Mickey Coe is the main protagonist in the first Goosebumps Hall Of Horrors book, Claws!.
History
Mickey lives next door to a couple called the Caplans and the Caplans have a cat named Bella. One day, the Caplans were going on a vacation, so they put Mickey in charge of looking after Bella while they were gone. Mickey also invited his best friend, Amanda Underwood to help him with the cat-sitting and both of them were introduced to Bella, who already took a liking to Amanda. The Caplans told Mickey and Amanda that they have to feed Bella twice a day and give her water. They also told them to clean the litter box, to which Amanda said would be Mickey's job and Mickey sarcastically thought that was nice. The Caplans told the two kids that they will be sailing for six days and that they have left some phone numbers if there were any problems. But Mickey and Amanda assured the Caplans that they can handle the job and there will not be any trouble.
The two kids took care of Bella both before and after school and Mickey thought the job was fun, especially for him because he had always liked cats and he remembered that the Caplans were going to pay him and Amanda fifty dollars each for the week. The first day went really well for him and Amanda and when they were done feeding her in the afternoon, Mickey wondered if Bella was lonely and if they should spend some time her, but Bella didn't seem to mind and Amanda pointed out that Mickey had something disgusting in his nose and Mickey was astounded that his friend had waited all day to tell him. Mickey thought the job was going perfectly and he did not think there was going to be any trouble, but he did agree to see his parents if there was any trouble. Later the next morning, he and Amanda fed Bella and the cat made Amanda laugh, causing her to drop her gum on Bella's tail. Mickey and his friend tried to have the pulled off, but Bella's fur was stuck to it so Amanda had to cut it off with scissors. Mickey was astounded with Amanda for cutting a bald spot in Bella's tail, but she assured him that it will grow back before the Caplans came home. Amanda also noticed that Mickey was shaking and sweating and she asked what he would do if they had a real emergency with Bella, to which Mickey jokingly replied that he will totally freak out.
The next day, after Mickey fed his goldfish and his favorite pet, a white mouse named Zorro, he and Amanda went to the Caplans' to feed Bella, arguing about who was becoming the animal expert. Unfortunately, they were so busy arguing that they did not realise that they had accidentally left the front door open before they could do so and Bella sprang out of the house. Mickey and Amanda tried to catch her, but they were unable to prevent Bella from being run over by a big red truck that was passing by and Bella was killed in the process! The driver sincerely apologized as he was unable to stop in time and Mickey and Amanda could hardly believe that Bella was dead, feeling really terrible and were dreading what the Caplans would say if they found out. Bella's body vanished before they could put it in a rubbish bag, making them think that the driver had taken it so they wouldn't see her body squashed flat. Mickey was most upset about this and felt like calling his mother to tell her what had happened. He was about to do so when Amanda stopped him with an idea and told him that there are a million black cats in the world and suggested that they go to a pet store or the pound and find a cat that looks like Bella and substitute it and make the Caplans think it is Bella. Mickey told Amanda that it was a crazy idea and the Caplans will very likely find out that it is not Bella. But he couldn't talk Amanda out of the idea and Amanda started looking up where they could find one, with Mickey feeling very uneasy as this was an idea that could get them in deeper trouble. Amanda managed to find a store called Cat Heaven, which had a lot of black cats and after Mickey wrote a note to his parents, he and Amanda took the bus to Cat Heaven, where Mickey was spooked by what appeared to be a huge yellow-eyed cat with its fangs bared. But it turned out to be a giant billboard for Cat Heaven and Mickey was embarrassed that he got scared by a billboard.
Mickey and Amanda were astounded at how big a building with so many cats was (something that they both agreed with for once). Once they went inside, Mickey and Amanda saw that there were a whole load of cats, which were yowling over some music that was being played, reminding Mickey of chirping crickets on a camping trip with his parents. He found the store weird like in a horror movie, to which Amanda told him that it is just cats in cages. Mickey did not want Amanda to consider him a wimp, but he really wanted to leave the store and go home so he started to follow Amanda to isle 1 when they were approached by a staff member named Lucy, who told them that they have a hundred or two cats and gave them a beeper to push a button on when they find a cat and she will find them. The cats were all mixed up because of their numbers, so that made the search very difficult. As Mickey and Amanda looked in the aisles, another staff member named Lou called out that he had found the black cat they were looking for, but it was the wrong cat. Lou told them to go browse and Mickey and Amanda continued to search, seeing that Lou was not going to be of any help. There were a lot of black cats in the store, but none of them matched Bella, making the search even more excruciating. After a while, Mickey lost it and yelled at Amanda that this was not going to work and that she was crazy, causing her to retaliate by shoving him into a door that they were not allowed to enter, which led to a room with more cats, which were very silent. Mickey decided that those cats were not for sale and called for Amanda to come with him, but she was too busy staring at a black cat in one of the cages. The black cat appeared to be a perfect match for Bella, which Mickey and Amanda were most delighted with. Mickey was about to open the cat's cage when Lou appeared and ordered them to get away from the cage. The two kids protested that was the cat they wanted, but Lou told them those cats are special and are not for sale and that he has other black cats they might like. But the two kids really needed that cat, so Mickey whispered to Amanda to distract Lou somehow while he sneaked back to the room and grab the black cat and run out through the back door. Mickey knew it was stealing, but he thought they had no choice and he really surprised Amanda because she was usually the bold one. So while Amanda distracted Lou by having a "sneezing fit" at the front of the store, Mickey quietly hurried back to the room and she didn't give him any trouble as he pulled her out of her cage. But the back door was stuck when Mickey tried to open it and Lou realised what was happening and started running after Mickey. Mickey managed to get the door open and hurried through from the parking lot to some tall weeds and hid behind a tree from view. Amanda caught up with him and told Mickey that she is perfect and their luck is changing. Then Lou stepped out of the door and spotted them and he continued to pursue them, but Mickey and Amanda managed to escape from him when they realised they were at a bus stop and got on a bus just before he could catch up to them. The two kids were really shaken by their close call while Bella Two was totally calm throughout the whole thing and Mickey wondered how she would react to her new home. When they got back to the Caplans' house, the new Bella went to the many places the old Bella would go to, including her favorite spot on a tattered pillow beside a couch. Mickey and Amanda thought that was way weird but then Mickey began to agree that this might actually work and that Amanda was a genius. But then Bella startled him and Amanda by acting wild and slashing the front of Mickey's T-shirt in two. Mickey was not bleeding, but he and Amanda were shocked at Bella's change of attitude. Amanda suggested that she is probably just nervous and needs more time to adjust before the Caplans came home and that Bella will be normal by the time they do so. Mickey hoped Amanda was right and they went home before Bella could wake up and attack again.
At dinner, Mickey thought of telling his parents what had happened and what he and Amanda had done, but then decided against it for fear that they might tell the Caplans about what the two kids have done. After spending some time with Zorro and his goldfish (who were named Nick, Joe and Kevin), Mickey was in bed, thinking about the old and new Bella and was wondering if he and Amanda could really get away with it. He tried to concentrate on going to sleep when he heard a shrill cat yowl from underneath his bed, but there was no cat when he looked there. Then the cat yowled again, but it was not outside or anywhere in the room. Mickey searched around his room, remembering a movie that he and Amanda had once seen about an evil cat that haunted a family from inside the walls and Mickey was so freaked out by that movie that he made his father move his bed away from the wall. Mickey listened inside the walls, but did not hear a thing, so he was about to go to sleep when he saw the shadow of a cat. Then Mickey heard a soft splash across the room, so he walked over and saw his goldfish brutally torn to shreds. Mickey was appalled at this and he heard the cat yowl again. Mickey looked around for the cat screaming for it, but once again, he could not find it.
Personality
Mickey is quite sensible and cautious but a little uptight and he does tend to panic if something bad was happening and he does not like to cause trouble. He is also a pretty quiet person, especially next to Amanda. He is really best friends with Amanda as she has lived across the street from him his whole life and he thinks she is like something that has always been there. Sometimes they don't always get along and Mickey often thinks that Amanda is weird with how she says her sentences. But Mickey has always been used to Amanda, no matter what. He also finds it weird to be next door to someone who used to be his fifth-grade teacher. Mickey is quite an animal lover, as he likes cats (but it is unknown if he is still into them to this day) and he has some pets of his own and he is most fond of Zorro because of how cute he is. Mickey does provide some humor and he always tries his best to be a good person to everyone.
Appearance
Mickey is twelve years old, Caucasian, tall and thin with dark hair.
Appearances
Mickey was also mentioned in the preview of the Hall of Horrors at the end of The Horror at Chiller House.
Trivia
- Mickey never really described himself in the book. All that was said about his appearance was that he was a nice-looking young man.