Our pet-loving narrator injures his black cat under heavy influence of alcohol. From that moment onward, the cat flees in terror at his master's approach but this does not save Pluto from his master and eventually leads to Pluto's death and a mysterious house fire. The mystery does not end there and leads to even more unexpected events. The book features twenty other stories including: The Fall of the House of Usher, The Masque of the Red Death, The Imp of the Perverse.