"The Pit and the Pendulum" is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe and first published in 1842 in the literary annual The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1843. The story is about the torments endured by a prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition, though Poe skews historical facts. The narrator of the story describes his experience of being tortured. The story is especially effective at inspiring fear in the reader because of its heavy focus on the senses, such as sound, emphasizing its reality, unlike many of Poe's stories which are aided by the supernatural. Edgar Allan Poe is also famous for such works as «The Raven», «The Cask of Amontillado», «The Fall of the House of Usher», «The Masque of the Red Death», «The Pit and the Pendulum», «The Murders in the Rue Morgue», «The Tell-Tale Heart», «The Gold-Bug», «The Black Cat», «The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar», «Hop-Frog» and many more.