The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian Street Literature and Stories

Episode 19 of Season Three! — A Sunday-evening full episode! 01:55: THE MYSTERIES OF LONDON (1844). In which — We learn the story of “Walter Sydney’s” deliverance from the filthy fate meant for him in the Fleet River, four years before. Along the way, we start getting hints that “Mr. Montague” knows more about the adventure than he would care to disclose … how deeply involved is he with Sir Rupert...

A half-hour- long (plus a bit) Ha'penny Horror 'Hursday minisode IN WHICH — 0:01:57: SWEENEY TODD, THE BARBER OF FLEET-STREET, Chapter 58: IN WHICH:— Tobias is better, and talks a little about his experience at the shop to Minna and Colonel Jeffrey. But he can’t shake the dread that “when I least expect it, round the curtains of my bed, or from behind some chair, or from some cupboard about twilig...

A spicy (-ish) Tuesday Twopenny Torrid minisode IN WHICH — 0:01:45: BLACK BESS (featuring Highwayman Dick Turpin), IN WHICH —: CHAPTER 21: Dick Turpin, set free by the mob, shares every guinea in his purse with the mob. Now flat broke, he decides to rob the western coach to replenish his resources. He knows just the spot to do the job in, a dark thickly-wooded hollow called Deadman’s Hollow, and r...

Episode 16 of Season Three! — A Sunday-evening full episode (released a few hours early) IN WHICH — 02:45: VARNEY THE VAMPYRE, Ch. 20: In which: Pop quiz, hotshot: What two words should you NEVER say when you know there is a vampire in the neighborhood, and someone knocks on your bedroom door? Even if you think it’s your brother or fiancé? You know the answer. The legend is, they can only cross th...

A half-hour- long (plus a bit) Ha'penny Horror 'Hursday minisode IN WHICH — 0:02:48: THE BLACK BAND; OR, THE COMPANIONS OF MIDNIGHT; IN WHICH —: The scene cuts back to Lady Edith Merton, now a prisoner in her boudoir and guarded by a trio of burly madhouse matrons. Then she is awakened in the middle of the night for a secret journey to MacLomond Castle, which is to be her own private asylu...

A "spicy" (-ish) Tuesday Twopenny Torrid minisode IN WHICH — 0:01:45: ROSE MORTIMER; or, THE BALLET-GIRL'S REVENGE, Ch. 8, IN WHICH —: We return to the estate of Count Lerno. The Count has invited a young man named Edgar Deville to his estate for a week’s debauchery; then he has to run to town for a few days, leaving Edgar at the house. Make yourself at home, the Count tells him; but...

Episode 13 of Season Three! — A Sunday-evening full episode (released a few hours early) IN WHICH — 01:50: MYSTERIES OF LONDON, Ch. 8: In which: “Mr. Walter Sydney”’s real name is, we learn, Eliza. She comes to her meeting with Mr. Stephens hoping for more information about what his plans are. She is worried that maybe her powers are being used for some kind of evil … well … are they? 19:20: TERRI...

A half-hour- long 'Hursday Horrors Minisode IN WHICH — 0:02:11: SWEENEY TODD, THE BARBER OF FLEET-STREET, Ch. 57; IN WHICH —: Sir Richard is continuing his exploration of Mrs. Lovett’s pie shop. Suddenly he’s startled by the appearance of Mrs. Lovett herself — in her nightgown — with a candle in her hand, but with her eyes shut tight. She’s sleepwalking! Will she wake up and notice the intrude...

A "spicy" (-ish) Tuesday Twopenny Terrible minisode IN WHICH — 0:01:50: HIGHWAYMAN DICK TURPIN, Ch. 20, IN WHICH —: Dick gets taken fairly roughly into custody by the officers, and the purple-faced one is especially happy to have him. If only he (the officer) could figure out how to weasel out of sharing the £1000 reward with the farmer who ratted Dick out … and also, there’s the pesky f...

Episode 10 of Season Three! — A Sunday-evening full episode (which I goofed and set to publish a day early) IN WHICH — 01:50: VARNEY THE VAMPYRE, Ch. 18: In this chapter, Flora relaxes in her new, as-yet-uncontaminated-by-a-vampire room and tries to distract herself with a novel. Then she hears a soft footstep approaching the door ... 33:50: TERRIFIC REGISTER ARTICLE: We learn of three women burie...

A half-hour- long 'Hursday Horrors Minisode IN WHICH — 0:02:25: THE BLACK BAND, Ch. 18 and 19, IN WHICH —: In Chapter 18, after Mrs. Montmorenci leaves, Mr. Lucas is doing some paperwork when a black-clad figure steps up behind and puts a hand on his shoulder. An Executioner of the Order! But this is no ordinary Executioner; it’s Colonel Oscar Bertrand himself! Lucas’s son-in-law, the man who...

A "spicy" (-ish) Tuesday Twopenny Torrid minisode IN WHICH — 0:02:30: ROSE MORTIMER; or, THE BALLET-GIRL'S REVENGE, Ch. 7, IN WHICH —: Back at Mrs. Halliday’s house, Rose tries to rest and recover from the terrors of the night and repair her tattered ballet-dress in time for rehearsals. The dress is done just in time, and luckily there is a cab right outside the house. But wait — who...

Episode Seven of Season Three! — A Sunday-evening full episode IN WHICH — 0:01:35: THE MYSTERIES OF LONDON, Ch. 18: We start to unravel some of the secrets of Walter Sydney … as the scene opens, we see him — uh, her — in her boudoir, lounging on a French bed (with a boobie out, by the way, if the original art is to be believed!) and reading a book and complaining bitterly about having to keep up t...

A half-hour- long 'Hursday Horrors Minisode IN WHICH — 0:02:01: SWEENEY TODD Ch. 56, IN WHICH —: Back at the shop, Todd finds to his delight that a very likely prospect — a sailor just back from India with a pocket full of guineas — has come into his shop alone, unlike every other customer for the past few days. The sailor slipped in when Sir Richard’s men weren’t looking! Is Sir Richard’s dec...

A "spicy" (-ish) Tuesday Twopenny Terrible minisode IN WHICH — 0:01:22: HIGHWAYMAN DICK TURPIN, Ch. 18-19, IN WHICH —: Leaving the church, Dick strikes out on foot for London, hoping to get Black Bess back. Then he meets a farmer with a wagon load of turnips and carrots, heading for Covent-garden market. The farmer gives Dick a lift. But, has the farmer recognized him? Will he try to tur...

Episode Four of Season Three! — A Sunday-evening full episode (dropping early today!) IN WHICH — 0:04:25: TERRIFIC REGISTER ARTICLE: We hear of a cat who, standing watch over his mistress's freshly-murdered body, bristled and hissed when the murder suspect entered the room! Then we hear of an English traveler saved from the Spanish Inquisition by a priest he had befriended. 0:08:20: VARNEY THE VAM...

A half-hour- long 'Hursday Horrors Minisode IN WHICH — 0:01:55: SPRING-HEEL'D JACK, Ch. 17, IN WHICH —: Richard Clavering tries to bluster his way out, but it’s not a good look, looming over his unconscious lady with a knife in his fist. Jack unmasks — and we learn he and Clavering know each other socially! So … did Jack overhear the part about the loaded dice? What will he do if he does?...

A "spicy" (-ish) Tuesday Twopenny Terrible minisode IN WHICH — 0:08:45: MYSTERIES OF LONDON, Ch. 6, IN WHICH —: Richard Markham meets Diana Arlington and is utterly smitten. Then a short, stout, vulgar-looking man enters the room. This is Augustus Talbot, and he is truly crass. He keeps trying to steer the conversation round to the subject of a corn he’s afflicted with on his little toe. Chicheste...

Episode One of Season Three! — A Sunday-evening full episode IN WHICH — 0:04:10: TERRIFIC REGISTER ARTICLE: We hear of a spooky coincidence (or is it?): John Dryden, the poet and playwright who became England's first Poet Laureate in 1668, was an astrology buff, and pulled the charts for his newborn son Charles. They were not good news ... but that astrology stuff is just for fun, right? —right? 0...

TRIGGER WARNING: This is a Ha'penny Horrid 'Hursday episode. "Horrid" as in "horror." Thursday is the day we do all the grimdark, grisly, horrifying stories. If murders, war crimes, parricides, and other awful stuff are not something you are interested in hearing about, even 200 years later — feel free to skip this episode and circle back this coming Sunday for the regu...

A "spicy" (-ish) Tuesday Twopenny Terrible Minisode IN WHICH — 0:02:00: SWEENEY TODD, Ch. 55: In which: The usurer, John Mundel, begins to realize that Sweeney Todd, the humble barber he has hired to prepare him for his visit to court, is the same man who pretended to be a duke and took him for £8000 with the string of pearls! What will he do? How will Todd get out of this one? We’ll fin...

A Sunday-evening full episode IN WHICH — 0:05:00: TERRIFIC REGISTER ARTICLE: We hear of an event in which a woman hanged for the murder of her child recovered miraculously, as if God Himself was vouching for her innocence. 0:09:10: BLACK BESS (DICK TURPIN), Ch. 17: IN WHICH: Dick withdraws into the shadows to watch the beadle, Solomon Goggs, preparing the church for what looks like it’s going to b...

TRIGGER WARNING: This is a Ha'penny Horrid 'Hursday episode. "Horrid" as in "horror." Thursday is the day we do all the grimdark, grisly, horrifying stories. If murders, war crimes, parricides, and other awful stuff are not something you are interested in hearing about, even 200 years later — feel free to skip this episode and circle back this coming Sunday for the regu...

A "spicy" (-ish) Tuesday Twopenny Terrible Minisode IN WHICH — 0:02:20: VARNEY THE VAMPYRE, Ch. 16: In which: The visitor in the garden does indeed turn out to be Sir Francis Varney, the vampire! He has come to the house to see the portrait that resembles him, or so he claims. But he behaves with very provoking coolness and seems like he is trying to get up a quarrel somehow, maybe with...

A Sunday-evening full episode IN WHICH — 0:04:35: TERRIFIC REGISTER ARTICLE: We hear of a miraculous intervention to spare the life of a father condemned to die at the hands of his own son. 0:06:50: ROSE MORTIMER, Ch. 5: IN WHICH: We see Rose Mortimer as a rising star in the ballet. Her great triumph is as Goddess of Morning in a Christmas show, after which Count Lerno approaches her, telling her...