Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat" is a short story that explores themes of guilt and perversity. The narrator, haunted by cruelty to his black cat and acts of domestic violence, is consumed by paranoia and madness. His attempt to conceal a crime leads to his own disgrace.

In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart", the narrator tries to prove his sanity after murdering an elderly man because of his "vulture eye". His growing guilt leads him to hear the old man's heart beating under the floorboards, which drives him to confess the crime to the police.

"The Black Cat" is one of Edgar Allan Poe's most memorable stories. The tale centers around a black cat and the subsequent deterioration of a man. The story is often linked with "The Tell-Tale Heart" because of the profound psychological elements these two works share.

In "The Domain of Arnheim", Edgar Allan Poe explores the aesthetics and power of nature through Ellison, a wealthy man who creates an impressive landscaped garden. This tale discusses themes of beauty, art and idealism, as Ellison uses his fortune to shape a perfect earthly refuge.

Classic / British English Are you brave enough to read four of Poe's famous horror stories? Edgar Allan Poe wrote strange stories about terrible people and evil crimes. Don't read this book late at night!

Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3 (A), Ruhr-University of Bochum (English Faculty), 8 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: This term paper deals with Edgar Allan Poe ́s short stories "The Black Cat" and "The Tell-Tale Heart", which are both examples of men who give in to a strange inner force which Poe himself calls "perverseness". His notion of this term is explicitly used in what could be called his "short-story-essay": "The Imp of the Perverse". First of all it is neccessary to explain what Poe meant by this certain force, apart and beyond the ordinary understanding of "perverseness". After that his two tales of terror mentioned above will be compared according to their common themes. First a short summary of each will be given, followed by the point-of-view-technique Poe uses for a certain purpose. Then the victims of the stories and the narrators ́ causes of fear will be explored. Both tales obviously deal with the causes of domestic violence that occur as the result of an irrational fear (either superstition or ancient belief). Then both protagonists will be characterized as perverse criminals who give in to their dark side and annihilate themselves. Furthermore there ́s a discussion of narrative style and images and the ending of the stories. At last especially "The Black Cat" is explored considering its content of truth. So the reader may see that Poe gave us two little masterpieces in human psychology to think about: The "spirit of perverseness" is lurking in everybody...