The White Cat of Drumgunniol is a short story by Sheridan Le Fanu, published on 2 April 1870 in All the Year Round magazine. The story centers on a tale told by an Irish schoolmaster who recounts the legends and superstitions surrounding an old farmhouse in an isolated region of Ireland. His childhood memories include the appearance of a spectral female figure and a mysterious white cat, which are associated with omens of death in his family.
“The Black Cat” is a psychological horror short story by Edgar Allan Poe, published on August 19, 1843, in The Saturday Evening Post. Told in the first person, it recounts the story of a man who, since childhood, has felt a deep affection for animals—especially for his cat, Pluto. However, the abuse of alcohol gradually transforms his character, leading him to violence and depravity. As his behavior deteriorates, his relationship with the animal grows dark and obsessive, while the narrator begins to reveal the deepest and most terrifying recesses of his tormented mind.
In “The Squaw”, a short story by Bram Stoker published in 1893, a young American couple is enjoying their honeymoon in Germany, where they meet an eccentric traveler from Nebraska, Elias P. Hutcheson. Together, they head to Nurnberg, where they hope to visit the ancient castle, particularly the torture tower where the famous “Iron Virgin” is kept. During a walk around the castle, Hutcheson, in an attempt to play with a stray kitten, accidentally kills it with a stone. This unleashes the wrath of the mother cat, which becomes an embodiment of hatred and revenge, which will have severe consequences for the travelers.
“Cat in the Rain” is a short story by Ernest Hemingway, published in 1925 in the book In Our Time. In an Italian hotel facing the sea, an American couple spends a gray and rainy day. From the window, the woman looks out at a deserted garden and notices a cat trying to shelter from the rain under a table. Moved by compassion, she decides to go down and look for it while her husband stays in the room reading. The journey through the hotel, the attentive treatment of the owner, and the constant rain frame an everyday scene that barely hides the emotional distance, lack of communication, and atmosphere of dissatisfaction surrounding the couple.