"For the most wild, yet most homely narrative which I am about to pen, I neither expect nor solicit belief."

Few activities exude the ghostly, haunting sentiments of Halloween so perfectly as a good Edgar Allan Poe retelling chalked full of murder, mystery and psychological guilt and intrigue. With the autumn air turning, just before the gangs of pre-teen, fashion-conscious vampires, various pre-pubescent representatives from the House of Gryffindor and endless - lets face it, adorable - toddlers dressed in full SquarePants, Explorer and Lightyear regalia, the time is ripe for an update on one of the King of Macabre's classics: The Black Cat.

Dark Tales: Edgar Allan Poe's The Black Cat is an adventure, puzzle download game that follows a variation on Poe's short story putting the player just outside his signature troubled narrator. In this case, alongside a friend, Inspector Dupin, seeking assistance discovering the truth behind the disappearance of Monsieur Davies' wife, Sarah, now missing several days, and her recent illusory sitings reported by the local townspeople.

Guided by a mysteriously aware, one-eyed black cat through more than a dozen different rooms and locations spread across the vast Davies estate, Dark Tales: Edgar Allan Poe's The Black Cat rushes the player forward and back, discovering clues and tools along the way, to solve curiously sophisticated, period locking mechanisms, complex hidden object scenes and surprising science-related puzzles to open conspicuously locked doors revealing hidden secrets seemingly in place to dissuade and subvert the most foolish intent to dig beyond the surface. All the time following, what appear to be, distant glimpses of Mrs. Davies, herself!

Dark Tales: Edgar Allan Poe's The Black Cat is the perfect start to a ghostly, eerie and haunting Halloween season. Be sure to follow it up with a late night, fireside reading of Poe's terrifying masterpiece: The Raven.