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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - this is episode 286 - an examination from a contemporary standpoint of one of Edgar Poe’s most famous stories - The Pit and the Pendulum. And as you will hear very soon, this episode also marks the return of the Ghost of Mr. Poe.

Even tho The Pit and the Pendulum story was first published in 1842, the tale certainly has the elements of any great story - the dynamics of the tale are not necessarily confined to any specific historical period. Much of Greek and Roman mythology, Shakespeare, and any great literature deals with human emotions that could be found in any era. Poe’s works are no different.

So for this conclusion to episodes dealing with historical speeches and poems about democracy, I would like to look at The Pit and the Pendulum from a contemporary perspective. Edgar Poe obviously did not write the story specifically with a fascist government in mind - the rise of fascist and Nazi dictators did not occur until well after Poe’s death - but I hope to show in this interpretation how the torture that the narrator suffers in The Pit and the Pendulum can be viewed from the standpoint of a natural outgrowth of creeping fascism. And I won’t be changing a word in Poe’s original story.

But before Mr. Poe and I continue, I want to point out that I try for each episode to be around 30 minutes in length. However I believe the increasing suspense built by The Pit and the Pendulum calls for the story to be read or experienced at one sitting - so this Halloween episode will be closer to one hour, but I think you will find it worth it.