FRIGHT FEST #6: The Black Cat - Robert Poe

Whaddya know? Another distant relation to Edgar Allan Poe cropped up. This time it's Robert Poe who wrote two mystery novels inspired by two short stories by the Master of the Macabre. I found his second one first and because it's titled The Black Cat (1997) and drawn from that nasty story of ax murder, a body walled up in a cellar, and a vengeful cat, I thought I'd tackle this one for Halloween. It also promised a storyline about a witch and how her practicing Wicca affects the town of Crowley Creek, Virginia.Our narrator is John Charles Poe who, just like the author, is also descended from the great Edgar. He has been entrusted with a box of documents and letters written by EAP, handed down to the eldest Poe over the past five or so generations. Occasionally John Charles turns to this box and pores over what ol' Edgar wrote. It was fun to read these letters as the author tells us in a footnote that they are taken directly from known letters and essays Poe wrote himself. But they…