The Pit and the Pendulum

Edgar Allen Poe is one of my favorite poets of all time. In high school many of my teachers made the class read his short stories and poems. What I learned was that he was a very disturbed man. He lost his wife, who died of tuberculous, and had made suicide attempts. The horror and crime in his writings how dark he viewed life. The one short story written by him that i like most is the Pit and the Pendulum.

The story is about an imprisoned man during the Spanish Inquisition. He is tormented and brought to a dark room where he cannot see how large it is. He figured out that there was a large pit in the middle of the room. When he discovered it, he went close by and smelled a horrible smell. It was the smell of dead bodies of past prisoners who raided the room unaware of the giant pit. He passed out and and was awakened strapped on his back. He soon realizes there is a large blade-like pendulum hanging above him, slowing getting closer to cutting through his chest. He finds a way to escape but the walls of his prison start to move and close in on him, pushing him closer and closer to falling into the pit.

I remember reading the story in class with anticipation and fear wondering what would happen next. It is one of my favorite short stories written by a gifted author.