Revisiting the short story “The Pit and the Pendulum”, I remember what made me love this story and Edgar Allan Poe in the first place. Not only does the story touch on history with the Spanish Inquisition, which as a history buff I loved, but also the dark and eerie story that spooked me when I was a kid. I did start to wonder why such a story was shared with my class at such a young age – but to be fair, others could say the same thing with the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The story definitely opened up my imagination and as I re-read the short story I seemed to have re-awoken that child-like imagination that gripped me the first time.

I think the other thing that compelled me to this story and Poe, was my admiration for visionary artists like Tim Burton and Robert Wiene (The Cabinet of Doctor of Cagliari) whose twisted and grim sets transport audiences into a new world which must have been inspired by Poe or at least shares the same imagination.

Poe brilliantly has a way with “Pit” to give the reader the feeling their walking along with the narrator as he gropes about his prison as he seems to be submerged in darkness. The intensity created where the narrator is doomed to death by a pendulum swinging closer and closer is gripping and the rats that scurry about him to chew at the ropes binding the narrator setting him free - exhilarating. The idea of suffering from “death anxiety” as the narrator tells his readers catapults one into a dark time in history of the Spanish Inquisition.

Poe’s short story was written in 1842. The narrator, as I mentioned above, is part of the Spanish Inquisition. He is tried at court and punished with death. The character deals a lot with hope and faith. It was around 1842 when Poe’s wife, Virginia, fell ill. It was interesting to read several passages and acknowledge that perhaps Poe used writing as an outlet as well as penning his unique imagination.

Second photo: Set of The Cabinet of Dr. Cagliari
Third photo: From Tim Burton's short film Vincent