Weird Fiction discussion

"The Black Cat" is a short story was first published in the August 19, 1843, edition of The Saturday Evening Post. In the story, an unnamed narrator has a strong affection for pets until he perversely turns to abusing them. His favorite, a pet black cat, bites him one night and the narrator punishes it by cutting its eye out and then hanging it from a tree.

I felt I had to offer that bit of spoiler as a warning to those who can't tolerate stories with pet abuse to skip this one. If others are as curious as I am where Poe plans to take this, come join us in the Poe group for February's Poe read, won't you?

That demonic cat howl!
Preface: The mansion at the PA Rennaissance Fair used to do these performances in winter - they did Dickens' Christmas and they did an Edgar Alan Poe for Halloween I think. It was a marvellous affair. Poe's friends got together and hosted a little benefit concert sending him off on a tour. So they eventually spread the guests into rooms and read various stories, it all culminating with the reading of the Raven in their larger auditorium with a stage.
This actress was reading the Black Cat to us and when the time came for the howl - oh MAN she made the loudest, most demoniac cat howl you could ever imagine. We the audience were blown off our seats! Pure devil artistry!

This story would be great to listen to, I imagine, as would any Poe story. I wonder if Poe was one of those writers who read his material aloud before submitting it just to ensure it flowed well.

I have started it and am enjoying it so far. The first paragraph is reminiscent of many of Lovecraft's beginnings. The possible madman writer, afraid his audience will question his sanity, but assuring the reader his possession of same. This beginning bodes well for our story.

Oh my! That was really awful--in a good way. It was my fist time reading the story, and it was hard to take. I can't imagine it escaping controversy amongst its contemporary readers. Are we supposed to feel an ounce of sympathy for this protagonist?

I have read "The Tell-Tale Heart" a few times. It was published two years earlier than this copycat, no pun intended. Poe is plagiarizing himself with this story, so similar is it to the previous one. I guess if one steals, it's okay stealing from oneself?

If you are looking for a good online version to read, mine was here: https://poestories.com/read/blackcat

It really is brutal!!!!!! And the devil of the lady gets her due! I wonder if people were more sensitive or less to such brutality then My guess is - less.

Dan wrote: "If you are looking for a good online version to read, mine was here: https://poestories.com/read/blackcat."

Thanks for the link Dan; I'll have to print a hardcopy. The internet has destroyed my eyes. The white on black helps... fitting.

Zina wrote: "It really is brutal!!!!!! And the devil of the lady gets her due! I wonder if people were more sensitive or less to such brutality then My guess is - less."

I would agree, yet as we saw last month Poe had to edit out an objectionable part of "Berenice" that really didn't seem so bad, which suggests he had overly sensitive readers. Nevertheless, if I could have asked Poe to tamp anything down it might have been for this story. The casual animal cruelty and spousal abuse here were both uncomfortable reading for me. How are we supposed to maintain any sympathy for this protagonist?

That escalated. The scene in the cellar caught me by surprise; I was completely focused on the cat.

Dan, I think you're off on the publication date of "The Tell-Tale Heart." Wiki and other sources say otherwise.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tel...
https://www.eapoe.org/works/tales/the...

So if "The Tell-Tale Heart" was published in January of 1843, and the "Black Cat" in August of 1843, I'm surprised he wrote something so similar to a story he just published.

I love his intensity and how well he describes disturbing images without them feeling forced, or over the top, making them comical.

How are we supposed to maintain any sympathy for this protagonist?

I am not sure we are supposed to maintain sympathy for that psycho protagonist. Although... Perhaps, the idea is that she is clearly mad, and so could happen to us? So she is a victim of her madness? Idk if that makes sense.

Ah, looking it up in another source, I see "The Black Cat, short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in The Saturday Evening Post in August 1843 and included in Poe’s 1845 collection Tales.

"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story first published in James Russell Lowell's The Pioneer in January 1843.

So "The Tell-Tale Heart" was published seven months instead of two years earlier. That makes my point even stronger! "The Black Cat" is something of a copy. I agree it is surprising he would repeat himself so brazenly. I certainly would not try to publish two stories that similar to one another in the same year! Not even in the same decade, if ever! What was Poe thinking?

So, who's up for enjoying this story next year when we again encounter it again in "The Tell-Tale Heart"?

The narrator blames his actions on alcohol-I'm not convinced.
He certainly got what was coming to him! What a creep!