Manila-based Hand Made Heroes develops Interactive Comic Book,The Pit and the Pendulum

Seeking to plumb the depths of EA Poe’s thrilling tale of terror, Manila-based Hand Made Heroes’s creative producer Marc Lougee expands upon his award-winning stop motion adaptation of EA Poe’s story using modern technology, social media and images from the award-winning animated film, The Pit and the Pendulum, to lure readers into the dungeons of the Spanish Inquisition.

Utilizing QR codes, hidden website links and social media, Lougee created an ‘interactive digital comic experience’ filled with mysterious hidden links leading to images, historical information on the Spanish Inquisition and biographies of key players in Poe’s classic story of Gothic horror.

Creative Producer Marc Lougee on the convergence of tradition comic book media and today’s tech trends. “Current digital media technology, combined with social media, presents a powerful, modern means to tell stor ies. Most everyone uses handheld devices such as iPhones, iPads and tablets, so in releasing the interactive comic online for free we’ve giving readers complete access to our adaptation of  EA Poe’s classic story of  condemnation, madness, hope and redemption. Readers of the comic progress at their own pace, search for hidden links to delve deeper into the story, or decipher mysterious QR codes with their handheld devices to view previously unreleased video clips from our award-winning animated film, The Pit and the Pendulum. In converging our animated film and the interactive comic, we’ve developed a package to foster interest in Edgar Allan Poe’s literature through visual means. My aim in part is to help readers gain a more thorough understanding of  the political / religious climate of the Spanish Inquisition, it’s protagonists, antagonists and historical geography. Historically speaking, to help readers see the period (of the story) thru Poe’s eyes.”

Later this spring, Lougee will open a contest comprised of mind-bending cryptographs with which players can pit themselves to win several grand prizes, including signed posters, T-shirts and copies of the Pit and the Pendulum animated film on DVD! 
Jump into the Pit with Poe! http://poeinthepit.com