The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe

Told by an unnamed narrator awaiting execution, The Black Cat charts his descent from loving pet owner to violent criminal, driven by alcoholism and growing instability. After killing his cat Pluto in a drunken rage, strange events unfold—culminating in a gruesome murder and an eerie twist of fate. Poe combines horror, guilt, and the supernatural in a compact, intense narrative that explores human cruelty and conscience. The story is a Gothic masterpiece of psychological horror and moral reckoning.