"The Cats of Ulthar"

by H.P. Lovecraft
originally published The Tryout, November, 1920

Once upon a time in Ulthar, there was a cotter ad his wife who liked to trap and kill cats.  The townsfolk were too afraid of them to put a stop to it.

A caravan of traders comes through the town, and on it is an orphan boy named Menes, whose only companion is a black kitten.  The kitten disappears.  Menes, having heard tell of the old couple, takes revenge by praying to the gods.  And he is heard.  

That night, after several ominous warning signs, the cats of the town surround the cotter's home.  They come back fat and happy.  But all that's left of the cotter and his wife are two clean-picked skeletons.  The authorities of Ulthar pass a law forbidding the killing of cats.

I don't have any particular thoughts to offer about this little Dunsanian bon-bon, except that its as close as HPL ever came to sweet.  And as a guy who grew up with a cat and always loved them, I like it.