The Penny Dreadful Hour; or, A Feast of Early-Victorian Street Literature and Stories (no AI)

Finn J.D. John/ Pulp-Lit Productions
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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 ... — mustache-twirling villains ... — virtuous ballet-girls ... —wicked gamblers ... ... and more! Spiced with naughty c**k-and-hen-club songs, broadsheet street ballads, and lots of old Regency "dad jokes." A fresh episode every Sunday and Thursday evening. Join us!

  1. 2d ago

    11. The “Reverend” hides his murdered wife in someone else’s coffin! — The murdering mitten-knitters get their virtue rewarded! — The notorious 1849 Liverpool Lodger murders. (The “Ha’penny Horrors.”)

    SHOW NOTES — for — EPISODE 11 (Season Six) Join host Corinthian Finn, a.k.a. Finn J.D. John 18th Baron Dunwitch,* for a one-hour-long spree through the scandal-sheets and story papers of early-Victorian London! ———— This show cycles through four themes over a monthly cycle, one show per week. This is the SIXPENNY SPOOKIES theme show, featuring a Victorian ghostly shortstory, a chapter of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and other ghostly tales. It will be followed by ... The “Twopenny Torrids” theme episode, coming next Sunday (the fourth Sunday of July);The “Sixpenny Spookies” theme episode, coming two Sundays hence (the first Sunday of August); and finally—The “Graanam Gothics” theme episode, coming on the second Sunday of August. ———— For COMPLETE SHOW NOTES, including art and links to resources, see ⁠⁠pennydread.com/discord.⁠⁠ ———— IN TODAY'S "HA’PENNY HORRORS" EPISODE: 01:50: HANGED TODAY IN HISTORY (July 19): On this day, mitten-knitter Sarah Metyard and her daughter Sally were hanged for having murdered two young apprentices by mistreating and starving them to death. To read the Metyard murder story on Executedtoday.com, click here;For a MUCH more detailed and thoroughly sourced version from author C.M. Rosens, click here;Check out C.M. Rosen’s podcast, Eldritch Girl: Weird Gothic Stuff & Nonsense, here.09:40: SWEENEY TODD, THE BARBER OF FLEET-STREET, Chapters 109-111: The Rev. Mr. Lupin disposes of his murdered wife very neatly, if horribly, by stuffing her into one of the coffins in the vaults below his chapel, after stomping the skeleton down to make room for her. Then he turns his attention to Mrs. Oakley. Was she really in a drugged sleep all night, he wonders? If not, must he murder her too? 50:10: HORRID BROADSIDE: “Execution of John Gleeson Wilson at Kirkdale Gaol ...” (1849) Tells the story of the Liverpool Lodger, who took a room in a lady’s residence while her husband was away at sea, then at his earliest opportunity murdered everyone in the house and robbed the place. With additional details from Paul Slade of planetslade.com. For a much more detailed account of The Liverpool Lodger story on planetslade.com, click here;To hear Gerry Jones sing The Liverpool Lodger murder ballad, click here;To hear Meh-229 perform The Liverpool Lodger murder ballad, click here;To check out Gallows Ballads: Twenty Victorian Execution Songs and the True Crime Stories that Inspired Them, a 2024 book by Paul Slade, click here.1:09:05: GHOST POETRY: “The Giaour” by Lord Byron, Part 3 of 3 (continued from last week): Racked with grief and guilt, the Giaour enters a monastery and unburdens himself to the abbot. GLOSSARY OF EARLY-VICTORIAN SLANG USED IN THIS EPISODE: HOISTER MOTS: Shoplifterettes. HIGH SPICERS: Top-tier highwaymen. Think Claude DuVal, Dick Turpin, Tom King, etc.KNIGHTS OF THE BLADE: Swaggering companions who are boastful of their prowess and may also claim a military rank — Captain, Major, Colonel — that they don’t really have a right to. BRUSHER: Liquor glass.OLD TOM: High-quality gin.BOGGIES: Rascally fellows.BON VIVANTS: Spirited and jolly companions.SLIP COVER: Get away, or attempt to do so.GRABS: Law enforcement officers.TWIG: Figure something out, or become aware of a swindle.CORINTHIANS: Sporting men of rank and fashion.VIRTUE REWARDED: Arrested or prosecuted.HELL CATS: Dangerous ladies who frequent the “hells” (gambling dens).BLACKLEGS: Professional gamblers who cheat to win.SPICE ISLANDERS: Swindlers. A double pun: Mace is a spice; a mace-man is a swindler; so a Spice Islander is, as it were, a resident of Swindle Island.SPEELING-CRIB: A “hell” (gambling den).COVENT GARDEN: London neighbourhood that was, in the Regency and early Victorian, famous as a place where bloods, bucks and choice spirits went to sport their blunt. Upscale gambling hells and brothels were conveniently close by the Royal Opera and Drury-lane Theatre.

    11. The “Reverend” hides his murdered wife in someone else’s coffin! — The murdering mitten-knitters get their virtue rewarded! — The notorious 1849 Liverpool Lodger murders. (The “Ha’penny Horrors.”)

  2. Jul 13

    10. Breakfast with Varney the Vampyre goes about as well as you might expect. — A baronet caught SHOPLIFTING? — Introducing Old Mobb, the cross-dressing highwayman-poet! (The “Graanum Gothics”)

    Join host Corinthian Finn, a.k.a. Finn J.D. John 18th Baron Dunwitch,* for a one-hour-long spree through the scandal-sheets and story papers of early-Victorian London! For COMPLETE SHOW NOTES, including art and links to resources, see ⁠⁠pennydread.com/discord.⁠⁠ ———— IN TODAY'S "GRAANUM GOTHICS" EPISODE: 01:55: ON THIS DREADFUL DAY (JULY 12, 1850): A Lonon blacksmith was convicted for trying to murder his wife by defenestrating her through a second-floor window. Also On This Dreadful Day — July 12, 1722 — a baronet named Sir Charles Burton was arrested for shoplifting! 05:05: VARNEY THE VAMPYRE; or, THE FEAST OF BLOOD, Chapter 60-61: Over Dr. Chillingworth’s objections, the admiral accepts the invitation to breakfast. Sir Francis receives them with apparent civility, but provokes the admiral with the coolest and most mildly delivered insults until he gets their goats, proposes a duel in a darkened room with scythes, and then, once he’s gotten the admiral to lean on the table, pulls the catch to dump him onto the floor with the tea-tray on top of him, and skips out in the ensuing confusion. Then a mysterious stranger arrives, asking for Sir Francis; when he sees Dr. Chillingworth, there is a horrified mutual recognition. What guilty secret does Dr. C share with this strange man?45:25: CATCHPENNY BROADSIDE: A snappy, flashy bit of poetry in praise and defence of the old Newgate Prison, which was being threatened with demolition.50:10: THE LIVES OF THE HIGHWAYMEN: Finishing off the story of the exploits of Old Mobb, the audacious cross-dressing highwayman-poet who, legend says, wore a dress for his hanging. Also — did convicted murderess Sarah Malcolm take the rap for her three guilty co-conspirators? Let’s examine the historical record, shall we?1:05:10: THE GIAOUR by LORD BYRON, PART 2 OF 3: The portion of this long poem devoted to the curses of Prince Hassan’s followers upon the Giaour, who has slain him to avenge his murder of the Giaour’s lover.1:11:25: A FEW SQUEAKY-CLEAN DAD JOKES from the early-1800s' most popular joke book: "Joe Miller's Jests; or, The Wit's Vade-mecum."GLOSSARY OF EARLY-VICTORIAN SLANG USED IN THIS EPISODE: RUM CULLS: (from intro patter) Bartender.OVERSEERS (ibid): Persons in the pillory, “overseeing” a crowd. A pun on Overseers of the Poor, the parish officials in charge of distributing charity. KNIGHTS OF THE BRUSH AND MOON (ibid): Drunken fellows wandering amok in meadows and ditches, trying to stagger home. CORINTHIAN (ibid): A fancy toff or titled swell. Used here as a reference to Corinthian Tom, the quintessential Regency rake depicted in Pierce Egan's "Life in London" (usually referred to as "Tom and Jerry"). CHAFFING-CRIB (ibid): A room where drinking and bantering are going on. GRUNTER (ibid): A shilling. Probably a witty reference to another slang word for a shilling, “hog.” FLATS (ibid): Suckers. TARTARS (ibid): Spicy old ladies. SNICKER (ibid): A drinking glass. BLUE RUIN (ibid): Gin. HOISTER (from On This Dreadful Day): Pickpocket.COLLEGE (from broadside ballad): Prison.THROW THE HATCHET (ibid): Tell a long, highly unlikely story.PIKE OFF (from outro patter): Run away. RED WAISTCOAT (ibid): The traditional uniform of the Bow-Street Runners, London’s first real professional police force. GAMMONERS (ibid): Swindlers or gamblers who cheat. ROMONERS (ibid): Fake occultists and fortune tellers. SHARPS (ibid): Swindlers. OLD ST. GILES (ibid): The neighbourhood of St. Giles in the Fields parish, which in the early Victorian age was a notorious slum. RUM TE TUM WITH THE CHILL OFF (ibid): The very best.

    10. Breakfast with Varney the Vampyre goes about as well as you might expect. — A baronet caught SHOPLIFTING? — Introducing Old Mobb, the cross-dressing highwayman-poet! (The “Graanum Gothics”)

  3. Jul 5

    9. The three vampire-maidens: Was it really a dream? — The ghost of Chesney Wold. — A dead man who came back … from Hell! — Lord Byron’s “The Giaour.” (The “Sixpenny Spookies.”)

    SHOW NOTES — for — EPISODE 9 (Season Six) (July 5, 2026) ———— This show cycles through four themes over a month-long cycle, one show per week. As today is the first Sunday of the month, this is a Sixpenny Spookies show, featuring a Victorian ghostly shortstory, a chapter of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and other ghostly tales. It will be followed by ... The “Graanam Gothics” theme episode, the second Sunday of the month;The “Ha’penny Horrors” theme episode, the third Sunday; and finally—The “Twopenny Torrids” theme episode, the fourth Sunday. ———— For COMPLETE SHOW NOTES, including art and links to resources, see ⁠⁠pennydread.com/discord.⁠⁠ ———— IN TODAY'S "SIXPENNY SPOOKIES" EPISODE: 01:30: HAUNTED ENGLAND: The ghostly Briton chieftain rumoured to haunt Knocking Knoll, near Pegsdon; and the unhappy ghosts of the church of St. Michael’s in Millbrook.07:15: VICTORIAN GHOSTLY SHORT STORY, to-wit: THE DRUNKARD’S DREAM, by J.S. LE FANU (1838): Rural Irish priest Father Purcell is called to the home of a notorious local drunken ne’er-do-well. His bad habits have caught up with him at last, and he is dying. The Rev arrives a little too late, and leads the sobbing family in a ten-minute prayer; when they finish, the corpse is sitting upright. He has come back to life! —But, while dead, he dreamed he was sent to Hell. And while there, Satan told him he might return to Earth for a season, but only if he promised to return. The drunkard, desperate to get away, promised; and then he woke up. — He’s seen the light. He will mend his evil ways. But is he now irrevocably pledged to Satan and damned no matter what he does?36:25: GHOSTLY POETRY, to-wit: THE GIAOUR, by LORD BYRON (1813), Part 1 of 3 parts. The cover art for this episode illustrates the combat between the Giaour and Hassan; it’s by Eugene F.V. Delacroix, painted in 1826.55:00: DRACULA, by BRAM STOKER (1897), Chapter 3: Jonathan Harker fights down panic following his discovery that he is effectively a prisoner in the castle. He also discovers that there are no servants; the count is setting the table, making the bed, himself. Is he also driving the coach himself? Was that the count, in disguise, that night? — Later, in evening talks with the count, Harker gets an earful about the glorious martial past of the Draculas, and funny thing, it almost sounds like the count is describing these centuries-old battles as an eyewitness to them! — Then the count asks Harker to write home and tell his boss, and Mina, that he’s been asked to stay an extra month….1:27:15: LORD HALIFAX’S GHOST BOOK: The Ghostly Footsteps at Haverholme Priory, witnessed by Rev. Mr. H.W. Hill. Haverholme Priory, by the way, is also known as Chesney Wold, from Charles Dickens’ Bleak House. GLOSSARY OF EARLY-VICTORIAN SLANG USED IN THIS EPISODE: HIGH FLYER: An audacious, impudent woman.JET AUTEMS: Parsons.KNIGHTS OF THE BRUSH AND MOON: Drunken fellows running amok in fields and ditches late at night, trying to stagger home. RED TAPE: Brandy.WHITE TAPE: Gin.BITE YOUR NAME IN IT: Take a big drink.PRATE ROASTS: Garrulous, talkative fellows.PINKS OF FASHION: Fancy people.SHERRY OFF: Run away. FLATS: Suckers. GET FLY TO THE FAKEMENT: Get wise to the swindle. BOLT THE MOON: Fly by night.MOABITES: Bailiffs. PHILISTIES: Also means bailiffs.CRAPING COVES: Hangmen. YE OLD STONE PITCHER: Newgate Prison. PADDINGTON FAIR: Execution day at Tyburn, which is in Paddington Parish. Paddington is also a pun, as “pad” was a flash word for “thief” or “robber.” BRUSH OFF: Leave. Note this phrase means something slightly different today. Thank you for your support! Please, if you have a moment, rate us on your podcatcher network. If you’d like to do more, we do have a Patreon page; it’s here: https://patreon.com/pennydread

    9. The three vampire-maidens: Was it really a dream? — The ghost of Chesney Wold. — A dead man who came back … from Hell! — Lord Byron’s “The Giaour.” (The “Sixpenny Spookies.”)

  4. Jun 28

    8. Rev. Mr. Lupin turns out a wolf in sheep’s clothes! — The murderer who had to be hanged twice. — When price gouging triggered riots. (The “Ha’penny Horrors.”)

    SHOW NOTES — for — EPISODE 8 (Season Six) (June 28, 2026) Note: For COMPLETE SHOW NOTES, including art and links to resources, see ⁠⁠pennydread.com/discord.⁠⁠ ———— Join host Corinthian Finn, a.k.a. Finn J.D. John 18th Baron Dunwitch,* for a one-hour-long spree through the scandal-sheets and story papers of early-Victorian London! IN TODAY'S "HA’PENNY HORRORS" EPISODE: 02:50: HANGED TODAY IN HISTORY (June 28): On this day in 1816, five participants in the Ely Bread Riots were hanged together. The riots were protesting not so much the price of bread, as the government’s efforts to keep that price as high as possible so landowners could maximize their profits. — For more about the Ely rioters: [article on executedtoday.com]11:15: SWEENEY TODD, THE BARBER OF FLEET-STREET, Chapters 106-108: In a dingy conventicle near Monkwell-street where the Rev. Josiah Lupin presides, Mrs. Oakley is there, and she is two days into a ritual in which she is awakened every two hours for prayer. She is exhausted from waking up every two hours for the previous 36, and Mr. Lupin is tired too so he brings her a glass of secretly-drugged brandy that God, he says, told her she should drink. As she’s lifting it to her lips, though, she’s startled by a thunderous knock on the chapel door, and drops the glass to the floor … it’s a woman, who identifies herself as Lupin’s wife, and identifies Lupin as Goggs, the returned transport. Eyes wide, she crowds close to the door and overhears a remarkable conversation ….51:00: EXECUTION BROADSIDE: A piece of street literature telling the story of a man's crime and subsequent execution for it. TITLE: “A Sorrowful Copy of Verses on the Awful Death and Last Moments of JAMES CONNOR, who was Twice Hanged at Kirkdale Gaol, for the Mill Street Murder.” (1873) After a woman turned him down for a date, Mr. Connor struck her. Two passers-by came to her rescue, and he stabbed one of them. GLOSSARY OF EARLY-VICTORIAN SLANG USED IN THIS EPISODE: CROSS-COVES (from intro patter): Swindlers. WATER PADS (ibid): Thieves who work on the water. KNIGHTS OF THE BLADE (ibid): Stolen-valour types: swaggering companions who are boastful of their alleged prowess and may also claim a military rank — Captain, Major, Colonel — that they don’t really have a right to. DEADLY’S FLUID (ibid): Deady’s Gin, a brand that no longer exists but was popular in the 1800s. SHOVE IN THE MOUTH (ibid): A drink. EARWIGS (from outro patter): Close friends. WOODPECKERS (ibid): Funny fellow full of jokes and witticisms. SLIP COVER (ibid): Run away as fast as we can.GRABS (ibid): Law enforcement personnel.TWIG (ibid): To notice, or get wise to.VIRTUE REWARDED (ibid): Arrested or prosecuted.HELL CATS (ibid): Dangerous ladies who frequent the “hells” (gambling dens).BLACKLEGS (ibid): Professional gamblers who cheat to win.SPICE ISLANDERS (ibid): Swindlers. A double pun: Mace is a spice; a mace-man is a swindler; so a Spice Islander is, as it were, a resident of Swindle Island.SPEELING-CRIB (ibid): A “hell” (gambling den).COVENT GARDEN (ibid): London neighbourhood that was, in the Regency and early Victorian, famous as a place where bloods, bucks and choice spirits went to sport their blunt. Upscale gambling hells and brothels were conveniently close by the Royal Opera and Drury-lane Theatre.POST LEG BAIL (ibid): Run from law enforcement.

    8. Rev. Mr. Lupin turns out a wolf in sheep’s clothes! — The murderer who had to be hanged twice. — When price gouging triggered riots. (The “Ha’penny Horrors.”)

  5. Jun 21

    7. A prisoner in Castle Dracula! — The restless spirit of a murdered boy. — A wrestling match with the dead, in a tomb! (The “Sixpenny Spookies.”)

    SHOW NOTES — for — EPISODE 6.7! (June 21, 2026) Join host Corinthian Finn, a.k.a. Finn J.D. John 18th Baron Dunwitch,* for a one-hour-long spree through the scandal-sheets and story papers of early-Victorian London! For COMPLETE SHOW NOTES, including art and links to resources, see ⁠⁠pennydread.com/discord.⁠⁠ ———— IN TODAY'S "SIXPENNY SPOOKIES" EPISODE: 00:40: HAUNTED ENGLAND: An old priory, seized by Henry VIII in the Dissolution of the Monasteries, is still haunted by what folks claim is the restless spirit of a nun walled up alive, Cask of Amontillado style, centuries ago.06:45: VICTORIAN GHOSTLY SHORT STORY, to-wit: WAS IT AN ILLUSION?, by AMELIA B. EDWARDS (1881), Part 2 of 2 parts: Wolstenholme invites Frazer to join him in some hunting and shooting, and to tour the underground facilities in one of his mines. But on the morning he’s to have the tour, the lake above springs a leak and drains into the mine. While inspecting the damage, they find a dead body in the muddy floor of the former lake, pinned to the lakebed with a pitchfork. It’s a youth in a grey suit … his fishing pole is nearby. Who killed him? Why? And was it his ghost that Frazer saw, on his way to Pit End the previous day?28:10: GHOSTLY POETRY, to-wit: Two spooky sonnets, one by Baron Brooke and another by Christina Rosetti.32:10: DRACULA, by BRAM STOKER (1897), Chapter 2: The strange bearded driver drops Jonathan off in the courtyard and departs, leaving the poor guy standing there with his things in front of the castle door. He is left standing there for a long time, but finally the door opens and he meets Count Dracula. The count gives Jonathan an excellent supper in which he does not partake; “I have dined already,” he murmurs, “and I do not sup.” Jonathan is generally charmed, or at least he feels like he should be. So, why does being around Dracula make him so uneasy? And why does he never see the servants who cook and serve meals? Is the growing sense of menace just a fancy, or is he truly in danger?1:03:30: LORD HALIFAX’S GHOST BOOK: Two tales of men who dreamed the death of a dear friend the night before it happened. In one of them, the dreamer was locked in the tomb with the putrescent and partly decomposed, but still animate, corpse of his friend, which pounced upon him zombie-like and wrestled with him.GLOSSARY OF EARLY-VICTORIAN SLANG USED IN THIS EPISODE: BULLY ROCKS: A saloon or gambling-hell enforcer, or a bordello muscle man.BIT OF MUSLIN: A pretty woman, whom the (usually male) speaker hopes to get to know much better soon, if you know what he means.KNIGHTS OF THE BRUSH AND MOON: Drunken fellows running amok in fields and ditches late at night, trying to stagger home. SHERRY OFF: Run away. FLATS: Suckers. GET FLY TO THE FAKEMENT: Get wise to the swindle. MOABITES: Bailiffs. PHILISTIES: Also means bailiffs.CRAPING COVES: Hangmen. YE OLD STONE PITCHER: Newgate Prison. PADDINGTON FAIR: Execution day at Tyburn, which is in Paddington Parish. Paddington is also a pun, as “pad” was a flash word for “thief” or “robber.” BRUSH OFF: Leave. Note this phrase means something slightly different today. Thank you for your support! Please, if you have a moment, rate us on your podcatcher network. If you’d like to do more, we do have a Patreon page; it’s here: https://patreon.com/pennydread

    7. A prisoner in Castle Dracula! — The restless spirit of a murdered boy. — A wrestling match with the dead, in a tomb! (The “Sixpenny Spookies.”)

  6. Jun 15

    6. Highwayman Dick Turpin’s miraculous escape from the soldiers! — “Making Love by Moonlight.” — Introducing our hostess, MISS LITTLETON (The “Twopenny Torrids + Ninepenny Naughties”)

    Join host CORINTHIAN FINN (a.k.a. Finn J.D. John 18th Baron Dunwitch*), for a one-hour-long spree through the scandal-sheets and story papers of early-Victorian London! ———— For COMPLETE SHOW NOTES, including art and links to resources, see ⁠⁠pennydread.com/discord.⁠⁠ ———— IN TODAY'S "TWOPENNY TORRIDS" EPISODE: 01:45: STREET POETRY: From an 1840s broadside ballad: “Please Your Wife” and “Making Love by Moonlight.” 06:10: BLACK BESS; or, THE KNIGHT OF THE ROAD (starring HIGHWAYMAN DICK TURPIN), Chapter 75-79: The highwaymen, as they approach Durley Chine, are unaware that there’s still a hyperactive manhunt on for both of them, and that was what the dragoons were up to. Luckily, as they approach Durley Chine, it’s gotten dark, and they observe a dozen or so men with lanterns spreading out around the gates of Durley Chine. King puts the pieces together and realizes the highwaymen are the subject of an intensive manhunt. They’re guarding Durley Chine to nab them when they try to break out, if they’re hiding inside. But Black Bess is in the park! How are they going to get her out? Will they escape capture by the soldiers?44:45: INTRODUCING OUR HOSTESS: MISS LITTLETON, of No. 3 Salisbury-street, Strand. One of the “ladies of the evening” listed and described in Harris’s List of Covent-garden Ladies, a directory for bucks and bloods out on the town in the early 1800s. “A fine plump girl,” the anonymous author writes, “with dark hair, large eyes, and dark eye-brows.”48:00: A RATHER NAUGHTY C**K-AND-HEN-CLUB SONG: "The Frenchman,” a frisky song about a traveling Frenchman who, inquiring with a heavy French accent about his lost “snuff-pox,” everyone thinks he is asking them if they have The Pox.50:30: A FEW MILDLY DIRTY JOKES from what passed in 1830 for a dirty joke book: "The Joke-Cracker" by Martin Merryman, Esq. GLOSSARY OF EARLY-VICTORIAN SLANG USED IN THIS EPISODE: DRAW-LATCHES: (from intro) House burglars.DIMBER MOTS: (ibid) Pretty girls.GRAVEL-TAX COLLECTORS: (ibid) Highway robbers.CORINTHIAN: (ibid) Sporting man of rank and fashion, most famously represented by Corinthian Tom from Pierce Egan’s “Life in London,” the story of the adventures of a wealthy Regency rake named Tom and his country cousin Jerry as they rampage through the streets of London on a continual spree.CYPRIANS: (From the introduction to Hostess Miss XXX) Ladies of easy virtue, a classical reference to the island of Cyprus, supposedly peopled with sexually frisky ladies. BLOODS, PINKS, BUCKS: (ibid) High-spirited young rich men of what today we’d call college age.SPORTING THEIR BLUNT: (ibid) Throwing money around. BUMPER: (ibid) Liquor glass.BINGO: (ibid) Hard liquor, usually gin.SLUICE YOUR IVORIES: (ibid) Take a big drink.THE POX: (from c**k-and-hen-club song, “The Frenchman”) Syphilis; or, in a heavy French accent, a box.MORRIS OFF: (from outro) Run away at top speed.BEAKS ON THE NOSE: Police detectives or magistrates on an investigation. DIDDLE COVES: Bartender or landlord in a gin palace or dram shop. DAFFY DOXIES: Racy ladies who enjoy drinking daffy (gin). CAPTAIN LUSHINGTONS: Habitual drunks.BOOZING-KEN: Drinking den.SMITHFIELD: In the early 1800s a notoriously crowded and dangerous neighborhood in which a very unsanitary open-air livestock market was regularly held until the 1850s. * The Barony of Dunwich is located in a deep forest glade west of Arkham (where, as H.P. Lovecraft put it, “the hills rise wild, and there are valleys with deep woods that no axe has ever cut; there are dark narrow glens where the trees slope fantastically, and where thin brooklets trickle without ever having caught the glint of sunlight.”) Actually it is a good 3,000 miles west of Arkham. It is not to be confused with Dunwich, the English seacoast town that fell house by house into the sea centuries ago, or Dunsany, the home until 1957 of legendary fantasy author Edward J.M.D. Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany.

    6. Highwayman Dick Turpin’s miraculous escape from the soldiers! — “Making Love by Moonlight.” — Introducing our hostess, MISS LITTLETON (The “Twopenny Torrids + Ninepenny Naughties”)

  7. Jun 7

    5. Sir Francis Varney has a strange visitor. — The Life and Times of a Legendary Highwayman. — The Death of an Unrecognised Son. (Episode 5; theme: The “Graanum Gothics.)

    SHOW NOTES — for — EPISODE 5 (Season Six) (June 7, 2026) ———— Join host Corinthian Finn, a.k.a. Finn J.D. John 18th Baron Dunwitch,* for a one-hour-long spree through the scandal-sheets and story papers of early-Victorian London! This show cycles through four themes over a four-week cycle, one show per week. This is the GRAANUM GOTHIC theme show, featuring Varney the Vampyre and other Gothic drama. It will be followed by ... The “Twopenny Torrid” theme episode, coming next Sunday;The “Sixpenny Spooky” theme episode, coming two Sundays hence; and finally—The “Ha’penny Horrid” theme episode, coming three Sundays from today. For COMPLETE SHOW NOTES, including art and links to resources, see ⁠⁠pennydread.com/discord.⁠⁠ 01:45: ON THIS DREADFUL DAY (June 7, 1854): A tradesman, apparently seized with madness, suddenly turned upon his mother-in-law with a poker. He was subsequently convicted of murder.05:00: VARNEY THE VAMPYRE; or, THE FEAST OF BLOOD, Chapter 58-59: Jack Pringle arrives, very drunk. They give him the rest of the gin, hoping he will pass out and be quiet, which he does; but they soon have cause to regret that, as Varney tries again to sneak into the house. The admiral seizes him by the leg, but he slips away leaving the admiral holding the boot. Then someone throws a tree through the window, which the admiral gets tangled up in; and while he is freeing himself a spectral form rises above the balcony and issues a spooky warning: “Beware of the dead!”35:10: CATCHPENNY BROADSIDE: A maudlin cautionary tale of an elderly couple who conspire to murder a boarder for his money, only to discover that he was their long-lost son, who’d gone to sea years before. This type of story seems to have been something of a street-literature trope back in the day.40:20: THE LIVES OF THE HIGHWAYMEN: Introducing Old Mobb, a highwayman with a legendary wit and flair for the dramatic. We’ll be exploring Old Mobb’s career in the next two episodes of The Lives of the Highwaymen.49:50: A FEW SQUEAKY-CLEAN DAD JOKES from the early-1800s' most popular joke book: "Joe Miller's Jests; or, The Wit's Vade-mecum." GLOSSARY OF EARLY-VICTORIAN SLANG USED IN THIS EPISODE: NATTY LADS: Well-dressed young pickpockets. RUM BUFFERS: Jolly hosts. KNIGHTS OF THE BRUSH AND MOON: Drunken fellows wandering amok in meadows and ditches, trying to stagger home. CORINTHIAN: A fancy toff or titled swell. Used here as a reference to Corinthian Tom, the quintessential Regency rake depicted in Pierce Egan's "Life in London" (usually referred to as "Tom and Jerry"). CHAFFING-CRIB: A room where drinking and bantering are going on. GRAANUM GOLD: Old hoarded money.SHE-LION: A shilling. GENTRY COVES: Gentlemen of rank. AUTEM BAWLERS: Parsons. CLANKER: Pewter drinking-pot usually used for ale. ENGLISH BURGUNDY: Strong old ale. PIKE OFF: Run away. RED WAISTCOAT: The traditional uniform of the Bow-Street Runners, London’s first real professional police force. GAMMONERS: Swindlers or gamblers who cheat. ROMONERS: Fake occultists and fortune tellers. SHARPS: Swindlers. OLD ST. GILES: The neighbourhood of St. Giles in the Fields parish, which in the early Victorian age was a notorious slum. RUM TE TUM WITH THE CHILL OFF: The very best. * The Barony of Dunwich is located in a deep forest glade west of Arkham (where, as H.P. Lovecraft put it, “the hills rise wild, and there are valleys with deep woods that no axe has ever cut; there are dark narrow glens where the trees slope fantastically, and where thin brooklets trickle without ever having caught the glint of sunlight.”) Actually it is a good 3,000 miles west of Arkham. It is not to be confused with Dunwich, the English seacoast town that fell house by house into the sea centuries ago, or Dunsany, the home until 1957 of legendary fantasy author Edward J.M.D. Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany.

    5. Sir Francis Varney has a strange visitor. — The Life and Times of a Legendary Highwayman. — The Death of an Unrecognised Son. (Episode 5; theme: The “Graanum Gothics.)

  8. Jun 1

    4. Sweeney Todd gloats over his latest murder — but is Mrs. Lovett really dead? — The trial and execution of two horrid double-murderers. (Episode theme: The “Ha’penny Horrids”)

    SHOW NOTES: (For complete show notes, including art and links, go to pennydread.com/discord and look in the Season 6 feed) ———— 01:40: HANGED TODAY IN HISTORY (June 2, 1621): Former fishmonger John Rowse came into a small fortune, which he squandered so completely that his wife and two young daughters were in danger of being made to beg. He decided that rather than going back to work as a fishmonger to earn a living for his family, he’d solve the problem by murdering them. (Special thanks to executedtoday.com, at which much more about this story can be found) 09:45: SWEENEY TODD, THE BARBER OF FLEET-STREET, Chapters 103-105: Todd returns to his shop all smiles, and Johanna is convinced he has murdered Mrs. Lovett. Meanwhile, over at that worthy’s pie-shop, she has hired a neighbour to watch the place, and put the captive cook off with a bottle of wine and a promise to free him within 24 hours after the 4:00 batch of pies goes up. The cook, after seeing the letter, eyes the pie elevator speculatively, seeming to be hatching a scheme … what’s he got in mind, do you think? 52:15: HORRID BROADSIDE: “The Execution of James Bloomfield Rush.” (April 23, 1849) The crime, trial, and execution of a murderer whose scheme to get title to his landlord’s property by murdering the whole family and blaming the relatives with which they were feuding collapsed when his would-be victims recognized him through his false beard and wig. GLOSSARY OF EARLY-VICTORIAN SLANG USED IN THIS EPISODE: FLY MOTS: Cool chicks. MILLERS: Prizefighters. KNIGHTS OF THE BLADE: Swaggering companions who are boastful of their prowess and may also claim a military rank — Captain, Major, Colonel — that they don’t really have a right to. SNICKER: Large liquor glass. OLD TOM: Top-shelf gin. PRATE ROAST: A loquacious fellow. PINKS OF FASHION: Sharp-dressed men. GRAANUM GOLD: Old hoarded money. TIP OUR RAGS A GALLOP: Run away as fast as we can.GRABS: Law enforcement personnel.TOUCH, or PUT THE TOUCH ON: To arrest.HELL CATS: Dangerous ladies who frequent the “hells” (gambling dens).BLACKLEGS: Professional gamblers who cheat to win.SPICE ISLANDERS: Swindlers. A double pun: Mace is a spice; a mace-man is a swindler; so a Spice Islander is, as it were, a resident of Swindle Island.SPEELING-CRIB: A “hell” (gambling den).COVENT GARDEN: London neighbourhood that was, in the Regency and early Victorian, famous as a place where bloods, bucks and choice spirits went to sport their blunt. Upscale gambling hells and brothels were conveniently close by the Royal Opera and Drury-lane Theatre.

    4. Sweeney Todd gloats over his latest murder — but is Mrs. Lovett really dead? — The trial and execution of two horrid double-murderers. (Episode theme: The “Ha’penny Horrids”)
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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 ... — mustache-twirling villains ... — virtuous ballet-girls ... —wicked gamblers ... ... and more! Spiced with naughty c**k-and-hen-club songs, broadsheet street ballads, and lots of old Regency "dad jokes." A fresh episode every Sunday and Thursday evening. Join us!

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