The Black Cat

This macabre short story from the father of American horror fiction was first published in 1843 in the Saturday Evening Post. The classic narratives features a murderer tormented by guilt over his terrible deeds and a cat who may be out for revenge. The narrator's admission that much of his bad behavior and deranged thinking is the result of alcohol is possibly autobiographical, as Poe himself struggled with alcoholism throughout his life.

This short work is part of Applewood's "American Roots," series, featuring tactile mementos of American passions by some of America's most famous writers and thinkers.