"The Cat from Hell" is a horror

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

by American writer

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

, first published in 1977.

Plot summary

Halston, a professional

hitman Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...

, is offered $12,000 () to take out an unusual target—a cat. He accepts, despite being told that the cat was implicated in the murders of three people. He soon discovers that the cat is much more than it seems—the employer reveals that his company tortured and destroyed thousands of cats in the name of research, and he believes this cat is a feline emissary of revenge. While the hitman is driving toward a desolate place to kill it, the cat escapes confinement and eventually attacks him—crawling inside his body to finish the job—after he is temporarily paralyzed in the resulting accident. After killing the hitman, the cat leaves on "unfinished business" to go after the hitman's employer.

Publication

King initially published the first 500 words of the story in March

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

in ''

Cavalier The term ''Cavalier'' () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of Charles I of England and his son Charles II of England, Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum (England), Int ...

'', and the magazine held a contest for readers to finish the story. The winning entry, as well as King's complete story, was published in the magazine in June of the same year. It also appeared in '' Gent'' Vol. 18 #6 (December 1977), credited to King and Marc Rains. King revised the story and it was reprinted in ''Tales of Unknown Horror'' (1978), in ''Year's Finest Fantasy'' (1978), in ''

Magicats! ''Magicats!'' is a themed anthology of fantasy short works edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois. It was first published in paperback by Ace Books in June 1984. It was reissued as an ebook by Baen Books in March 2013. It has also been translated ...

'' (1984), and again in ''Twists of the Tale: An Anthology of Cat Horror'' (1996). This story was also adapted to film in the anthology film '' Tales from the Darkside: The Movie'' (1990). It was later reprinted as a bonus story in the paperback edition of '' Duma Key'' and again in ''

Just After Sunset ''Just After Sunset'' is the fifth collection of short stories by Stephen King. It was released in hardcover by Scribner on November 11, 2008, and features a holographic dust jacket The dust jacket (sometimes book jacket, dust wrapper or dus ...

'', Stephen King's fifth collection of short stories.

External links

"The Cat from Hell" at StephenKing.com
* Fictional cats Short stories about cats Short stories by Stephen King Horror short stories 1977 short stories Works originally published in Cavalier (magazine) Short stories adapted into films Short stories set in Connecticut {{1970s-horror-story-stub

Plot summary

Publication

See also

External links