"The Owl and the Pussycat" is a horror short story written by Thomas M. Disch. It was published in 1999 in the horror anthology "999".
The story is a dark reinterpretation of Edward Lear's 1983 poem of the same name. The main characters are two sentient stuffed animals: "Hooter", a timid and sensitive stuffed owl, and "Dampy", a jaded and solitary stuffed pussycat. The pair eventually fall in love, and the story follows their struggle to get married while living in the abusive environment of the Fairfield household. Lear's poem exists in-universe and plays an important role in the plot.
"!! The Owl and the Pussycat contains examples of:"
- Abusive Parents: Mr. Fairfield is verbally demeaning to both Dampy and Hooter, and hits Hooter across the room at one point.
- However, The reveal that Dampy and Hooter are actually inanimate objects whose personalities were imagined by Mr. Fairfield's son retroactively lessens the severity of his actions. Mr. Fairfield never shows aggression towards his son in the story, only his son's stuffed animals.
- The late Mrs. Fairfield, by contrast, was so abusive towards her son that the police had to get involved multiple times.
- A Dog Named "Cat": "Hooter" is a teddy bear. He was named by Mr. Fairfield, who mistook the damaged teddy bear for a stuffed owl.
- Alcoholic Parent: Mr. Fairfield, Dampy and Hooter's father, is required to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings after being arrested for driving under the influence. He hides the fact that he continues to drink while driving.
- All Abusers Are Male: Subverted. Mr. Fairfield is initially set up to be an abusive husband who killed his first wife. Both of those charges are revealed to be wrong: his wife was violent towards him and had a history of abusing their son, and it was his son (as Dampy) who killed his wife and pinned the blame on him.
- Deutoragonist: The story equally focuses on Dampy and Hooter
- Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: In-Universe example. Mr. Fairfield's first wife would physically attack him when she got drunk and then call the police on him if he retaliated. This resulted in Mr. Fairfield being arrested twice.
- Frame-Up: Dampy poisons Mr. Fairfield's first wife with sleeping pills and later implicates Mr. Fairfield in the murder. This leads to Mr. Fairfield getting arrested and Dampy and Hooter being removed from the Fairfield's care.
- Hollywood Autism: The Fairfield's son is stated to be autistic and interacts with the world through his stuffed animals. Dampy and Hooter's characterizations are apparently the extent of his identity, as there is nothing in the narration (which is from his perspective) that suggests a personality separate from the stuffed animals
- Like Father, Like Son: The personalities of Dampy and Hooter are based off of Mrs. Fairfield and Mr. Fairfield, respectively.
- Living Toys: Dampy and Hooter are both sentient stuffed animals.
- Metaphorical Marriage: Dampy and Hooter "get married" in the woods behind the Fairfield's house. They exchange a ring that was stolen from Mrs. Fairfield's jewelry case, and then bury it in the backyard.
- Narrator:** The narrator of the story describes actions mainly related to Dampy and Hooter, and also states the thoughts of only these two characters. It can be assumed that this story is told from point of view of a third person omniscient narrator. However, it is actually told through the viewpoint of an in-universe character, the Fairfield's son, who knows both Dampy and Hooter's thoughts because he invented their personalities.
- No Name Given: Mr. Fairfield and his first wife are only referred to by their surnames. Their son is also never named in the story, as everyone addresses his stuffed animals instead of him
- Red Herring:
- Dampy consistently mis-refers to Mr. Fairfield's girlfriend as "The second Mrs. Fairfield", apparently unaware that the couple isn't married. This masks the plot twist that the personalities of Dampy and Hooter are based not on Mr. Fairfield and his girlfriend, but Mr. Fairfield and his first wife (who is in actuality his only wife).
- Posthumous Character: Mr. Fairfeilds first wife died before the beginning of the story.
- Plot Twist: Dampy and Hooter are not actual living toys, but instead personalities invented by the Fairfield's son.
- Plot Twist Ending: Dampy murdered Mr. Fairfield's first wife
- Purely Aesthetic Gender: It's briefly stated that Mr. Fairfield considers Dampy a girl simply because the Pussycat in "The Owl and the Pussycat" Nursery rhyme is a girl. Hooter and Dampy both consider themselves male.
- When they later decide to get married, Dampy jokingly references Mr. Fairfield's insistence that he is female to calm Hooter's fears about being ostracized for a same-sex marriage
- Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Dampy kills Mrs. Fairfield and pins the blame on Mr. Fairfield, using the fact that he is a stuffed animal to leave suspicion off of him
