The Pit and the Pendulum

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The Pit and the Pendulum is a Gothic short story that follows a prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition facing psychological terror and a gruesome mechanical execution device.


Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf Gothic fiction work
horror fiction work
short story
adaptedAs 1961 film The Pit and the Pendulum
author Edgar Allan Poe
centralTheme fear of death
psychological terror
the power of the mind under extreme stress
torture
climaxFeature rescue at the brink of death
countryOfOrigin United States
features mechanical execution device
moving heated walls
pit
rats
swinging pendulum
filmAdaptationDirector Roger Corman
filmAdaptationStar Vincent Price
firstPublishedIn The Gift: A Christmas and New Year’s Present for 1843
genre Gothic fiction
horror
psychological horror
hasMotiveForce fear of the unknown
hasSubject extreme confinement
judicial torture
includedIn many Poe short story collections
influenced later horror cinema
psychological horror literature
language English
literaryDevice sensory imagery
stream of consciousness elements
unreliable narration
literaryMovement Romanticism
literaryStatus classic of Gothic horror
mainCharacter unnamed narrator
narrativePointOfView first-person
narrativeStructure chronological with intense interior monologue
partOf Edgar Allan Poe’s tales of terror
placeOfPublication Philadelphia
protagonistStatus prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition
publicationYear 1842
publisher Carey and Hart
settingPeriod Spanish Inquisition
settingPlace Toledo, Spain
targetAudience adult readers
tone claustrophobic
macabre
suspenseful

Referenced by (2)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
notableWork

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