The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian Street Literature and Stories
This is the podcast that carries you back to the sooty, foggy streets of early-Victorian London when a new issue of one of the "Penny Dreadful" blood-and-thunder story paper comes out!
It's like an early-Victorian variety show, FEATURING ...
— Sweeney Todd ...
— Varney, the Vampyre ...
— Highwayman Dick Turpin ...
— Spring-Heel'd Jack ...
— mustache-twirling villains ...
— virtuous ballet-girls ...
—wicked gamblers ...
... and more!
Spiced with naughty cock-and-hen-club songs, broadsheet street ballads, and lots of old Regency "dad jokes."
Join us!
- Update frequency
- every 4 days
- Average duration
- 57 minutes
- Episodes
- 63
- Years Active
- 2025
3.14: The curiosity of young Edgar DeVille (Cruella's ancestor?) gets him into a tight spot! — Plus some early-Victorian dirty jokes and naughty song lyrics!
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 yo…
3.13: The Mysterious Mr. Montague. — The Vampyre caught at his hideous feast! — Lady B. struggles in vain to change her destiny. (A Sixpenny Supernatural Sunday full episode)
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…
3.12: Mrs. Lovett has a big mouth when she sleepwalks! — A man murdered with gin. — The rusty nail in the drunkard's skull. (A Ha'penny Horrors Half-hour minisode)
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. Sudden…
3.11: Highwayman Dick Turpin fought the law, and the law ... didn't win, this time at least. But now Dick is flat broke! He needs to rob somebody, quick! (A Twopenny Torrid minisode)
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…
3.10: The vampire's fair victim lets her guard down. — The "Vampyre" who started it all! — She survived being buried alive in an avalanche! (A Sixpenny Supernatural Sunday full episode!)
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-y…
3.09: Colonel Mephistopholes executes his murderous plot! — Clara is saved from a fate ... not worse than death, but still pretty icky. — The robber's hanging-day. (A Ha'penny Horrors Half-hour)
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-c…
3.08: Rose Mortimer's ordeal is over ... wait, where is this cab taking her? — And a pair of very explicit supper-club songs! (A Twopenny Torrid minisode)
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…
3.07: Walter Sydney's secret. — The evil ghost of a "hanging judge!" — The Spanish lady's murderous scheme.
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…
3.06: A victim barely escapes Sweeney Todd's clutches! — The murder of Miss Elms: A very cold 'cold case.' — The Cruel Captain — A Horrid Infanticide — it's a Ha'penny Horror 'Hursday episode!
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 …
3.05: Highwayman Dick Turpin is nabbed!... or is he? — The Jolly Fishmonger. — "My Wife's Funny Thing" (yes, that's exactly what he's singing about!) (A Twopenny Torrid minisode)
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 …
3.04: Varney the Vampyre challenged to a duel! — The evil Aungier Street ghost thirsts for a fresh kill! — The cat who solved his mistress's murder.
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-mur…
3.03: The villain raises the knife just as Spring-Heel'd Jack arrives! — The Policeman's Murder. — Killed by fear itself! (A Ha'penny Horror 'Hursday half-hour episode)
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 uncons…
3.02: The titled swindlers bait their trap! — Also, a super-saucy supper-club song about a "dildoe," plus some early-Victorian "dad jokes"! (A Twopenny Terrible Demi-Hour episode)
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…
3.01: The ballet-girl shanks her would-be murderer! — The ghost of the 'hanging judge.' — Astrology is just for fun ... or is it?
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 …
2.17: The sailor's revenge! — The grim story of the Haddington Murders. — History of punishment by hand amputation.
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 o…
2.16: Sweeney Todd murders his way out of a tight spot. — A pair of salacious cock-and-hen-club songs! (A Twopenny Terrible Demi-Hour episode)
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 p…
2.15: A midnight secret wedding! — Lucas Clavering's secret wealth. — Recovery of a woman hanged for murder!
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 vouchi…
2.14: A bride murdered at the altar! — A fake ghost, and a real consequence. —
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 o…
2.13: The vampyre comes looking for a fight! Will he get one? — "The Female Pawnbroker," a spicy drinking-song. A Twopenny Terrible Tuesday half-hour episode!
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 ha…
2.12: Evil Count Lerno makes his move! — The titled hustlers move in on Richard Markham. — The door-knocker pirates at play! — And sundry flash terms, spicy songs, etc.etc.
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: ROS…