For He Can Creep

Meh. I get how this could be interesting - especially after reading the true story behind it. But it's a story about a cat fighting a devil, I don't get the deeper meaning behind it if there is one? I don't think there is so it's just a bit boring, and short

I don't normally go out of my way for cat stories... but the quirky cover attracted me to the story on Tor.com (although I see I have been away from the website long enough for it to have changed its name!), then drawn in to find it is a short story based on an English poet from the 18th century who was put into a mental asylum, along with his cat Jeoffry, who becomes the star of this story.

Christopher Smart, the poet in question (1722-1771) wrote the religious poem Jubilate Agno, a small part of which is about his cat, containing the lines:

For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry.For he is the servant of the Living God duly and daily serving him....For he keeps the Lord's watch in the night against the Adversary.For he counteracts the powers of Darkness by his electrical skin and glaring eyes.For he counteracts the Devil, who is death, by brisking about the life....For he can creep.

And which forms the basis of this short story, in which Jeoffry, who guards he poet from the Devil is tricked into standing aside, while the poet makes a deal to write a poem for the Devil, and thereby lose his soul to him. Jeoffry must then engage the assistance of his cat friends to outwit the Devil and save his poet.

Read it here: For He Can Creep

4 stars

2.5 stars

I can't remember who brought this book to my attention a while ago but I saved it on Everand and I thought it would be a perfect read for the 29 in 29 challenge I did this month. I buddy read this with Destiny and I suggest you read her review or anyone else's for that matter because I seem to have an unpopular opinion. I'm pretty new to the horror genre and I am still learning what I like and what I don't like and unfortunately this one didn't work for me. This was weird. I wasn't expecting it to be written in the cats POV so that threw me off at first and I just think that horror books that have deeper meanings behind them aren't for me. This isn't the first time this has been the case for me. 

Merged review:

2.5 stars

I can't remember who brought this book to my attention a while ago but I saved it on Everand and I thought it would be a perfect read for the 29 in 29 challenge I did this month. I buddy read this with Destiny and I suggest you read her review or anyone else's for that matter because I seem to have an unpopular opinion. I'm pretty new to the horror genre and I am still learning what I like and what I don't like and unfortunately this one didn't work for me. This was weird. I wasn't expecting it to be written in the cats POV so that threw me off at first and I just think that horror books that have deeper meanings behind them aren't for me. This isn't the first time this has been the case for me. 

Outside of children's books, this is the first story I read to my daughter. Now, I wouldn't say I recommend this to a toddler, but I want to include her into my occasional short story or two. Coincidentally, the curse words were censored, which made things easier for me.

The story was fairly interesting and well written. Cats are just awesome.

Spensa's Rating:

Uninterested (a common side-effect found with 1 year olds)

Read for Buzzwordathon February 2022: pronouns

I loved the writing style in this and the very interesting concept. I also had no idea this was actually based on a real story and poem which adds an even more interesting layer. I honestly do wich this one was just a bit longer and the horror seemed a bit like childish. Something just didn't completely click with me but it was still really fun! 

This short story was based on the 19th century poet Christopher Smart's confinement in a mental asylum and one of the poems he wrote during his time there, the Jubilate Agno. If anything, I'm glad that this story introduced me to that poem, which is pretty hilarious and amazing - it almost shows a prescience to our 21st century obsession with cats.

Jeoffry is a cat belonging to the poet Christopher Smart, and who regularly keeps the demons away from his human. He unexpectedly finds himself in conflict with an entity much larger than the regular imps he deals with though - the Devil himself, who is demanding a poem from Smart to end all poems (and the world).

The writing in this one is beautiful and engaging, artisanal with a light touch of humour that works, especially given the subject matter. It is both an imagining of the circumstances surrounding the inspiration of the Jubilate Agno poem, as well as a tribute to cats in general and their indefatigable nature in protecting their beloved humans. There isn't really horror in this one even though it's tagged as such. Highly recommended for just about anyone.

This is probably not my kind of story but I still found the idea of a bunch of cats fighting Satan to save a human's soul very entertaining and unique.