The Pit and the Pendulum

Title: The Pit and the Pendulum

Author: Edgar Allan Poe

Narrator: Jonathan Dunne

Original Publication: 1842

Public Domain: Yes

Series Placement: Number 32 in the Timeless Terrors series

Description:

The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe is a harrowing descent into psychological and physical torment — a masterpiece of suspense that explores the extremities of fear and the indomitable will to survive. Set during the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition, a condemned man awakens in a pitch-black chamber where terror comes not from the unseen alone, but from the cruel machinery of death itself.

Through meticulous pacing and sensory detail, Poe transforms the simple elements of darkness, time, and confinement into instruments of unbearable dread. The swinging blade, the narrowing walls, and the unseen abyss below merge into a nightmare of pure existential terror.

Narrated by horror author Jonathan Dunne, this performance captures Poe’s rhythm of panic and revelation — the tightening pulse of a man struggling against both despair and death. While the text itself is in the public domain, this narration is an original performance and copyright © 2025 Jonathan Dunne.

Part of Timeless Terrors, a series dedicated to resurrecting the classic voices of the macabre, The Pit and the Pendulumendures as one of literature’s most visceral portrayals of horror — a story where every heartbeat echoes the pendulum’s swing, and every breath might be the last.

Prepare for a journey into darkness, dread, and the thin line between reason and madness — a tale that proves the greatest terror is to be conscious while facing the inevitable.

© 2025 Jonathan Dunne (Audiobook): 9798318331657

Release date

Audiobook: 23 October 2025