Digital Periodicals – Serialized Penny Dreadfuls

DIGITAL PERIODICALS

penny dreadfulsSerialized Victorian Gothic pulp fiction for the discerning modern reader! Enter the dark world of the PENNY DREADFUL with our digitally remastered eBook instalments of classic Victorian shockers.

COWER in fear as VARNEY THE VAMPYRE stalks the land anew!—TREMBLE at the horrors of ZINDORF CASTLE!—MARVEL at the talents of VALENTINE VOX, VENTRILOQUIST!—CHEER at the heroism of the honest WAT TYLER!—STAND AND DELIVER for DICK TURPIN!

For the first time since their original publication, these stories are once again being sold as serials. Each issue will contain around ten chapters, and new issues will be published fortnightly. We have remastered and reformatted the texts, so you can simply sit back and enjoy a rollicking good read on whatever mechanical jiggery-pokery is in your possession.*

If you’re a boxset, on-demand, all-you-can-eat type, this is not for you. But if you THRILL to the cliff-hanger, SAVOUR suspense and RELISH anticipation—why then, pull your favourite chair closer to the fire (to keep out the chill), get yourself a glass of brandy (to steady your nerves), and curl up with a DIGITAL PERIODICAL!

And there’s more… selected issues include BONUS chapters! Lose yourself in some of the lesser-known GOTHIC short stories of the Victorian era.

STOP PRESS: Don’t risk missing the latest issues of your favourite DIGITAL PERIODICALS! Sign up for POLITE communiques direct to your email inbox by clicking here!

magiclantern* Please note: ePub and mobi files are not compatible with difference engines, magic lanterns, phonautographs, phenakistoscopes, pyrophones or Joseph Faber’s Euphonia.

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PRESENTLY AVAILABLE:

handFaustGeorge W. M. Reynolds

(12 issues)
From the author of Mysteries of London and Wagner the Wehrwolf comes a unique take on the legendary story of Faust. In the 1490s, amidst the secretive tribunals and power games of Europe, an impoverished student enters into a pact that will twist his mind and shatter his spirit. The promise of power, wealth and vengeance comes at a terrifying cost – but can true love conquer the demon’s hold? and what fate awaits a man who would sell his very soul?


handVarney the Vampyre; or, the Feast of BloodJames M. Rymer, Thomas P. Prest

(23 issues)
The classic Victorian vampire epic. The Bannerworth family have fallen on hard times since the death of their father—but things are about to get even worse. An intruder in Flora Bannerworth’s bedroom—mysterious puncture wounds to the girl’s neck—an enigmatic neighbour who bears a striking resemblance to an ancient family portrait—the Bannerworths are about to be drawn into the vampiric world of Sir Francis Varney!


handVileroy; or the Horrors of Zindorf CastleJames M. Rymer, Thomas P. Prest

(6 issues)
Castles, dungeons, ghosts, bandits, imperilled maidens, avenging youths, forced marriages, missing heirs, chalices made from human skulls—this is pure unadulterated Gothic fiction in all its sensational, lurid glory. Caroline Mecklenburg flees her family home after the deaths of her parents—the result, she believes, of the machinations of the sinister Count Durlack. She arrives at Zindorf Castle – the home of her trusted aunt – but little does Caroline realize, her problems are just beginning!


handThe Life and Adventures of Valentine Vox, the VentriloquistHenry Cockton

(7 issues)
Valentine Vox has a precocious talent for ventriloquism—and this is matched only by his predilection for causing mischief. Sent to London to find his way in the world, Valentine is welcomed into the home of Grimwood Goodman, a friend of his uncle. But Goodman’s family are impatient for their inheritance—and they aren’t too happy about this new protégé—so they come up with a plan to get Goodman out of the picture and secure his property for themselves. Can Valentine discover the plot and save his friend? Or will Goodman be permanently resigned to his horrible fate? Includes the author’s polemical preface (an attack on private lunatic asylums) to the 1840 edition.


handThe Mysteries of LondonGeorge W. M. Reynolds

(27 issues)
The hugely popular first series of The Mysteries of London. Follow Richard Markham as he stumbles into the dark and seedy underbelly of Victorian London. Inhabited by thieves, fences, conmen and counterfeiters, the city is a sprawling den of vice, corruption and greed—and the ever-present shadow of Newgate Prison haunts the innocent and guilty alike. Of all the mysteries that plague this underworld London, there is none more disturbing than the Resurrection Man—a cheating, thieving, bodysnatching serial killer—whose path the unfortunate Richard Markham is about to cross…


handThe String of Pearls; a RomanceJames M. Rymer, Thomas P. Prest

(5 issues)
One of the best-known of all the penny dreadfuls… welcome to the twisted world of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, where a shave and haircut can end up costing an arm and a leg! Meet Johanna Oakley, desperate to learn the fate of her lover Mark Ingestrie (and the string of pearls intended as a token of his affection). Meet Tobias Ragg, the hapless apprentice of Sweeney Todd, terrified of what his master might do to him. And meet Sweeney Todd, one of the most memorable of all Victorian villains. And, of course, find out the truth about those delicious hot pies…


handWagner, the Wehr-WolfGeorge W. M. Reynolds

(8 issues)
I see a bad moon rising… an old man, abandoned by his family, a mysterious visit from a stranger, a rash promise. And now a new evil awakes. Is the world ready for… Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf? George Reynolds’ classic Victorian werewolf stalks the pages again.


handAngelina; or, The Mystery of St. Mark’s AbbeyThomas P. Prest

(3 issues)
Angelina – a beautiful orphan – has a contented life in the household of her uncle. All this changes when she and her cousin take a walk around the ruins of St Mark’s Abbey. A turbulent storm, a flash of lightning, a ghostly apparition – and Angelina’s life will never be the same again! What secrets lurk in the ruins of the abbey? What treachery is yet to be revealed? And what is the meaning of the spectre’s unearthly pronouncement: “What I speak is truth, Angelina, thou art not what thou seemest!”


handClement Lorimer; or, The Book with the Iron ClaspsAngus B. Reach

(4 issues)
For two centuries, the Benosa family have sworn bloody vengeance on the Vandersteins. No scruples of love or loyalty can cause them to deviate from the path of the Vendetta. Now, with only one descendent of the Vandersteins still living, the last remaining Benosa readies himself to fulfil the oath of his ancestors…

Clement Lorimer, a young and cynical man-about-town, spends his days racing horses and seducing opera singers. Our hero has few worries more serious than where to have dinner… or so he thinks! But he is being watched – by the last living member of the Benosa family! What is Clement’s relationship to the Benosas? Will our hero be drawn into the violent world of the Vendetta? And what will be written on the final page of the BOOK WITH THE IRON CLASPS?


handThe Life of Richard Palmer; Better Known as Dick TurpinHenry D. Miles

(4 issues)
STAND AND DELIVER! YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE! The original dandy highwayman is back! Henry Downes Miles’s swashbuckling tale of Richard Palmer (better known as Dick Turpin)’s notorious career has it all—action, suspense, peril, treachery, romance! And, of course, a horse called Black Bess. Follow the rise and fall of the most famous gentleman of the road, from his first forays on the turnpike to his eventual capture and execution. Many tales have been written about Turpin over the years, but this is the earliest penny blood to feature the legendary knight of the road, which has been newly transcribed and formatted from Thomas White’s 1839 edition.


handThe Mysteries of the Madhouse; or Annals of BedlamA Discharged Officer of Twenty Years’ Experience

(4 issues)
The name of Bedlam is notorious – and it still sends a cold shiver down the spine. In this dark exposé, a ‘discharged officer’ of the hospital reveals the truth of what went on behind the ominous doors of London’s private mental institutions. We are introduced to Herbert Hastings, an affable young man snatched from the arms of his true love as part of a nefarious plot to steal his inheritance. What horrors await Herbert? Will his friends discover his fate? And will he escape with his sanity intact? The Mysteries of the Madhouse offers a haunting and sensational glimpse into the dark heart of Victorian hospitals.


FORTHCOMING TITLES:

handSpring Heel’d Jack; or, the Terror of London – Albert Coates

handRichard Coeur de Lion – Thomas Archer

handWat Tyler – Pierce Egan

Gossip & Scandal:

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