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The Pit and the Pendulum

By: Edgar Allan Poe
Narrated by: William Roberts
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Editor reviews

A prisoner is condemned by the judges of the Spanish Inquisition, but because the sentence is read in a language in which he is not fluent, he knows not his punishment. AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator William Roberts’ raspy baritone conveys the fear and increasing hysteria of the condemned man as he confronts the pit that invites his fall, the rats that welcome his food, and the razor's edge of a pendulum that swings back and forth and close enough to fray his clothing in this selection from the Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales of Mystery and Imagination collection of gothic terror master Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories.

Summary

This is a story from the Fall of the House of Usher collection.

The horrors of the Spanish Inquisition, with its dungeon of death, and the overhanging gloom on the House of Usher demonstrate unforgettably the unique imagination of Edgar Allan Poe. Unerringly, he touches upon some of our greatest nightmares: premature burial, ghostly transformation, words from beyond the grave. Written in the 1840s, they have retained their power to shock and frighten even now.

Also in this collection of Poe's tales of mystery and imagination: The Black Cat, The Facts in the Case of M Valdemar, The Cask of Amontillado, Ligeia, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Masque of the Red Death, The Premature Burial, and The Raven.

©2003 NAXOS AudioBooks Ltd. (P)2003 NAXOS AudioBooks Ltd.

Critic reviews

"Those who thought only Basil Rathbone could narrate Poe are in for a surprise and a treat. The no-nonsense William Roberts narrates a production mercifully free of frills. No unnecessary music or sound effects interfere with the brilliance of the writing or the purity of the performance." ( AudioFile)

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