Miao Dao: Dark Corners collection

Miao Dao is a heart-stopping short story by National Book Award winner Joyce Carol Oates, part of Dark Corners collection of seven tales that will keep you up at night.

When Mia's dad left and her stepfather moved in, she found solace in an abandoned lot on her suburban cul-de-sac, only to be tormented by boys at school and groped by her lecherous stepfather.

But help arrives in the form of a ghostly white cat who becomes Mia's fierce protector.

Read this unnerving tale of coming of age in a single sitting or listen all by yourself in the dark, but be warned: you may never look at abandoned lots the same way again.