By Jovan Stipić

What is a Penny Dreadful?

Most of you have heard these tales, even if you don't know them. Some of you might even have read them without learning the name. Either way, they have become the backbone for the fiction niche we know today as horror. 

Known as Penny Bloods at the beginning of the 1830s when they were first published, these tales were infamous for the horrific and brutal aspects of adventure and crime stories of the time. Written by up-and-coming authors and sometimes downright amateurs looking for easy money, most were void of any care that was usually put into the classical writing of the time. 

Printed on cheap paper in large volumes, each story with about eight to sixteen pages, and each booklet sold for only one penny. Hence, the name "Penny Bloods." 

The reason for this was the boom of cheap printing that occurred in the early 19th century. It experienced an unprecedented expansion of volumes and diversity. Periodicals, cookbooks, and fairy tale collections all became popular in this period, with the books reaching a far greater audience than ever before and, finally, reaching people of every social status. 

Of course, this expansion didn't come by accident. It can be attributed to improved printing and distribution methods.

But what of the stories themselves?

Most of them took inspiration from gothic stories of the 1700s that involved passé gothic tropes, true crime narratives, and the stage melodramas of the time. Their demographic was the working class, who didn't have patience for poetic imagery or deep themes. Thus, they watered down the "most interesting parts." 

Though, what most people believe today as great representatives of the Penny Dreadfuls predate these booklets or merely inspired the more famous stories. "Dr. Frankenstein" came out long before the Dreadfuls became popular. At the same time, stories like "Dracula" and "The Picture of Dorian Grey" all had first printings in sturdy, well-bound books and were meant, first and foremost, for the "highbrow" audience.

One Penny Dreadful character that did stand the test of time was Sweeny Todd, the murderous barber. Even though he appeared in several outings, the most famous one came through the story "The String of Pearls" by James Malcolm Mayer. The inspiration for the character probably came as an amalgamation of urban legends from France in the early 1600s that were later combined with tales of an innocent, Victorian butcher falsely accused of murder.

What the working-class men of the time especially enjoyed about these stories was that the evil characters, typically the rich and the powerful, always got their comeuppance in the end. Be it by a rallied mob or a brave commoner.

Of course, when you find an entire genre of literature aimed mostly at young male commoners, especially in a much more dangerous era than the one lives in today, it will get blamed for usurping authority and romanticizing murder and vice. Like video games today, some believed that the Penny Dreadfuls incited suicide and runaways. So much so that the police raided several printers. A significant push in the late 1890s gained momentum for more positive and moral stories to be written for the youth.

Today, thanks to the power of the internet, Penny Dreadfuls have become even more popular, providing escapism, adventure, romance, and sometimes gore to those who wish to embrace the macabre. Just like our rebellious Victorian forebears, those readers know the adrenaline rush of a plunge that can only occur once you discover a new and addicting book or series.