The 1843 short story "The Black Cat" follows a drunkard who, blinded by a violent fit, kills his wife's pet cat. Though he replaces the cat with a similar-looking feline, he again inches toward hurting the cat. When hindered by his wife, he ends up killing her instead. He hides his wife's dead body behind the wall, which doesn't last long, as the police trace it once they hear a cat's meows coming from inside the walls. Though Flanagan's version of "The Black Cat" includes a vicious cat in the form of Verna, Leo's (Rahul Kohli) ending differs vastly. He thankfully doesn't murder his boyfriend, Julius (Daniel Jun), but he does end up killing Julius's pet cat, Pluto, while in a stupor under the influence. Even though he quickly replaces Pluto, he's driven to insanity by the seemingly psychotic cat that keeps physically agonizing him. In the end, he swings his hammer off the balcony in an attempt to get rid of the cat but accidentally ends up plummeting to his death.
