The Half-Open Cellar Door... Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Cask of Amontillado

In "The Cask of Amontillado", a bitter and envious man tricks his neighbor, Fortunato, into going to his wine cellar to try an expensive wine to determine if it is authentic or not. Fortunato agrees to go, tempted by the prospect of savoring the rare Amontillado, and indeed drinks his fill of the valuable grog, while the trickster bricks shut the entry to the room in the wine cellar, thereby trapping Fortunato and condemning him to an agonizing death.

The other stories listed are all by Poe, but they do not have a wine cellar as a central plot element.

Answer: The Man in the Iron Mask

All of these stories are by Dumas, but only "The Man in the Iron Mask" is about a man who was wrongly imprisoned in a dungeon by his twin brother, King Louis XIV of France, and forced to wear a mask that would hide his true identity in order to allow the king to continue to rule without a possible challenge from his brother.

The story was highly fictionalized, but is said to be based on a real prisoner who was kept in a mask, though his identity has not been proven.

Answer: Room

Though the room that the boy and his mother were confined in was not really a cellar because it was above ground, it felt like one because there were no windows except for the skylight that was often covered by falling leaves or snow. The walls in "Room" were reinforced and though the mother had tried to break through them and dig under them, it was impossible.

She felt as if they were buried underground. Thankfully, the boy and his mother had each other to live for. The other options given are made-up titles, and are not stories by Donoghue, who tried to convey what the life of woman who had been abducted as a teenager and held captive for years would be like, as seen through the eyes of her son.

Answer: Basement

Robert Moseley has written books in many different areas, but he may be best known for his mystery series, featuring protagonists Easy Rawlins, Fearless Jones and Socrates Fortlaw. "The Man in My Basement" is a departure from the mystery genre, and it is worth a look.

Answer: Malfoy Manor

Harry and his friends were being held in the cellar at Malfoy Manor when Dobby rescued them. Gringotts did have a series of labyrinthine vaults in its basement, and Harry did have a spectacular escape from there, but it did not involve Dobby. The other two places that I listed are made up.

Answer: The Labyrinth at Knossos

The labyrinth was meant to hold the minotaur and was designed at the request of King Minos of Crete. Theseus was the hero who managed to kill the minotaur and was then helped by Ariadne, who gave him the thread that he held on to and followed to reach the exit to freedom. The other possible options were all made up.

Answer: Pendulum

Poe's creativity stemmed from the internal anguish and torment he felt. In this tale, he examined what it feels like to be held in a dungeon and tortured during the Spanish Inquisition.

Answer: The Basement Room

In Greene's tale, the seven-year old protagonist has a traumatic experience in the basement. Though Greene usually wrote of the troubles experienced by peripatetic adults who struggled with contradictions in their lives, he did a great job adopting the voice of the young boy in this tale.

The story was made into a wonderful movie called "The Fallen Idol", in 1948, under the direction of Carol Reed.

Answer: True

Alexandre Dumas gives us good example of oubliettes, torture chambers and dungeons as symbols of tyrannical abuse in his historical novels. These cellars were usually found in medieval castles, and were used by villainous characters to put away innocent and admirable men.

In Dumas' "La Reine Margot", Catherine of Medici gloats over a victim in the oubliettes of the Louvre. In "The Man in the Iron Mask", a similar theme is explored in a dungeon setting by a King who does not want his brother to challenge his hold on power.

Answer: The Black Cat

In "The Black Cat", the narrator hates the feline and blames it for all manner of ills. He tries to kill it repeatedly, and ends up murdering his wife with an axe in the basement when he is trying to rid himself of the cat. The other stories mentioned are all by Poe as well.