Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer well-known for his tales and poems or horror and mystery. A majority of Poe's stories were very dark and gruesome. Although "The Black Cat" and "The Cask of Amontillado" were two completely different stories written by Edgar Allan Poe himself, they do have some similarities as well as differences. In "The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Black Cat," the stories involved murder. In both the stories, the narrators killed in horrendous ways. "I forced the last stone into its position; I plastered it up. Against the new masonry I re-erected the old rampart of bones. For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them" (The Cask 194). Here in this quote it explains how Montresor built a wall with Fortunato trapped inside dying slowly and very painfully. In "The Black Cat" the murder was quite horrendous as well, only it was instant and very gruesome. "I aimed a blow at the animal which, of course, would have proved instantly fatal had it descended as I wished. But this blow was arrested by the hand of my wife. Goaded, by the interference, into a rage more than demoniacal, i withdrew my arm from her grasp and buried the axe in her brain. She fell dead upon the spot, without a groan" (Black Cat 5). Another similarity that these two stories shared was alcohol. Alcohol consumption played a big factor in the two stories because it led to unpleasant endings. In the story "The Cask of Amontillado," Fortunato was already impaired since the beginning of the story. He was very easily manipulated by Montresor which then led to his murder. In "The Black Cat," the narrator was an alcoholic who would get intoxicated and then turn into an abusive human being. In addition, another similarity between these two stories was that the narrators both confessed to the crimes they've committed. "You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that i gave the utterance to a threat" (The Cask 190).
