Edgar Allan Poe is a poet. Whether writing poems, horror stories, or mysteries, his words hum and flow in magical ways. Nowhere is this more apparent than in his short story The Pit and the Pendulum.
The Pit and the Pendulum is quite simply the scariest story ever written. Period. I’ve never read anything else that comes close. Filled with beautiful word paintings composed of somewhat obscure words, this is the story of a man imprisioned by the Spanish Inquisition and his suffering.
Yes, there is physical suffering, physical pain. But this is more a story of mental anguish, of how anticipation of the unknown can be much much worse than anything that actually happens, a story about how the twisted few enjoyed toying with the helpless masses. Suffering is maximized when the sufferer knows pain is inevitable, death is inevitable.
Just as we accept death, ingenious death planned down to the smallest detail, our nameless hero is saved. While there is life there is hope. I suppose this is the ultimate message of The Pit and the Pendulum.