"To enter Svankmajer's universe is akin to entering a labyrinth of surreal logic, childhood fantasies, and the eternal mysteries of the real" (Michael O'Pray, British Film Institute). The Pit, The Pendulum, and Hope (Kyvadlo, jáma a nadeje, 1983, 15 mins, B&W) is an homage to Poe seen entirely through the eyes of an Inquisition prisoner who awakens to find himself strapped to a table beneath a sweeping pendulum. The Fall of the House of Usher (Zánik domu Usheru, 1981, 15 mins, B&W) is a remarkable example of tactile animation, envisioning Poe's classic tale of terror with stones, trees, furniture, and other objects in place of humans. Down to the Cellar (Do pivnice/Do sklepa, 1983, 15 mins, Color) explores the twin virtues of innocence and experience: a young girl descends into the cellar to collect potatoes and enters an aggressive world of rat-like shoes, strange people, and live vegetables. An amateur archaeologist devotes his life to uncovering the truth behind a legendary tale in Castle of Otranto (Otrantsky zámek, 1977, 20 mins, Color), one of Svankmajer's most organic early blends of live action and animation.