A prisoner arrives at a trial before the Spanish Inquisition and is condemned to death. Upon his conviction, he faints and finds himself in a horrendous cell to fight off death. Still, this prisoner is not giving up that easily and describes his horrendous circumstances to the last detail. "The Pit and the Pendulum" by Edgar Allan Poe is nothing short of grim until the very end. The short story from the 19th century has inspired countless film and television adaptations, including Guillermo del Toro's narrated version in the animated anthology Extraordinary Tales (2015).

B. J. Harrison started his Classic Tales Podcast back in 2007, wanting to breathe new life into classic stories. He masterfully plays with a wide array of voices and accents and has since then produced over 500 audiobooks. Now in collaboration with SAGA Egmont, his engaging narration of these famous classics is available to readers everywhere.

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American writer, poet, editor and literary critic. He is considered a pioneer in the genre of detective fiction, the macabre and science fiction. His numerous short stories include the likes of "The Purloined Letter", and "The Raven" is one of his best-known poems. Edgar Allan Poe's works have been captured throughout popular culture, including films, such as Histoires extraordinaires from 1968, based on Poe's stories and directed by Federico Fellini.