Victor Séjour’s “Le Mulatre,” or “The Mulatto,” was published in Paris in 1837. Though his works were published in France, Séjour was born in New Orleans, the son of a free Black Haitian “migr” and his freeborn mixed-race wife. This short story was thus the first known literary work of fiction produced by an African American. The story had little significance in its time; in fact, it was not translated into English until 1997. What is important about “The Mulatto” is its creepy plot, which is often compared to the works of Edgar Allan Poe, though its significance as a documentation of the cruelties, ironies, and hypocrisies of slavery is perhaps more significant.