"The Black Cat" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. It was first published in the August 19, 1843, edition of The Saturday Evening Post. In the story, an unnamed narrator has a strong affection for pets until he perversely turns to abusing them. His favorite, a pet black cat, bites him one night and the narrator punishes it by cutting its eye out and then hanging it from a tree. The home burns down but one remaining wall shows a burned outline of a cat hanging from a noose. He soon finds another black cat, similar to the first except for a white mark on its chest, but he develops a hatred for it as well. He attempts to kill the cat with an axe but his wife stops him; instead, the narrator murders his wife. He conceals the body behind a brick wall in his basement. The police soon come and, after the narrator's tapping on the wall is met with a shrieking sound, they find not only the wife's corpse but also the black cat that had been accidentally walled in with the body and alerted them with its cry.
"The Masque of the Red Death" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1842. The story follows Prince Prospero's attempts to avoid a dangerous plague, known as the Red Death, by hiding in his abbey. He, along with many other wealthy nobles, hosts a masquerade ball in seven rooms of the abbey, each decorated with a different color. In the midst of their revelry, a mysterious figure disguised as a Red Death victim enters and makes his way through each of the rooms. Prospero dies after confronting this stranger, whose "costume" proves to contain nothing tangible inside it; the guests also die in turn.
"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843. It is told by an unnamed narrator who endeavors to convince the reader of the narrator's sanity while simultaneously describing a murder the narrator committed. The victim was an old man with a filmy pale blue "vulture-eye", as the narrator calls it. The narrator emphasizes the careful calculation of the murder, attempting the perfect crime, complete with dismembering the body in the bathtub and hiding it under the floorboards. Ultimately, the narrator's actions result in hearing a thumping sound, which the narrator interprets as the dead man's beating heart.
The Nightmare Before Christmas is a 1993 American stop-motion animated musical fantasy film directed by Henry Selick in his feature directorial debut and produced and conceived by Tim Burton. It tells the story of Jack Skellington, the King of "Halloween Town", who stumbles upon "Christmas Town" and schemes to take over the holiday. Danny Elfman wrote the songs and score and provided the singing voice of Jack. The principal voice cast includes Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey, Ken Page, Paul Reubens, Glenn Shadix, and Ed Ivory.
"The Fall of the House of Usher" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1839 in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine, then included in the collection Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque in 1840. The short story, a work of Gothic fiction, includes themes of madness, family, isolation, and metaphysical identities.
Jack Skellington is a character and the protagonist of the 1993 film The Nightmare Before Christmas. He is a tall, sentient skeleton who is the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, a fantasy world based solely on the Halloween holiday. Jack is voiced by Chris Sarandon. Danny Elfman provided Jack's singing voice in the original film and soundtrack album, with Sarandon providing Jack's speaking and singing voice in subsequent productions.
Vincent is a 1982 American stop-motion animated short film written, designed and directed by Tim Burton, and produced by Rick Heinrichs. There is currently no individual release of the film except for a few bootleg releases. It can be found on the 2008 Special Edition and Collector's Edition DVDs of The Nightmare Before Christmas as a bonus feature and on the Cinema16 DVD American Short Films.
Robert George Pickett, better known as Bobby "Boris" Pickett, was an American singer-songwriter and comedian. He is best known for co-writing and performing the 1962 smash hit novelty song "Monster Mash".
Snoopy! The Musical is the 31st prime-time animated TV special based on characters from the Charles M. Schulz comic strip Peanuts. It is an animated adaptation of the musical of the same name, and originally aired on the CBS network on January 29, 1988.
Steven Soenksen, better known under his pen name Gris Grimly, is an American illustrator and author who mostly writes darkly whimsical children's books. Originally from Nebraska, he spent many years living and working in the Los Angeles area.
Bruce Dinsmore is a Canadian actor. He voices Tubby Tompkins from The Little Lulu Show, Binky Barnes and David Read from Arthur, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer from The Secret World of Santa Claus and Greens the Frog from Mumble Bumble and has contributed motion capture and voice performances in numerous video games, notably as Paul Revere in Assassin's Creed III, Maximilien Robespierre in Assassin's Creed Unity, and Bill Taggart in Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
American poet and short story writer Edgar Allan Poe has had significant influence in television and film. Many are adaptations of Poe's work, others merely reference it.
Edgar Allan Poe has appeared in popular culture as a character in books, comics, film, and other media. Besides his works, the legend of Poe himself has fascinated people for generations. His appearances in popular culture often envision him as a sort of "mad genius" or "tormented artist", exploiting his personal struggles. Many depictions of Poe interweave elements of his life with his works, in part due to Poe's frequent use of first-person narrators, suggesting an erroneous assumption that Poe and his characters are identical.
Monster Mash is a 1995 musical comedy horror film written and directed by Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow, based on Bobby Pickett's 1962 novelty song "Monster Mash" and the 1967 stage musical, I'm Sorry the Bridge is Out, You'll Have to Spend the Night, also by Pickett and Sheldon Allman. The film adaptation follows Mary and Scott, a young couple who find themselves spending Halloween night at the mansion of Dr. Victor Frankenstein. Along with housemates Igor, Count Dracula, Wolfie, Frankenstein's monster, and a reanimated Elvis Presley, Dr. Frankenstein takes a personal interest in what secret designs await the main characters.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a 2010 American comedy film directed by Thor Freudenthal and based on Jeff Kinney's 2007 book of the same name. The film stars Zachary Gordon and Robert Capron. Devon Bostick, Rachael Harris, Steve Zahn, and Chloë Grace Moretz also have prominent roles. It is the first installment in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid film series and was followed by three sequels, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (2011), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2012), and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (2017). 20th Century Fox released the film theatrically in the United States on March 19, 2010, receiving mixed reviews from critics and grossing $76 million worldwide against a $15 million budget.
Terrence Frederick Scammell is a Canadian voice actor and voice director.
David Simon Pumpkins is a fictional character played by American actor Tom Hanks who first appeared on the October 22, 2016, episode of Saturday Night Live in a sketch written by Mikey Day, Bobby Moynihan, and Streeter Seidell. The character developed a cult following and served as the basis for an animated Halloween special in 2017 and has subsequently returned to SNL multiple times.
