Reviewed by David Niall Wilson
This anthology does a couple of rare things. It follows a narrow theme, and it delivers variety. There are so many ways you can go with stories and poems featuring black cats, and the editors managed to gather a wide variety. It never feels like you are just getting what you expect, and in a themed anthology, I believe that to be the key to success. In this volume you are getting black cats from every conceivable angle, and with serious talent behind their tales.
I am not going to list a bunch of favorites, because this is an apples and oranges and grapes and pineapple choice that makes no sense at all. My one diversion from this is the very first story, “Dust and Shadow,” by Daniel Roop. This story felt so real to me, and, I can tell you up front, while I only have one black cat, we live with twelve. It’s a story I may never forget. Very simple, very well told. You need to read it. You will never love or distrust your cats the same way after reading it.
The rest of the book is filled with the magic and lore of cats. Bad cats, good cats, hero cats, witches and familiars, folk horror, fantasy, or, in other words, cats in all their glory. Friends, demons, hunters — sometimes from their own POV, sometimes from humans who understand them, or humans who hate them, or fear them, but there is one theme that winds its way through every word in the book, and that is the mystique of our furry, feline neighbors, and not just cats, but the black ones. The ones blamed for bad luck. The ones associated with witches. The ones we love and fear.
This anthology is perfect for cat lovers, because even in the stories they might not personally connect with, they will recognize those weird, furry creatures we share our lives with. Highly recommended.
