The Black Cat

The Black Cat, a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, was first published in the August 19, 1843, edition of The Saturday Evening Post. Called a study of the psychology of guilt, it is often compared to Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart. In both, a murderer who is certain he has carefully concealed the evidence of his crime eventually breaks down and outs himself, driven by a persistent reminder of his guilt.