So, I am not a cat person and Look What the Cat Dragged In by Jason Rekulak did not do anything to persuade me into being a cat person. Look What the Cat Dragged In a is eerie, thrilling, horrifying, and downright creepy tale that did a wonderful job terrifying me at the same time emotionally attaching me to the story at hand.
Meet Penny Padgett, a twenty-seven-year-old cartoonist in Philadelphia who agrees to pet-sit a very peculiar cat named Godfrey in her home. At first, he’s a warm and affectionate companion who follows Penny all around the house and insists on sleeping by her side every night. But soon strange things are happening: Penny is haunted by disturbing and violent nightmares. There’s a terrible insect infestation in her basement. Her cute cartoon illustrations turn dark and surreal, as if influenced by some invisible hand. And her health starts failing, as if her mind and body are under attack by a sinister, malevolent force.
Penny may be a cat person, but she’s starting to think Godfrey is no ordinary cat…
I typically wouldn’t gravitate towards a terrifying story featuring a cat, but Rekulak has not steered me wrong over the years with The Last One at the Wedding and Hidden Pictures. So, it was inevitable that I was going to dive head-first into Look What the Cat Dragged In, cat present or not. Like the two novels I mentioned, I was not disappointed and while it didn’t land as amazingly as either of them, it was still an amazing ride and a wonderfully crafted story.
Rekulak does a truly fantastic job setting up locations and characters in this book. We have buildings that give off creepy vibes, houses that shouldn’t but end up more sinister than expected, and characters that I emotionally attached myself to, but also those I loved to hate. Penny is a lovable character that for the most part you feel for as she is dealing with the unthinkable and as things get worse along the way you can’t help but cheer for her. Yes, there are moments that I want to yell at the pages, but overall she is just one that you want to hangout with. Others, such as her boyfriend and a character that seems innocent but becomes more sinister are those that are less likable and sometimes annoying.
Like Hidden Pictures, Rekulak does a wonderful job immersing the reader into the story with added illustrations and comic strips. Penny, our protagonist, is a cartoonist telling stories of her cat while working on her fourth book. So, fittingly, Rekulak has added snippets from these stories into the book to allow you to enjoy the experience of reading so much more. The nearly 80-pages of drawings connected me to Penny even further, as you blend the lines between fact and fiction when you get to see the artwork and cartoons that she is talking about in person.
Billed as a supernatural thriller, I would easily say this could slide into the horror genre as well. Rekulak does not shy away from the vivid and grotesque explanations and creepy even this veteran horror reader out at times. Those looking for a simple mystery thriller are in for a treat when they get to a few specific pages where Rekulak pulls no punches.
For those who get to experience Look What the Cat Dragged In with the narration by Stephanie Németh-Parker are in for a treat. Németh-Parker adds a dimension to the storytelling that will immerse you even further into the novel. While, Stephanies narration is spot-on, I would recommend a more hybrid-style of reading as you don’t get the full experience of the artwork in audiobook. Németh-Parker reads the comics along the way, but the artwork helps the enjoyment even more.
Look What the Cat Dragged In is a thrilling and downright horrifying mystery that had me guessing to the end. Jason Rekulak once again blends illustration and mystery into a wonderful novel that was as mysterious as it was terrifying. I cannot tell whether cat lovers will love Look What the Cat Dragged In or hate it, either way Rekulak had me hooked till the end.
Look What the Cat Dragged In hits bookstores everywhere on October 13, 2026 from Flatiron Books. The audiobook is available via Libro.fm!
