The Penny Dreadfuls

In the 1800’s a new type of literature became prevalent in Victorian Britain called a Penny Dreadful. They were mostly horrific fan fictions involving supernatural beings like vampires and werewolves that were published weekly and cost only a penny (hence its name). The topics in these narratives typically included sexual assault, poisoning, drowning, etc.

These literary works were targeted towards semi-literate young males as the stories usually included some masculine character. Many people, mostly the parents, became seemingly aware of its intent and tried to protect their young men from its violent content. Although with their effort many young men continued to get ahold of a copy and it proved to have a negative effect.  A rise in criminal activity was seen and it was primarily young men committing crimes ranging from stealing from family and friends to even killing. When they were investigated all of them were found to have had some contact with Penny Dreadfuls.