First published in a 1843 edition of The Saturday Evening Post, The Black Cat tells the story of a man and his increasingly antagonistic relationship with his cat. Akin to The Tell-Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado, The Black Cat investigates the psychological effects of guilt as well as the potentially destructive and violent consequences of alcoholism.

"Cas Lowood always knew that he would inherit the family vocation: killing the dead. An untimely and gruesome murder left a young Cas fatherless and barely ready to take on his mantle--but with no other choice. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. They follow legends and local lore, destroy the murderous dead, and keep pesky things like the future...

"Unnerved by the overgrown forest near her aunt's house and the wild black cats that live there, Danni encounters a mean old woman who claims to be their owner and makes a discovery that places her life in danger"--WorldCat.