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 have little to do with the story other than reminding us that the book is supposed to be an exploration of the inescapable concept of doing evil for its own sake.

The novel is basically nothing more than a re-telling of "The Black Cat." There is a woman who disappears and is feared to be dead by the more superstitious members of the town. Her husband, the local veterinarian, is sure she simply left him and will show up at her relatives in Charlottesville. John Charles Poe, a reporter, at the urging of his research assistant Edith starts looking into this disappearance. Anyone familiar with Poe's short story knows that Margaret Cully is never coming back.

The vet has hired Julie Noir, a young girl who John Charles says can be anywhere between seventeen and twenty-four. She alternately acts like a wise old woman and a naive teen making it all the more difficult to pin down her age.  Julie is also a practicing Wiccan. She has an exceptional skill at healing the sick animals at Dr. Lawrence Cully's clinic. She gathers special herbs at night in the light of the moon (preferably a full moon, of course) and concocts all sorts of unique potions and poultices. An old Irish Setter named Gomer suffering from a GI illness was treated by Dr. Cully but had a relapse. As soon as Julie applies her special herb treatment to the dog he recovers within hours. Does she have magical powers? Or is it arcane science? We never really know. The townspeople begin to freak out, in particular the zealot Rev. Rowland Fairchild who accuses Julie of witchcraft and dealing with Lucifer. He starts a campaign to oust her from Crowley Creek. But Dr. Cully is unwilling to fire his assistant. You see, he is lusting for her wants to possess her. It's no surprise when he confesses he has had a sexual relationship with her. 

From a French 1948 edition
artwork by Albert Dubout

And where is The Black Cat in all of this?  Julie has a pet cat called Asmodeus, of course.  A cat named after a demon can't be a good sign.  Asmodeus is almost always seen on Julie's shoulder watching everyone.  The cat is always ready to protect Julie.  It has taken a liking to John Charles and has an antipathy towards Dr. Cully.  Again, anyone familiar with Poe's classic short story will have figured the entire plot once Asmodeus appears. And sure enough the story fulfills it promise of echoing all that occurs in "The Black Cat."  Though the characters notice the eerie similarities to the short story and the events taking place in town it takes John Charles way too long to think of going into Dr. Cully's cellar and exposing him for the killer he most obviously is.

As the so-called mystery of Margaret's disappearance and the revelations of her murder slowly unfolds there are three or four subplots going on. John Charles is a reporter and he has an antagonistic relationship with his editor Mrs. Boynton. We have generational criticism of lost teenage misfits, how easy it is for teens to be exploited when vulnerable. The author attempts to satirize the small-mindedness of small towns that want everything to stay the same, and attacks their intolerance of counterculture types. Finally, there is a very strange 17th century, fire and brimstone, backlash in response to a young woman practicing Wicca. The "us against them" mentality got to be annoying and I got the feeling that the author had a big hang-up against punk rock and death metal and its insidious influence on young people. Late in the novel a disturbing sequence occurs when John Charles and Edith attend a death metal concert for a band called The Dead Souls. Ironically, in a story including an ax murder and entombment, this is the most gruesome and bizarre incident in the book and it most definitely serves as the author's big message of the book.

From a French 1933 edition,
artwork by Auguste Leroux

The most off-putting aspect was Fairchild's over-the-top reaction to Wicca rituals. His insane ranting and quoting Old Testament passages from the Bible was utterly anachronistic. He is introduced as an Episcopalian priest with a church that has a small parish and with little influence in a town of Christians who attend other churches. By the end of the book he has become the only religious figure speaking out against Julie and for some reason everyone is listening to him. I don't know why because he comes across as a lunatic. When he's practically foaming at the mouth about witches being the Devil's handmaidens, quoting the Book of Leviticus, and mentioning a moonlight ritual he witnessed during which Julie prayed to the Goddess and calls it blasphemy it all seems ridiculous.  I always thought that Episcopalians are just American versions of Church of England followers and therefore similar to Catholics minus the Pope and leadership from the Vatican. I would think like Catholics the message of an Episcopalian is the teachings of Jesus and not an obsession with obscure passages from the Old Testament, a preoccupation of fundamentalist Christians. Reverend Fairchild seems more like a Calvinist or a Puritan rather than a late 20th century Episcopalian. It was all very strange and sort of insulting to read those passages. It could have been handled with less hysteria and ludicrous zealotry.

For the Halloween season The Black Cat was an OK read.  I did find a copy of Poe's first book Return to the House of Usher (1997) but I'm unsure if I will bother with it knowing what's he's done with this re-telling of EAP's short story.  Ultimately, the mystery was hardly mysterious since it completely echoed "The Black Cat." The religious zealotry was absurd, the teen cliques (punks vs. the straights) were overplayed, the bullying and violence among the teens also seemed over-the-top in reaction to something as innocuous as a girl who heals sick animals with herbs. Even the supernatural element seemed nebulous. The true mystery of the book is Julie Noir. Is she a good witch or a bad witch?  Though everything seems to wrap up neatly -- the villain's evil is exposed, our hero is redeemed -- that ultimate question about Julie is never really answered.

For the curious who feel compelled to read this book you may buy my copy. It's listed for sale here.