"The Pit and the Pendulum" is a short story by American writer 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. The...

"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843. It is related by an unnamed narrator who endeavors to convince the reader of the narrator's sanity while simultaneously describing a murder the narrator committed. The victim was an old man with a filmy pale blue "vulture-eye", as the narrator calls it. The narrator emphasizes the careful calculation of the murder, attempting the perfect crime, complete with dismembering the body in the bathtub and hiding it under the floorboards. Ultimately, the narrator's actions result in hearing a thumping...

The Raven is Edgar Allan Poe's most famous poem, first published on January 29, 1845 in the New York daily newspaper Evening Mirror. Characterized by musicality, artistic expressiveness and a mystical atmosphere, it tells of the mysterious visit of a talking raven to a heartbroken young man who has lost his beloved. In response to questions full of despair and hope, the raven repeats the word “nevermore”, which aggravates the hero’s mental anguish. The poem contains some references to folklore, mythology and antiquity....

Roderick Asher, the last offspring of an ancient family, invites a friend of his youth to visit him and stay in a family castle on the shores of a gloomy lake. Lady Madilein, Roderick’s sister is seriously and hopelessly ill, her days are numbered and even her friend’s arrival is not able to dispel Asher’s sadness. After the death of Madeline, one of the castle's dungeons is chosen as the place of her temporary burial. For several days, Roderick was in dismay, until a storm broke out at night and a monstrous circumstance emerged - Lady Madilein was buried alive! Having risen from the grave,...