The Pit and the Pendulum
by Edgar Allan Poe
★★★★
Poe
was the master of capturing our deepest fears and giving them a stage
on which to shine. In Tell-Tale Heart he writes about guilt driving a
man insane, other stories focus on the fear of being buried alive,
destructive force of greed, etc. This dark tale is about a man being
tortured to death and it’s a doozy. One man is trapped in complete
darkness and as he slowly begins to explore his prison he realizes just
how dire his case is.
“The
blackness of eternal night encompassed me. I struggled for breath. The
intensity of the darkness seemed to oppress and stifle me.”
Midnight Fright
A Collection of Ghost Stories
★★★★
This
collection contains five short stories by famous authors, most of whom
are known for their work outside of the supernatural realm. Each offer
up a ghost story of sorts and overall it’s a great compilation. Because
the story are so short, instead of summarizing them I’m going to rate
each one and encourage you to pick the slim volume up for yourself!
The Signalman by Charles Dickens: B+
Man-Size in Marble by E. Nesbit: A
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: A
The Cigarette Case by Oliver Onions: C
The Horla by Guy de Maupassant: A+ - This one blew me away. Not only is it completely engrossing, it was apparently written by the author during the final 18 months of his life, while he was living in an asylum! The creepy tale, which questions a man's sanity, is magnified by that fact. If you like The Yellow Wallpaper you should definitely read this one!
I read both of these for the R.I.P. Challenge.
4 comments:
I'm sad and ashamed I've never read Poe. And I like scary reads! I keep telling myself this would be a great RIP project some year...just to read all Poe.
Sandy - I really think you'd love Poe. You should read a couple of his well-known short stories(Tell Tale Heart, Cask of Amontillado, etc.) and see what you think.
I love the Pit and the Pendulum. Such an intense one. I hate to put myself in the place of the protagonist. That one and the one about being buried alive always gives me the creeps. And I love it.
Carl V - Me too. He had such a gift for creating creepy stories!
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