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. 1d ago

    151. The vampire-courtesan leaves the grave to claim her lover! — A strange ghostly schooner approaches England’s shores. — Two haunted abbeys. (The “Sixpenny Spookies.”)

    SHOW NOTES — for — EPISODE 18 (Season Six) (September 6, 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 month-long cycle, one show per week. As today is the first Sunday of the month, 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 “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. Then we’ll be right back around to the “Sixpenny Spookies” again, for the first Sunday of next month! ———— For COMPLETE SHOW NOTES, including art and links to resources, see ⁠⁠pennydread.com/discord.⁠⁠ ———— IN TODAY'S "SIXPENNY SPOOKIES" EPISODE: 01:45: HAUNTED ENGLAND: Lady Elizabeth Hoby, the legend says, whipped her son so severely that he died of his injuries. Her tormented spirit is said to roam Bisham Abbey and its grounds to this day, lamenting her great sin.08:00: VICTORIAN GHOSTLY SHORT STORY, to-wit: CLARIMONDE, by Theophile Gautier (1836), Part 2 of 3 parts: At the parish, memories of Clarimonde haunt Romuald. He settles into his duties there, trying to forget her. Then, a year later, a stranger on a black horse comes to ask Romuald to come with him to provide last rites to a dying noble lady. Off he goes, on the back of the stranger’s horse. Helas, they arrive too late; the heavily-veiled lady has died. Our protagonist prays fervently for her soul for about 10 minutes and gets up to go, but he can’t resist a peek, because he suspects this might be Clarimonde … is it?40:55: GHOSTLY POETRY, to-wit: THE BRIDE OF CORINTH, by J.W. von GOETHE (1810): A young Athenian youth travels to Corinth to claim his betrothed, only to learn she has died. But that night, she comes to him nevertheless, and they pledge their love from beyond the grave …53:30: DRACULA, by BRAM STOKER (1897), Chapter 5: We open with an entry in Mina Murray’s journal — Mina, of course, is Jonathan Harker’s fiancée — and she’s meeting up with Lucy Westeros in the little coastal town of Whitby, where they will be staying for some time. Mina is getting worried about Jonathan, whom she has not heard from since the last strangely-worded letter tersely informing her that he had left Castle Dracula and arrived in Bistritz. — Meanwhile, Dr. Seward is taking a special interest in the case of Renfield, the lunatic patient. Renfield had been showing really strange, creepy, and sadistic behaviors with flies and spiders that he has caught in his room. Dr. Seward thinks he would be a homicidal maniac if loose in the world….1:24:10: LORD HALIFAX’S GHOST BOOK: The Ghost of Bolton Abbey (yes, another haunted abbey!) — a haunting attested to by no less a personage than H.R.H. King Edward himself! GLOSSARY OF EARLY-VICTORIAN SLANG USED IN THIS EPISODE: SWADDLERS: (from intro patter) Medicine-show blokes or street preachers.OVERSEERS: Persons being punished in the pillory.KNIGHTS OF THE BRUSH AND MOON: (ibid) Drunken fellows running amok in fields and ditches late at night, trying to stagger home. YARD OF TAPE (ibid): Large serving of liquor, usually gin (white tape) or brandy (red tape).BLUE RUIN (ibid): Gin.SLUICE YOUR GOB: Take a big drink.NAPPERS: (from outro patter) Sheep rustler.WHIDDLERS (ibid): Talkative fellows.MASTER OF THE ROLLS (ibid): A baker.SHERRY OFF: (ibid) Run away. There are more! But we're out of space. For the complete glossary of flash-cant terms, plus art for various show elements, see pennydread.com/discord. 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

    151. The vampire-courtesan leaves the grave to claim her lover! — A strange ghostly schooner approaches England’s shores. — Two haunted abbeys. (The “Sixpenny Spookies.”)

  2. Aug 29

    150. OOPS! ALL VAMPIRES! Dracula en route to Carfax! — The vampire-courtesan Clarimonde fixes her eye on a young novitiate! — Moonlight revives the murdered vampire!

    Join guest host COUNT CHOCULA, filling in for Corinthian Finn 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 month-long cycle, one show per week. As today is the fifth Sunday of the month, this is a bonus show: OOPS! ALL VAMPIRES! It’s a solid wall of blood-curdling fun. Our regular sequence will start afresh for September with next week’s “Sixpenny Spookies” episode, which 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. Then we’ll be right back around to the “Sixpenny Spookies” again, for the first Sunday of October! ———— For COMPLETE SHOW NOTES, including art and links to resources, see ⁠⁠pennydread.com/discord.⁠⁠ ———— IN TODAY'S "SIXPENNY SPOOKIES" EPISODE: 02:45: DRACULA, by BRAM STOKER (1897), Chapter 5: We turn to an exchange of letters between Miss Mina Murray (soon to be Harker, if he survives) and her childhood friend, Miss Lucy Westenra. We learn that, on May 24 — a few days before Jonathan Harker’s desperate attempt to get the Szgani to post a letter for him — one of which is from a physician in charge of a London lunatic asylum. Could this be the asylum next door to Carfax, soon to be Count Dracula’s new home? This doesn’t bode well, does it?21:30: GHOSTLY POETRY, to-wit: THE VAMPYRE, by John Stagg (1810): Herman’s best friend Sigismund died a few weeks ago; but now he visits every night and feasts upon his heart’s best blood. As he feels death approaching, he asks his wife Gertrude to stay up and watch for the vampire ….31:00: VICTORIAN GHOSTLY SHORT STORY, to-wit: CLARIMONDE (original title: La Morte Amoreuse), by Theophile Gautier (1836), Part 1 of 3 parts: Young Romauld had always wanted to enter the church and never even thought about women. But at his investment ceremony, he makes eye contact with a gorgeous dame in the gallery and obsession begins to take over his life. Her name, he learns, is Clarimonde, and she is a notorious courtesan. But … is that all she is? Or is she something worse?58:15: VARNEY THE VAMPYRE; or, THE FEAST OF BLOOD, Chapter 64: Brave Mr. Tom Eccles hurries pistol in hand toward the old ruins where the vampire disappeared, prey to considerable doubts and fears. The plan is to hide a handkerchief there so his friends can see next day that he did it, and can thereby win his wager. As he nears the spot, Mr. Marchdale accosts him, claiming to be on a mission to find the vampire and shoot him. They hide in the ruins. Soon Varney appears and Marchdale urges Eccles to shoot him. He does, but instantly regrets it, crying, “Now I’m a murderer!” But Marchdale warns they must finish him off at once or the moonlight will revive him. Eccles wants to wait and watch to see if that happens. So … will it? GLOSSARY OF EARLY-VICTORIAN SLANG USED IN THIS EPISODE: BLOODS AND CHOICE SPIRITS: (from intro patter) Young, high-spirited rakes on the town.KNIGHTS OF THE CLEAVER: (ibid) Butchers. CLARET: Slang for blood, although usually used to refer to a nosebleed. Starting a nosebleed by punching someone in the sniffer was “drawing a cork and starting the claret.”SLUICE YOUR TOMBSTONES: Take a drink.BLACKLEGS: (from outro patter) Crooked gamblers.RUM BLADES: Good but rakish companions.KNIGHTS OF THE POST: Prisoners being punished at the pillory.SHERRY OFF: (ibid) Run away. FLATS: (ibid) Suckers. GET FLY TO THE FAKEMENT: (ibid) Get wise to the swindle. BOLT THE MOON: (ibid) Leave in the middle of the night. BRUSH OFF: (ibid) Leave. Note this phrase means something slightly different today. FOOTNOTE: Special co-host Count Von Count wants you to know that "This special OOPS! ALL VAMPIRES! Episode of the Penny Dreadful Hour podcast is brought to you by the numbers 86 and 47! Ah ah ah!”)

    150. OOPS! ALL VAMPIRES! Dracula en route to Carfax! — The vampire-courtesan Clarimonde fixes her eye on a young novitiate! — Moonlight revives the murdered vampire!

  3. Aug 21

    149. Highwayman Tom King plots his escape from the prison! — The Smuggler’s Bride! — Introducing MISS BROWN, our Ninepenny Naughties hostess! (The “Twopenny Torrids”)

    NOTE: This episode published early by popular demand! :-) SHOW NOTES — for — EPISODE 16 (Season Six) (August 23, 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 "TWOPENNY TORRIDS" EPISODE: 01:55: STREET POETRY: From a broadside ballad: “The Smuggler’s Bride,” a stirring domestic ballad about a Bonnie-and-Clyde type duo on the high seas; and “Dash My Vig,” a young Londoner’s lament after his girl jilted him for a grocer’s apprentice (circa 1850).06:50: BLACK BESS; or, THE KNIGHT OF THE ROAD (starring HIGHWAYMAN DICK TURPIN), Chapter 85-90: Tom King is ironed very heavily and placed in the darkest, dampest dungeon in Newgate because the governor is wroth at him. He falls asleep on the hard stone bunk. When he wakes up, one of the sheriffs, Mr. Blandy, is there, inspecting the prison and expressing surprise that Tom has been placed in such a grim cell before having even seen a magistrate. But on the way back, he offers to bribe his guards 100 pounds each to let him escape, and they seem interested. Will Tom’s plan work? Can he escape from Newgate?47:45: INTRODUCING MISS BROWN: 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. Miss Brown is a very pretty girl who was wooed, won, and discarded by a rakish young country gentleman, and ended up settling for a place in Covent-garden.51:15: A RATHER NAUGHTY C**K-AND-HEN-CLUB SONG: "A Rum-un To Look At, But a Good-un To Go” (basically the same idea as “Whole Lotta Rosie” by AC/DC, but written 200 years earlier).55:00: 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: GNOSTICS: (from intro) xxxFLASH COVES: (ibid) xxx.KNIGHTS OF THE ROAD: (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. SPORTING THEIR BLUNT: (ibid) Throwing money around. BUMPER: (ibid) Liquor glass.STARK NAKED: (ibid) Gin.SLUICE YOUR TOMBSTONES: (ibid) Take a big drink.MOLL: (from c**k-and-hen-club song, “A Rum-un To Look At …”) A dangerous and/or sexually friendly woman.LEARY: (ibid) Knowing, canny.PECK: (ibid) Food.HOOK AT: (ibid) Look askance at.HAPORTH: (ibid) Half-pennyworth.ON THE PAVE: (ibid) Walking the streets soliciting as a “nymph du pave.”TO LUSH: (ibid) To drink to intoxication.MOTS: (ibid) Prostitutes or promiscuous women.CROSS-BUTTOCK: (ibid) Wrestle.TOGG’D FLASH: (ibid) Dressed up in fine sexy style.PITCH UP: (ibid) Associate with fancy people.HOKEE: (ibid) Loot or money.TO PRIG: (ibid) To steal.BEAK: (ibid) Magistrate or judge.There are more! But we're out of space here. For complete show notes, see pennydread.com/discord and scroll to the bottom of the "Season Six" feed!

    149. Highwayman Tom King plots his escape from the prison! — The Smuggler’s Bride! — Introducing MISS BROWN, our Ninepenny Naughties hostess! (The “Twopenny Torrids”)

  4. Aug 16

    148: Sweeney Todd’s attempt to kill Mrs. Lovett backfires! — A husband-killing wife, a wife-murdering husband, and a husband-and-wife murder team. (A “Ha’penny Horrors” episode))

    SHOW NOTES — for — EPISODE 15 (Season Six) (August 16, 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 month-long cycle, one show per week. As today is the first Sunday of the month, this is the HA’PENNY HORRIDS theme show, featuring a few chapters of SWEENEY TODD, a true-crime story or two from the Penny Dreadful era, and various other grisly tidbits. Next week, the theme changes: Next Sunday will be a “Twopenny Torrids” theme episode — as always on the fourth Sunday of the month;The “Sixpenny Spookies” theme episode comes out on the first Sunday of next month; and finally—The “Graanum-gold Gothics” theme episode is scheduled for the second Sunday of next month. Then we’ll be right back around to the “Ha’penny Horrids” again, for the third Sunday! ———— 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 (August 16): It was 206 years ago today that Rebecca Worlock was hanged for having solved her abusive-husband problem by putting arsenic in his beer. (You can read Mrs. Worlock's confession here.)07:42: SWEENEY TODD, THE BARBER OF FLEET-STREET, Chapters 112-113: We now learn how Mrs. Lovett fared after Sweeney Todd knocked her out of the boat. The current sucked her under, and then spat her back to the surface behind a barge, so Todd did not see her. — After recovering, she returns to her shop in a hackney coach. There she finds Mrs. Stag happily guzzling from a bottle of gin and prattling about what a nice man Sweeney Todd is. You can imagine how that goes over with Mrs. Lovett! — Meanwhile, over at Todd’s place, another customer comes in to be shaved …and, of course, polished off … 40:15: HORRID BROADSIDE: “The Execution of FRED GEO. MANNING and MARIA, His WIFE.” (1849) Narrative of execution and some very doggerelly poetry about the case that became infamous as “The Bermondsey Horror,” in which a husband-and-wife murder team ganged up on a wealthy moneylender to murder and rob him.48:10: MURDERERS’ ROOST: Bigamist Louis Houssart was in a tight spot. He already had a wife, whom he had deserted; but his new wife had heard the rumours and demanded an explanation. What could he do … but visit his first wife, razor in pocket, and coldly murder his way out of this fix? (1724) GLOSSARY OF EARLY-VICTORIAN SLANG USED IN THIS EPISODE: HIGH GLOAKS: (from intro patter) Mounted highwaymen — “high” in the saddle of their horses.HOISTER MOTS: (ibid) Shoplifterettes.KNIGHTS OF THE BLADE: (ibid) 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. NIPPERKIN: (ibid) Half a pint.EYE-WATER: (ibid) Gin.COLLEGIATES: (from outro patter) Inmates of a goal or prison.COLLECTORS: (ibid) Robbers.CAPTAIN LUSHINGTONS: (ibid) Habitual drunks.SLIP COVER: (ibid) Run away as fast as possible.GRABS: Law enforcement personnel.TWIG: To figure out or identify, or to “get wise” to something or someone.VIRTUE REWARDED: Arrested and/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). FOOTNOTE: The Barony of Dunwich is located in a deep forest glade west of Arkham. It is not to be confused with Dunsany, the home until 1957 of legendary fantasy author Edward J.M.D. Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany.

    148: Sweeney Todd’s attempt to kill Mrs. Lovett backfires! — A husband-killing wife, a wife-murdering husband, and a husband-and-wife murder team. (A “Ha’penny Horrors” episode))

  5. Aug 9

    147: Someone tries to MURDER the VAMPYRE ... but the moon is full tonight! — A Highwayman’s APPRENTICESHIP program. — The BODY-SNATCHERS. (A "Graanum-gold Gothics" theme episode)

    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 GOTHICS theme show, featuring Varney the Vampyre and other Gothic drama. It will be followed by ... The “Ha’penny Horrors” theme episode, coming next Sunday (the third Sunday of the month);The “Twopenny Torrids” theme episode, coming two Sundays hence (the fourth Sunday); and finally—The “Sixpenny Spookies” theme episode, coming out the first Sunday of next month. (but there are five Sundays this month! So a surprise bonus episode will be coming your way on Sunday, Aug. 30!) ———— For COMPLETE SHOW NOTES, including art and links to resources, see ⁠⁠pennydread.com/discord.⁠⁠ ———— IN TODAY'S "GRAANUM GOTHICS" EPISODE: 02:05: ON THIS DREADFUL DAY (August 9, 1854): A fearful thunderstorm came over Ipswitch, and a great bolt of lightning struck the schoolhouse at Capel St. Mary.07:45: VARNEY THE VAMPYRE; or, THE FEAST OF BLOOD, Chapter 62-63: The story returns to the ruined abbey in which the prisoner is incarcerated. It’s midnight. A tall man in a full cloak is waiting for someone to meet him there. That second man arrives, cloaked as is the first, and they hold council. The second man tells the first that he has overheard a pothouse conversation in which a townie makes plans to come to the ruined abbey to watch for the vampire. While doing so, the newcomer addresses the man who had waited for him as Sir Francis Varney. — They have a furtive colliquoy about what to do now that things have come to such a pass. The newcomer wants to murder the prisoner — who we learn is in very fact Charles Holland ….49:20: CATCHPENNY BROADSIDE: “The Rent Day; or, Black Monday Morning.” A fun little sorta-epistolary bit of street storytelling following a slummy landlord on his rounds trying to collect the rents, in the form of dialogues.54:45: THE LIVES OF THE HIGHWAYMEN: Where do you suppose the ranks of highwaymen were kept full during the Georgian period? How were they recruited, how did they learn the ways of real gentlemen so that they could ape them on the road? Today we talk about the manservant-to-highwayman pipeline, circa 1750. When you think of a manservant, you might think of Jeeves; but, that wasn’t typical back then ….1:04:05: THE BODY SNATCHER by Robert Louis Stevenson, PART 2 OF 2: In which Wolfe Macfarlane commits a murder and covers it up by having his victim dissected; but the deed comes back to haunt him … literally.1:20:02: 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: BUCKS, BLOODS AND CHOICE SPIRITS: (from intro patter) Young men running amok.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. SHE-LION (ibid): A shilling. JET AUTEMS (ibid): Parsons and preachers. GUNPOWDERS (ibid): Spicy old ladies. GENTRY COVES (ibid): Titled aristocrats.YARD (as in “yard of white tape”) (ibid): A glass or tumbler full of liquor. White tape was gin. FULLER’S EARTH (ibid): Gin. 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. 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

    147: Someone tries to MURDER the VAMPYRE ... but the moon is full tonight! — A Highwayman’s APPRENTICESHIP program. — The BODY-SNATCHERS. (A "Graanum-gold Gothics" theme episode)

  6. Aug 2

    146: Alone in CASTLE DRACULA with three thirsty VAMPIRE-MAIDENS! — The body-snatcher’s grisly trade. — Death was poor Lenore’s bridegroom! (The “Sixpenny Spookies.”)

    SHOW NOTES — for — EPISODE 13 (Season Six) (August 2, 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 month-long cycle, one show per week. As today is the first Sunday of the month, 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 “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: 01:45: HAUNTED ENGLAND: The five deep gouges on the church door, they say, are the claws of the devil, frustrated by a victim’s having taken refuge there. Also, a legend of a ghostly woman on the road to Wilden!07:45: VICTORIAN GHOSTLY SHORT STORY, to-wit: THE BODY SNATCHER, by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON (1884), Part 1 of 2 parts: Our narrator, a regular in the local tavern, learns one of the other regulars has a backstory … when a medical student, it was his job to purchase corpses for dissection from men like Burke and Hale. Then one night, he recognized the corpse they had to sell — he had partied with her a night or two before …29:30: GHOSTLY POETRY, to-wit: DER VAMPYR, by H.A. OSSENFELDER (1748; the first known appearance of a vampire in a literary work; translator unknown, circa 1800) and LENORE by G.A. BÜRGER (1774, translated by Dante Gabriel Rosetti in 1844): Grieving for her lost soldier-fiance, Lenore is delighted when he comes and takes her away on a 100-mile ride, at the end of which he turns out to be … not who she thinks he is.44:15: DRACULA, by BRAM STOKER (1897), Chapter 4: Jonathan Harker wakes up in his own bed, wondering if the vampire maidens were a dream. He tries to think so, but not very successfully. Then the count orders him to write three post-dated letters — including one claiming to be written from Bistritz saying he is on his way home. Harker fears this means the count means to murder him and throw off the investigation by means of the posthumously posted letter. — He tries to climb out on the castle walls, to get into the count’s room, and succeeds. A door in the room leads down stairs into an old ruined chapel, where the Slovaks have deposited the wooden boxes. In one of the boxes the count is lying, apparently dead … but clearly not. — Back in his room, the next day, Harker overhears the count promising the three vampire maidens that they must wait one more day before they can have their way with Harker. Will he escape from this castle of horrors?1:17:45: LORD HALIFAX’S GHOST BOOK: Four hard-living Australian warplane pilots played a game of poker for high stakes, and won big from the youngest of their lot. He promised, “I will pay you all tomorrow.” And, after what appeared to have been an act of suicide by plane crash, his ghost did indeed pay them all … in blood.GLOSSARY OF EARLY-VICTORIAN SLANG USED IN THIS EPISODE: HIGH FLYERS: (From intro patter) Sporty, dangerous ladies.RUM KIDNEYS: (ibid) Good close friends and companions.CLANKER: (ibid) Pewter drinking-pot.BROWN GATOR DROPPINGS: (ibid) Heavy brown ale.WET YOUR OTHER EYE: (ibid) Take another drink.JACK PUDDINGS: (from outro patter) Jokers, funny fellows.COUNT-CARDS: (ibid) Excellent friends.OUT-AND-OUTERS: (ibid) Fellows who are the best at things.There are more! But we're out of room here. See pennydread.com/discord for the full glossary of flash terms! 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

    146: Alone in CASTLE DRACULA with three thirsty VAMPIRE-MAIDENS! — The body-snatcher’s grisly trade. — Death was poor Lenore’s bridegroom! (The “Sixpenny Spookies.”)

  7. Jul 27

    145: Highwayman TOM KING is in a tight spot! Can Dick Turpin save him? — Sundry street poetry, naughty songs, and dirty jokes fit for a Regency rake! (The “Twopenny Torrids & Ninepenny Naughties”)

    SHOW NOTES for EPISODE 12 (Season Six) (July 26, 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 monthly cycle, one show per week. This is the TWOPENNY TORRIDS-theme show, featuring a handful of chapters from BLACK BESS; or, THE KNIGHT OF THE ROAD, starring highwayman Dick Turpin, along with the more salacious bits of early-Victoriana such as racy songs and dirty jokes. It will be followed by ... The “Sixpenny Spookies” theme episode, coming next Sunday (the first Sunday of next month);The “Graanum Gothics” theme episode, coming two Sundays hence, on the second Sunday of next month; and finally—The “Ha'penny Horrors” theme episode, coming on the third Sunday of next month. Then we’ll be right back around to the “Twopenny Torrids” again, for the fourth Sunday of next month! ———— For COMPLETE SHOW NOTES, including art and links to resources, see ⁠⁠pennydread.com/discord.⁠⁠ ———— IN TODAY'S "TWOPENNY TORRIDS" EPISODE: 01:40: STREET POETRY: From a broadside ballad: “Something, a Parody on Nothing” (a funny ditty about contemporary Victorian life) and “William and Dinah,” a tragic ballad of forbidden love (1835).06:30: BLACK BESS; or, THE KNIGHT OF THE ROAD (starring HIGHWAYMAN DICK TURPIN), Chapter 80-84: Fleeing from the dragoons down a beautiful peaceful country lane, Dick Turpin sees a beautiful young woman looking hopefully toward him. Then she springs forward joyously, kisses him and greets him as Percy. She’s mistaken him for someone else! He goes along with it, hoping to get a chance to slip away later; but then he learns something about the missing man Percy that complicates things. And then, just as he’s settling in, the dragoons arrive, looking for Highwayman Dick Turpin. Will the family figure out who he is?48:10: INTRODUCING MISS BIRD: 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. The writer of Harris’s List does not seem to have liked Miss Bird very much.51:20: TWO RATHER NAUGHTY C**K-AND-HEN-CLUB SONGS: "I’d Be a Little Flea” (in which our singer fantasizes about the lovely ladyparts that loathsome parasites get to roam about on at will; this one is pretty icky) and “The Slashing Big Drover-boy,” a cockney chaunt about a happy, sexually hyperactive young sheep merchant from Smithfield Market.55:14: 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: AUTEM GOGGLERS: (from intro) xxxTATT MEN: (ibid) xxx.KNIGHTS OF THE ROAD: (ibid) Highway robbers.LOSE YOUR NOSE BY THE FROST: (from broadside ballad) Late-stage syphilis sometimes caused its victims’ noses to slough off, and to avoid admitting they had “the pox” victims sometimes would blame their disfigurement on frostbite.JACKY: (ibid) Gin.SLUICE YOUR IVORIES: (ibid) Take a big drink.LEARY: (from c**k-and-hen-club song, “I’d Be a Little Flea”) Knowing, clever, canny.BLOWENS: (ibid) Whores.MOT: (ibid) Another word for “blowen.”GATTER: (ibid) Beer.SCHICKSTER: (ibid) A woman, with the implication that she is a little bit slutty.CRIB: (ibid) In 1834 “crib” did not yet mean a prostitute’s lair, and simply meant any house or residence.KINCHIN: (ibid) Child.THREE HOG: (ibid) Three shillings. THERE'S MORE! But we're out of space here. For the rest of the flash-cant definitions, plus images, see pennydread.com/discord!

    145: Highwayman TOM KING is in a tight spot! Can Dick Turpin save him? — Sundry street poetry, naughty songs, and dirty jokes fit for a Regency rake! (The “Twopenny Torrids & Ninepenny Naughties”)

  8. Jul 20

    144. The “Reverend” hides his MURDERED WIFE in someone else’s coffin! — The murdering mitten-knitters' 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.

    144. The “Reverend” hides his MURDERED WIFE in someone else’s coffin! — The murdering mitten-knitters' virtue rewarded! — The notorious 1849 Liverpool Lodger murders. (The “Ha’penny Horrors.”)
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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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