History Literature / TheBlackCat

Was adapted for film as one of the segments in ''Film/TalesOfTerror''.

-->One morning, in cool blood, I slipped a noose about its neck and hung it to the limb of a tree; hung it with the tears streaming from my eyes, and with the bitterest remorse at my heart; hung it ''because'' I knew that it had loved me, and ''because'' I felt it had given me no reason of offense; hung it because I knew that in so doing I was committing a sin -- a deadly sin that would so jeopardize my immortal soul as to place it, if such a thing were possible, even beyond the reach of the infinite mercy of the Most Merciful and Most Terrible God.

[[FriendToAllLivingThings The man says he used to be a fond lover of animals.]] He and his wife used to keep many pets, but his favorite of them all was a friendly black cat named Pluto. The man and his wife live happily and take good care of their animals, until one day the man suddenly turns to the bottle, [[TheAlcoholic eventually becoming a violent alcoholic.]] Coming home one night, he believes Pluto is avoiding him, so he snatches him up. In a panic, Pluto bites the man, who in turn gouges out one of his eyes with a knife.

* FriendToAllLivingThings: The narrator and his wife keep a number of pets and take good care of them. Unlike the man, the wife continues to provide her pets with love and respect.

Enraged, [[AxCrazy the man takes an axe and tries to kill the creature,]] but is stopped by his wife, whom he kills instead. He hides her body in the walls of the house. When the police come to investigate, he's more than happy to realize that the cat seems to have vanished. However, right when the police are about to leave, they hear a yowling coming from the walls. Opening it up, the find the wife's body with the cat perched on her head.

* VillainProtagonist: Our narrator is not only [[TheAlcoholic an alcoholic,]] he [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals kills Pluto]], abuses and murders his wife, and treats whoever is reading his story with condescension.

* TheCatCameBack: PlayedWith. It's never explicitly stated whether the new cat is Pluto come back to life, a ghost, or just a similar looking cat that happens to show up. Nevertheless, it knows everything about what the narrator did and is at least very similar to Pluto.

* DrugsAreBad: Alcohol addiction turns the narrator from a loving husband and diligent pet owner to a raving, violent drunk.

''The Black Cat'' is one of {{Creator/Edgar Allan Poe}}'s more famous short stories, first published in the August 1843 issue of ''The Saturday Evening Post.''

[[FriendToAllLivingThings The man says he used to be a fond lover of animals.]] Him and his wife used to keep many pets, but his favorite of them all was a friendly black cat named Pluto. The man and his wife live happily and take good care of their animals, until one day the man suddenly turns to the bottle, [[TheAlcoholic eventually becoming a violent alcoholic.]] Coming home one night, he believes Pluto is avoiding him, so he snatches him up. In a panic, Pluto bites the man, who in turn gouges out one of his eyes with a knife.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_cat.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''[[SanitySlippage Yet mad I am not...and very surely I do not dream.]]'']]

Some time later, the man runs across another cat, which is exactly the same size and shape as Pluto (it's even missing an eye), the only difference being this one has a patch of white on its chest. [[IdiotBall The man takes the cat home with him, but soon grows to hate it.]] It tormets and tries to kill him several times, and the man realizes with horror the white fur is starting to take the shape of the gallows.

Enraged, [[AxeCrazy the man takes an axe and tries to kill the creature,]] but is stopped by his wife, whom he kills instead. He hides her body in the walls of the house. When the police come to investigate, he's more than happy to realize that the cat seems to have vanished. However, right when the police are about to leave, they hear a yowling coming from the walls. Opening it up, the find the wife's body with the cat perched on her head.

* BuriedAlive The narrator ends up murdering his wife and "buries" her in the basement wall. When the police inspect his house, they're led to the tomb by the cat's screams, the narrator having buried it alive with her without noticing it.

[[FriendToAllLivingThings The man says he used to be a fond lover of animals.]] Him and his wife used to keep many pets, but his favorite of them all was a friendly black cat named Pluto. The man and his wife live happily and take good care of their animals, until one day the man suddenly turns to the bottle, [[TheAlcoholic eventually becoming a violent alcoholic.]] Coming home one night, he believes Pluto is avoiding him, so he snatches him up. In a panic, Pluton bites the man, who in turn gouges out one of his eyes with a knife.

''The Black Cat'' is one of {{Creator/Edgar Allan Poe}}'s more famous short stories, first published in the Augusat 143 issue of ''The Saturday Evening Post.''

* TheAlcoholic: The narrator delights in drinking heavily; most of the story he spends in a cantankerous, foul mood due to the drink.

* TheCatCameBack: PlayedWith. It's never explicitly stated whether the new cat is Pluto come back to life, an ghost, or just a similar looking cat that happens to show up. Nevertheless, it knows everything about what the narrator did and is at least very similar to Pluto.

* TheAlcoholic: The narrator delights in drinking heavily, most of the story he spends in a cantankerous, foul mood due to the drink.

* EyeScream: Poor Pluto! His eye gets gouged out with a penknife by the narrator.

* TheCatCameBack: PlayedWith. It's never explicitly state whether the new cat is Pluto come back to life, an ghost, or just a similar looking cat that happens to show up. Nevertheless, it knows everything about what the narrator did and is at least very similar to Pluto.

!! I had walled up the tropes within the tomb!

This is one of Poe's more violent stories, a little shocking considering he loved cats himself. It isn't held in as such high regard as some of his more infamous works. Some scholars liken it to a mash-up between ''{{Literature/The Cask of Amontillado}}'' and ''{{Literature/The Tell Tale Heart}}''. Nevertheless, it is still respected and admired by readers and teachers alike.