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PODCAST

The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian Street Literature and Stories

Finn J.D. John/ Pulp-Lit Productions

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

history

All Episodes

00:36:24

2.08: The Vampire Lurks in the Garden. — Death's Hand...

The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian... ·

2025/07/23

A half-hour- long Tuesday Twopenny Terrible Minisode IN WHICH —0:02:30: TERRIBLE TIDBIT of the DAY for JULY 22:A sad account of a steamboat voyage on July 22, 1850, which ended with a terrific boiler explosion and much loss of life. Originally published in Household Words magazine by Charles Dickens; courtesy of Cate Ludlow and The History Press (UK).0:08:00: VARNEY THE VAMPYRE, Ch. 16:"The Meeting of the Lovers in the Garden. — An Affecting Scene. — The Sudden Appearance of Sir Francis

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00:59:54

2.07: Sweeney Todd and the loan shark. — A very angry...

The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian... ·

2025/07/21

A Sunday-evening full episode IN WHICH —0:02:40: TERRIBLE TIDBIT of the DAY for JULY 20:A melancholy tale of a shooting accident near Hungerford on July 20, 1852. Originally published in Household Words magazine by Charles Dickens; courtesy of Cate Ludlow and The History Press (UK).0:05:30: MYSTERIES OF LONDON, Ch. 4:We cut away to Mr. Markham’s estate. That gentleman’s two sons are talking. The elder, Eugene (19), has determined to shake the dust of the family home from his feet, having quarreled

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00:28:00

2.06: Spring-heel'd Jack is busted... or is he? — A...

The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian... ·

2025/07/16

A half-hour- long Tuesday Twopenny Terrible Minisode IN WHICH —0:03:00: ARTICLE from the TERRIFIC REGISTER, Page 12:We hear of a Scottish nobleman who's gifted with the Second Sight, whose friends appear before him immediately after death ...0:07:10: SPRING-HEEL'D JACK, Ch. 15:At the small boat, two rough sailors take Ellen Folder from Jack and invite him to climb aboard after them and join them in a glass of grog. Instead, Jack swims back to the barge to retrieve his cloak. There is no sign

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00:58:00

2.05: Lord Lionel's indecent proposal ... Evil Count...

The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian... ·

2025/07/13

IN WHICH —0:04:15: ARTICLE from the TERRIFIC REGISTER, Page 14:The prince of Saxony, we are told, asked a student of magic to raise the spirit of his rich deceased uncle so he could ask him where he hid his treasure. It did not go quite as the prince had hoped ...0:14:00: THE BLACK BAND, Ch. 15:We see Lolota Vizzini, the Star of the Ballet, relaxing at her Arlington Street house, being sad because Lord Lionel (who, you remember, became an accessory to his brother's murder to inherit his estate)

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01:01:10

2.04: Highwayman Dick Turpin is trapped like a rat!...

The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian... ·

2025/07/07

IN WHICH —0:06:50: SWEENEY TODD, Ch. 53:In this chapter, Johanna grows maudlin and overwrought and starts wallowing in self-pity, and is nearly unbearable, even for her best friend Arabella. Arabella suggests they go for a walk; Johanna insists that it be in Fleet-street, and that they walk back and forth past Sweeney Todd’s shop door the whole time. Will he notice? What will happen?0:26:50: ARTICLE from the TERRIFIC REGISTER, Page 10:In this short article from an 1825 true-crime journal, we have a

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01:00:26

2.03: Escape from the murder-house? — A pious...

The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian... ·

2025/06/30

IN WHICH —0:05:30: MYSTERIES OF LONDON, Ch. 3:In this chapter, we see this interesting youth having determined on a desperate attempt to flee the house when when one of the ruffians spots him, as you’ll recall from the last chapter. The youth knows he must flee for his life; but, can he? What will be his fate? Also, is he really a boy, or a woman in boy's clothes? If the latter, why?0:17:00: ARTICLE from the TERRIFIC REGISTER, Page 9:In this short article from an 1825 true-crime journal, we are

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01:00:00

2.02: The evil parson makes his move. — Spring-heel'd...

The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian... ·

2025/06/23

IN WHICH —0:07:30: SPRING-HEEL'D JACK, Ch. 14:We return to Spring-Heel’d Jack plunging into the dark filthy waters of the Thames, in a quest to save poor Ellen Folder from the consequences of her rash act in leaping to her death. He comes to the surface and finds the tidal current is fierce, and strikes out in search of the girl. He sees her about to get sucked under a barge that’s moored in the stream, but he reaches her a moment too late; to avoid being sucked under the barge, he grabs it and

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00:57:37

2.01: Lady Edith contemplates a fatal divorce. —...

The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian... ·

2025/06/19

IN WHICH —0:06:30: SPONSORED BY HONEYBUNNY!It's a FREE browser app that searches for online coupons, but whether it finds any or not, it also opens a transdimensional rift through which springs a cute blonde with a short skirt and a snubnosed .38, who will help you negotiate a personal discount on the spot. Download it today and start saving for free!0:10:00: BLACK BESS (feat. Highwayman Dick Turpin), Ch. 14:Dick brings Sir Theodore Houghton to the thieves’ rookery in an obscure house in Soho and

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01:19:18

031: Trapped in the Murderers' House! — Is This the...

The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian... ·

2025/06/14

IN WHICH —0:07:00: THE MYSTERIES OF LONDON, Ch. 2:Having ducked into a strange house to escape the rain just before someone came home, the well-dressed youth scampers upstairs ahead of the newcomers and ducks into the farthest room. Luckily the newcomers enter the other room, and light a candle, and start taking some refreshments; but then the lad overhears them talking of burglaries, and murders, and a trap-door in the house that dead bodies once were flung down into the River Fleet, which runs

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01:35:30

030: Dick Turpin cries "Stand and deliver!" ... the...

The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian... ·

2025/06/07

IN WHICH —0:6:00: BLACK BESS (Highwayman Dick Turpin), Ch.13:This week in Black Bess, we’ll finally get to see Dick Turpin do his legendary “stand and deliver” thing! The fellow he robs, though, will turn out to be a bit of a handful, even for Dick. But the upshot is, Dick has a guest to present to the banquet of the "family" of outlaws and criminals ... a very, very reluctant guest!0:21:00: THE BLACK BAND, Ch. 13:This week in The Black Band, the world’s stupidest marquis comes dashing up

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01:19:45

029: The Vampire Next Door ... venturing into the...

The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian... ·

2025/06/01

IN WHICH —0:13:00: THE MYSTERIES OF LONDON, Prologue and Ch. 1:We are introduced to a very young, delicate youth in riding attire, trying to find his way home across Smithfield Market as a terrible storm threatens. Ducking into a doorway to escape the rain, he finds himself inside an abandoned house. Then he hears footsteps – someone is coming in after him … 0:35:20: VARNEY THE VAMPYRE, Ch. 13:Henry Bannerworth calls upon his new neighbor, Sir Francis Varney, to talk about selling or leasing

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00:30:48

028: Ha'penny Horrid Minisode: Hints for the...

The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian... ·

2025/05/28

PART 3 OF 3 PARTS ... IN WHICH we finish our exploration of a fascinating little guidebook for all aspiring Swell Coves, from 1840. It’s titled “Hints to Men-About-Town,” and was written by an anonymous knight of the lancet and bleeding-cup who identifies himself only as “The Old Medical Student.” THIS EPISODE is crammed with 185-year-old tips on how to prevent the many social, emotional, and especially medical issues that can challenge a fast young rake due to — hmm, how do I put this delicately

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02:03:32

027: Will Big Ben end up in a pie? ... Will...

The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian... ·

2025/05/25

IN WHICH —0:07:30: SWEENEY TODD, Ch. 50:Johanna Oakley is forced to take her brave but not overly smart cousin Big Ben the Beefeater into her confidence — to tell him she is dressing in boys’ clothes to spy on the barbershop where, she thinks, Mark Ingestrie was murdered. Now, what do you think Big Ben will do with this information? Why, go check it out by getting Sweeney Todd to shave him, of course. Will he survive such a foolhardy act? We shall see. 0:27:15: BLACK BESS (Dick Turpin), Ch. 12:Dick

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00:35:25

026: Ha'penny Horrid Minisode: Hints for the...

The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian... ·

2025/05/21

PART 2 OF 3 PARTS ... IN WHICH we continue to explore a fascinating little guidebook for all aspiring Swell Coves, from 1840. It’s titled “Hints to Men-About-Town,” and was written by an anonymous knight of the lancet and bleeding-cup who identifies himself only as “The Old Medical Student.” Not all of this is good medical advice, I'm sorry to say. There have been a few updates to the basic book of physic in the 185 years since this little guidebook was written.IN THIS EPISODE we'll learn some

en

01:43:39

025: A vampire bride for Charles Holland? ......

The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian... ·

2025/05/18

FIVE NEW FLASH-CANT WORDS AND PHRASES —"On the Mace""Angelics""Misstopper""Bone" and "Bank the swag""Arch doxies, ack pirates, pigmen, rum quod culls, laced women and flowers of society"Plus a chapter each from our five vintage Penny Dreadfuls!0:04:20: SWEENEY TODD, Ch. 49 —Poor barber’s apprentice Tobias Ragg remains in a state of temporary insanity. But Tobias’s dim-witted mother has brought back his childhood sweetheart, Minna Grey. Will

en

00:33:16

024: Ha'penny Horrid Minisode: Hints for the...

The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian... ·

2025/05/14

IN WHICH we explore a fascinating little guidebook for all aspiring Swell Coves, from 1840. It’s titled “Hints to Men-About-Town,” and was written by an anonymous knight of the goosefeather who identifies himself only as “The Old Medical Student.” It's a series of three, starting with this episode. In it, we'll learn how to gracefully recover from the visible effects of getting involved in a drunken riot, or a street brawl, or maybe an unsuccessful attempt to box a charley — or whatever other

en

01:35:45

023: Can Minna bring Tobias back? — The highwayman's...

The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian... ·

2025/05/11

A THIEVES' SONG TRANSLATED —The beak looked big, and shook his head, heigh-ho the beak!He wished those family coves were dead, that honest folk might get their bread; heigh-ho the beak!The family cove, he grinned a grin, heigh-ho the cove!He said 'to prig I think no sin, for sure a Romany must have tin'; heigh-ho the cove!Plus a chapter each from our five vintage Penny Dreadfuls!0:04:30: SWEENEY TODD, Ch. 48 —Poor Tobias Ragg’s dingbat mother has made things worse instead of better. But then the

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01:23:46

022: Beefeater Ben's revenge — Dick Turpin Escapes —...

The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian... ·

2025/05/04

FIVE NEW FLASH-CANT WORDS AND PHRASES —"Autem bawler""Cat's meat shop""Bulldogs""Cross-crib""Hoister mots, high tobers, and Moabites"Plus a chapter each from our five vintage Penny Dreadfuls!0:04:30: SWEENEY TODD, Ch. 47 —Johanna Oakley’s mother is on a rampage, trying to persuade her to consent to marry Pastor Lupin. Luckily, Big Ben the beefeater stops by with some victuals ... and, remember, last time that happened, Mrs. Oakley put some kind

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00:19:07

021. A brief biography of Highwayman Dick Turpin,...

The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian... ·

2025/04/30

IN WHICH we learn some of the back story of the unlikely "hero" of Black Bess; or, The Knight of the Road, courtesy of a 12-page children's chapbook published by Samuel and John Keys of Devonport in or around 1840 ... almost exactly 100 years after the real Dick Turpin was hanged for his depredations!Be sure to join us this Saturday night for the next full episode of the Penny Dreadful Story Hour!

en

01:43:46

020: A dog's life saved from Sweeney Todd—Dick Turpin...

The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian... ·

2025/04/27

*stands for "A Fate Worse Than Death." We'll be seeing a lot of this!FIVE NEW FLASH-CANT WORDS AND PHRASES —"Lawful Blanket""Gunpowder""Timber merchant""Swill Tub""Philistines"Plus a chapter each from our five vintage Penny Dreadfuls!0:05:00: SWEENEY TODD, Ch. 46 —The ostler from a hotel across the way arrives just in time to save Hector, the dog, from Sweeney Todd’s pistol. Then, as he rages over his failure to kill the dog, a customer

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