The Pit and the Pendulum

This is an excellently macabre experience.

It reminded me of a James Bond movie, tied to a slab with a circular saw slowly edging closer to slicing him in half, between his legs and ultimately through his gonads. Or maybe it was Goldfinger and a laser? I don't rightly remember. Naturally 007 escapes to live another day.

Did the movie borrow the horror from this short story? It wouldn't surprise me.

The claustrophobic terror is compounded by hungry rats and a bowl of tasty meat that I failed to grasp the significance of, perhaps connected to chewing through the imprisoning straps coated with minced morsels?

And the Spanish Inquisition element, what's that all about? incidental?

You feel the terror of being tied down and awaiting impending mutilation by swinging blade, ravenous rats, by being buried alive, suffocation or going out of your mind!

It's a wondrously weird and sinister tale that showcases EAP at his nutcase best, also reminding me of The 120 of Sodom for some reason, but that book, although laugh-out-loud and gagging on your snack at times, goes on and on, repeats and gets really boring.

This however is a nice slice of inescapable terror that doesn't overstay its welcome.