The Black Cat

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Celebrate Creativity and the Hall of Imagination. My name Is George Bartley, Here comes the wax figure of Mr. Poe - always making a grand entrance. Greetings, Mr. Bartley Mr. Poe, I would like to start off by saying a few words about black cats in history and society. Well Mr. Bartley, that is about as logical as what you usually say– In other words not much at all. Mr. Poe, I will ignore that remark. Now like your other stories, you never specifically use the word Halloween in The Black Cat, but the image of a black cat does have a connection to Halloween. Somewhat, Mr. Bartley. There are stories of black cats being sacrificed into fires during pagan celebrations on October 31 as far back as 2,000 years in Druid societies. And in the Middle Ages, it was a commonly held belief that witches could disguise themselves as black cats and these animals sadly became associated with witchcraft. In fact, many witches in Europe were burned at the stake alongside their black cats. Even today the myth that black cats have demonic qualities is said to still exist. Animal shelters have noted that there is a slight danger of black cats being used for sacrifices and satanic rituals at Halloween so they will not allow a black cat to be adopted around Halloween. In fact there is a phenomenon called Black Dog Syndrome. This means that adopting black dogs and cats into new homes, no matter the time of year, can be very difficult. Support the show Thank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.