I thought that The Pit and the Pendulum was a bit melodramatic, and I am not really sure what our protagonist was in the pit for. Heck, I'm not even sure who put him in there. So I was starting to wonder, "Why do I like Edgar Allan Poe, again? Is it possible that I only thought I liked him, but I really don't?" And then that pendulum started swinging downward toward our hero's prostrate form. I don't know what Poe did to make his works so freaking scary! I swear, I could hear the swish of that enormous pendulum as it swung downward. I could feel the swarming of the rats, and I could picture the various emotions, and the waxing and waning of hope that our hero felt. I don't love The Pit and the Pendulum. But I
do love Poe.
