Although Poe often declared that the allegory was an inferior form of fiction, he comes close to creating an allegory in "The Pit and the Pendulum." Instead of allegory, Poe favored gothic short fiction, a form that was extremely popular in the early nineteenth century in Germany. Many of Poe's stories reveal that he is familiar with such gothic fiction and is at times parodying the form. Indeed, it is sometimes difficult to determine if he is presenting a seemingly horrific story as a serious experience or as a satiric and comic one.

Although "The Pit and the Pendulum" seems to fit in the serious category, the miraculous escape at the end makes it very similar to the so-called "inescapable predicament" type of short fiction which he did parody in other stories.

The tone and point of view of the story is first-person, a fact which immediately eliminates...