Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 5

1877 · 24 pages

Museum Catalog Note *The Fire-Fiends; or, Hercules, the Hunchback* by A. P. Morris, serialized in this Beadle & Adams dime novel, presents a sensation plot centered on murder and blackmail in Chicago. Evard Greville and his sister Hermoine hire Hercules, a deformed mulatto man, to kill Mortimer Gascon so they may inherit his wealth. Hercules reports the deed accomplished, but the narrative reveals Gascon survives, having been secretly aided by Hercules and transported to a mysterious dwelling. As payment, Hercules brutally slashes Hermoine's face with a knife. A masked female figure—dressed elaborately in red and gold—emerges as a central conspirator, possessing the severed strip of skin and suggesting a larger revenge plot against a man named Carl Grand. The installment establishes interlocking crimes, hidden identities, and Gothic atmosphere through its Chicago setting and sensational violence.

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