The Pit and the Pendulum

Written by Edgar Allan Poe

Narrated by Cathy Dobson

Possibly the scariest horror story of all time.

Captured and condemned to death by the Inquisition at Toledo, the narrator finds that his captors have devised a dungeon for him which exposes him to the most dreadful and drawn out psychological terror before certain death finally catches him.

Every time he manages to escape one of their petrifying devices, another even more gruesome mode of execution is deployed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Red Door Consulting
• Release date: Jul 15, 2013
• ISBN: 9781467669191

Edgar Allan Poe

New York Times bestselling author Dan Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University, with appointments at the Fuqua School of Business, the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, and the Department of Economics. He has also held a visiting professorship at MIT’s Media Lab. He has appeared on CNN and CNBC, and is a regular commentator on National Public Radio’s Marketplace. He lives in Durham, North Carolina, with his wife and two children.

Reviews for The Pit and the Pendulum

[kagw-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A man who is hoped to die was closing his eyes and lying on his back. Then unknown blacks appeared and took him to the place like under the grave. In that terrible situation, he went through some crisis with his wiseness. Could he manage to survive or died ? I don't like this type of story, so it's too boring to me. But as the mysterious black and large rats show, there are very unique character in this, and they make srory more fantastic. This book also have other short stories concerning about horror, then you would be able to enjoy!

[joybee_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love Edgar Allan Poe. I think he is one of the best horror writers ever.A man is sentenced to death by a jury. He is thrown into a dark dungeon where he begins being tortured. No gore is described in this tale, it's more of a psychological suspense where the narrator frees himself from one destruction only to find himself in another. The dungeon is dark at first, and he narrowly escapes plummeting to his death in a well, only to awake tied to a cot, with enough illumination to see a sharp pendulum slowly lowering from the ceiling right to his heart. My heart was beating quickly while reading this, great suspense, great horror. A definite reread.

[akbwrites · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Frankly, this remains today one of the most utterly disgusting tales in all of English literature. You can feel the nipping of the rats on your flesh as you read it.

[arkrayder · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Pit and the Pendulum is easily one of my favorite Poe story’s. Set during the time of the Spanish Inquisition, it’s descriptive narrative lends weight to the tale. One can almost feel oneself beside the unnamed narrator facing the terror of the pit and feeling the breeze from the pendulum as it swings closer and closer.

[lisa.johnson.james · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Short, creepy as all get pout, macabre, & insidious, it's Poe at his blackest. We never know the age or name of the young man who is sentenced to death & finds himself in a dungeon. As he feels his way around, he attempts to discover the dimensions of his prison, trips, & falls right at the edge of a pit in the center of the cell. Terrified, he retreats to the edge of the cell, where he drinks the water that's provided for him by an unknown hand. When he wakes next, it's discovered that the water was drugged, & he's strapped to a table in what amounts to mummy wrappings, & then he notices the razor edged pendulum above him. In the hours/days(?) even he himself doesn't know, he watches it descend little by little, it's scythed edge sweeping back & forth with a hiss. At first he embraces what is sure to be his certain death, then snaps out of it, & devises an ingenious way to escape his winding sheets. The rest of the story I won't spoil.....

[kaethe_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love this story. It's creepy and it lingers in the brain forever.

[leonard_seet_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Waking up in darkness, fearing a live burial; groping in the darkness almost falling into a pit; bound to a framework under a swinging pendulum while rats rush for their midnight snack; sizzling iron walls squeezing together, but not to cook hamburgers. These could be scenes from Indiana Jones and the Dungeons of Toledo. And yet, The Pit and the Pendulum is classic Poe: heart throbbing, adrenaline rushing, spine tinkling and hair raising suspense and terror. The story triumphs not only through its content but also its form; the words and sentences, like spectral needles and blades, pierce memory and imagination to engrave a tangy nightmare. Yes, before Stephen King, there was Edgar Allan Poe. Bon appetite!