Edgar Allen Poe is best known for the dark and gothic nature of his writings. Poe's stories of death and decay can be seen in much of his work including "The Black Cat, " and "The Fall of the House of Usher. " In both of these stories, the main characters and settings are similar in the way that they both are telling of diseases eating away at the person; however, one disease is physically eating away at a family, and the other is a disease of insanity. As the stories unfold, the narrative builds by causing the reader to fear the main characters. One critic points out, " ˜The Fall of the House of Usher' is the best horror story that they have read for a long time ". Another critic says, " ˜The Black Cat' is perfect eerie and dark. The once friendly and loving narrator describes his decline into a wretched and hurtful human being, all due to alcohol abuse. " .
Unlike many of Poe's stories, "The Fall of the House of Usher " does not use the typical first person point of view where the protagonist tells a personal account of a crime that he has committed. Instead, the narrator is a character of whom we know very little, who acts like an observer. One editor says, "This atmospheric horror story is a great example of how an author such as Poe gets straight to the point. " Unlike "The Fall of the House of Usher " "The Black Cat " is written from the perspective of the narrator. Telling the story from the first person point of view, intensifies the effect of moral, shock and horror. In "The Fall of the House of Usher " It is easy for the reader to become the friend in Poe's story as both the narrator and the reader invite madness, as they are drawn into the underworld of the mind where fantasy becomes reality. Twice near the end of the story, Roderick calls the narrator "Madman! " However, the narrator escapes, to watch both the tenants and the house of Usher disappear into the tarn, an underworld which is their true home.
