"Hop-Frog" (originally «Hop-Frog; Or, the Eight Chained Ourang-Outangs») is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1849. The title character, a person with dwarfism taken from his homeland, becomes the jester of a king particularly fond of practical jokes. Taking revenge on the king and his cabinet for the king's striking of his friend and fellow dwarf Trippetta, he dresses the king and his cabinet as orangutans for a masquerade. In front of the king's guests, Hop-Frog murders them all by setting their costumes on fire before escaping with Trippetta. Critical analysis has suggested that Poe wrote the story as a form of literary revenge against a woman named Elizabeth F. Ellet and her circle. Edgar Allan Poe is also famous for such works as «The Raven», «The Cask of Amontillado», «The Fall of the House of Usher», «The Masque of the Red Death», «The Pit and the Pendulum», «The Murders in the Rue Morgue», «The Tell-Tale Heart», «The Gold-Bug», «The Black Cat», «The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar», «Hop-Frog» and many more.
Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and of American literature as a whole, and he was one of the country's earliest practitioners of the short story. This book contains tales and poems by Edgar Allan Poe that became innovative literature discoveries at the time and extremely popular in its genre: The Fall of the House Usher, The Gold-Bug, poem The Raven. Edgar Poe was one of the first American writers who wrote mostly novellas. Within twenty years Edgar Poe created two short novels, two poems, one play, about seventy stories, fifty poems and ten essays that were published in magazines and almanacs and then gathered in collection books. Edgar Poe was highly valued by Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle and Howard Phillips Lovecrai who admitted his pioneer role in the genres they were popularizing. Edgar Allan Poe is also famous for such works as «The Raven», «The Cask of Amontillado», «The Fall of the House of Usher», «The Masque of the Red Death», «The Pit and the Pendulum», «The Murders in the Rue Morgue», «The Tell-Tale Heart», «The Gold-Bug», «The Black Cat», «The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar», «Hop-Frog» and many more.
Between 1841 and 1844, Edgar Allan Poe invented the genre of detective fiction with three mesmerizing stories of a young French eccentric named C. Auguste Dupin. Introducing to literature the concept of applying reason to solving crime, these tales brought Poe fame and fortune. Years later, Dorothy Sayers would describe “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” as “almost a complete manual of detective theory and practice.” Indeed, Poe’s short mysteries inspired the creation of countless literary sleuths, among them Sherlock Holmes. Today, the unique Dupin stories still stand out as utterly engrossing page-turners. Edgar Allan Poe is also famous for such works as «The Raven», «The Cask of Amontillado», «The Fall of the House of Usher», «The Masque of the Red Death», «The Pit and the Pendulum», «The Murders in the Rue Morgue», «The Tell-Tale Heart», «The Gold-Bug», «The Black Cat», «The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar», «Hop-Frog» and many more.