The Ghost Cat Butt of Parkersburg

Susan Sheppard-Haunted Parkersburg

Many years ago, my mom and I went on our first of several walking tours with Haunted Parkersburg's Ghost Tours, owned and operated by renowned researcher, Susan Sheppard. It was a really fun experience, and I learned a lot about the haunted history of Parkersburg, WV. But among the stories of the Silver Run Tunnel, the the Marrtown Banshee, the East End Ghoul, the ghosts of the Riverview Cemetery, and so many others, one tiny story stuck out most to me...

...the apparition of a black cat's hindquarters.

Ghostly cats are nothing too out of the ordinary. I know several people, myself included, who have experienced their beloved feline sticking around long after their bodily death. In fact, Parkersburg itself has several locations haunted by ghost cats, most notably the old Trans-Allegheny Bookstore is said to be home to up to three phantom felines. But, those cats appear...whole.

There's a story from one of the historic residential areas in Parkersburg where a black cat's apparition is seen. The head and front paws are never seen, however.  Only the tail and hindquarters has ever been seen. But why would only the cat's BUTT appear to witnesses?

Source

The house where the half-cat is spotted was built around 1900, and is located right near where the old streetcar system, which operated through the 1940's ran. It's theorized that the poor cat was a pet of the family who lived in the home and that it met an untimely end on the tracks of the streetcar. To me, however, that doesn't fully explain why only the cat's back half is observed.  Even if the poor creature was cut clean in half by a passing streetcar, why would only the back half be left? Where's the front half?  Perhaps it was too badly mangled in the fatal accident...or perhaps there's another house nearby where people are seeing only the head and front paws of what they think is a completely different cat. 

I was pleased to see this lil' tidbit was included in the first edition (2004) of Sheppard's book, Cry of the Banshee.  In the same chapter, its noted that (presumed) living cats seemed drawn to the tours, and whenever a ghost tour was being led around town, numerous black cats would pop up along the route. That struck a chord with me, because when I was a tour guide for Haunted and Historic Guyandotte Tours, that was a running joke with us, as well. We ALWAYS had cats, not always black, though, follow our tour through the village, and occasionally, sit and LISTEN to our stories. On more than one occasion, a tour patron went home with an obvious stray. 

An old folklore belief states that cats protect their humans from harmful spirits---could our little tour assistants have simply been keeping us safe from the ghosts that prowled around town? Or were they themselves, the ghosts? 

*Want more spooky cat stories?  Here's my experiences with Ambrosis, The Ghost Cat*