The Pit and the Pendulum Resources

Here's a nice look at Poe's stories and poems, complete with biography, full-text versions of his works, and other assorted goodies.

Like, seriously cool. The prove that the earth rotates, for crying out loud! Check it out.

Despite sharing its name, this movie has very little to do with Poe's story. But it does feature Vincent Price and a screenplay written by Richard Matheson – the man who wrote the book I Am Legend and that episode of the Twilight Zone with the goblin hanging out on the wing of the airplane.

Ray Harryhausen Presents: The Pit and the Pendulum (2006) is a short film based on Poe's story – done in stop-motion claymation! Bet you weren't expecting that. It comes with the blessing of Ray Harryhausen, the man behind the special effects in many a monster movie; his last film was Clash of the Titans (1981), which – surprise, surprise – has also been remade.

Vincent Price, master of horror, reads Poe's story aloud. You may recognize his voice from the video for Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

You have to love that illustration of Poe at the beginning. As you can probably tell, the 1961 movie doesn't have much to do with its inspiration. It does, however, have Vincent Price.

Here's a considerably more lighthearted take on the old Inquisition.

Looks to be a faithful adaptation, no? Well, aside from the whole clay thing…

If you only see one picture of Poe this year, this should be it.

Here's another (kind of strange) one.

This is only the tip of the iceberg: Henry Clarke did many other illustrations based on Poe's work.