The Pit and the Pendulum

A prisoner narrates his experience after being condemned by the Inquisition in Toledo. He wakes in total darkness, unsure where he is or what awaits him, and cautiously begins to explore his cell. Each discovery brings new terror, as his captors seem to have prepared devices to torment him in body and mind. The story focuses on sensation, fear and the will to survive, and its tight pacing makes it one of Poe's most suspenseful pieces. It first appeared in 1842.