It’s that time of year when the store shelves are filled with all things spooky — ghosts, zombies, goblins, witches ... and black cats.

If you’re thinking one of these things does not belong, perhaps you’ve joined the black cat club along the way?

There are two of them in my dining room as I type this, one sitting stately and stone still like an ancient Egyptian statue. He is sweet and comforting when he wants to be but also curious and fond of sitting quietly to watch and take in the happenings in the house.

The other is rolling around on her back doing the move we call “ottering” in our household. She’d prefer I stop typing and scratch her belly, thank you very much. She too is sweet but more silly, prone to perching on you in bed as if she’s claimed you as her own.

There’s nothing spooky about either.

October is a hard month for black cats.

There’s the long-held myth that they pose some sort of threat to humans, that they carry bad luck and have the ability to sprinkle it upon us simply by walking in front of us.

I’ve owned four black cats in my life.

The worst they’ve ever done when walking in front of me is cause me to trip — but that’s mostly my own utter klutziness mixed with a fear of hurting them.

There are strange notions that black cats are the familiars of witches and perform some of their wicked deeds.

I can be a real witch sometimes; just ask my teenager.

Unfortunately even black cats look at humans as their staff, rather than the other way around.

And yet, this time of year as people prop up frightening black cat yard decor and creepy black kitties around the house, there’s a real crisis for the real kind.

Some shelters around the United States are forced to put a hold on all black cat adoptions in October, knowing that like baby bunnies adopted at Easter, they may well be returned a month later when the urge to own something of the moment has gone away.

Cats are living creatures, not cute Halloween costume accessories.

And black cats, like the greys, the tabbies, the orange marmalade ones, the white ones, and all the rest, are just waiting to be loved by someone.