The Pit and the Pendulum The Pit and the Pendulum "The Pit and the Pendulum" is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe and first published in 1842 in the literary annual "The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1843". The story is about the torments endured by a prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition, though Poe skews historical facts. The narrator of the story describes his experience of being tortured. The story is especially effective at inspiring fear in the reader because of its heavy focus on the senses, such as sound, emphasizing its reality, unlike many of Poe's stories which are
The Spanish Inquisition (Monty Python) The Spanish Inquisition (Monty Python) "The Spanish Inquisition" is a series of sketches in "Monty Python's Flying Circus", Series 2 Episode 2, first broadcast 22 September 1970, parodying the real-life Spanish Inquisition. This episode is itself entitled "The Spanish Inquisition". The sketches are notable for their principal catchphrase, "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!", which has become a frequently-used quote. The end of the sketch uses music from the composition Devil's Galop by Charles Williams. Rewritten audio versions of the sketches were included on "Another Monty Python Record" in 1971. This is a recurring sketch always predicated on an unrelated sketch