
Since its publication, the story has been adapted several times for both the big and small screen, most notably in the 1961 film of the same name, starring Vincent Price. This is a psychological freak-out at its best. It's unique even within Poe's own literary corpus in its use of realism to intensify the horror. What a way to go.įirst published in The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1843, the very un-holiday-like tale has since become a classic of horror literature. Published by Edgar Allan Poe in 1843, "The Pit and the Pendulum" tells the story of a man who's sentenced to death and tortured by the Spanish Inquisition, using – among other things – a razor sharp pendulum that will cut him right in half. Heights? Spiders? Public speaking? Death by razor sharp pendulum? Oh, not that last one? Weird. What are you most afraid of? Go ahead, no one's listening.
