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Gilded Nightmares – Timeless British Library Books
Penny Bloods: Gothic Tales of Dangerous Women
Her cheeks were pale, and her eyes had the wild and stolid glare which Rodolph had observed when she awakened from the slumber of the grave; she quitted the castle, and after gazing around her, as if uncertain which way to go, she proceeded towards the village.
In the mid 1800s, the inexpensive publications known as penny bloods were all the rage in Britain. Spinning tales of high Gothic drama, violence and monstrosity, this literary phenomenon was significant for its depictions of dangerous and transgressive women which inspired such milestone Gothic works as Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla .
Collecting ten tales from classic – and truly obscure – penny publications and featuring newly edited text and insights from Dr Dittmer’s research, this new volume revives a company of witches, femme fatales, vampire mistresses and deadly criminals to enthrall a new generation of readers.
In the mid 1800s, the inexpensive publications known as penny bloods were all the rage in Britain. Spinning tales of high Gothic drama, violence and monstrosity, this literary phenomenon was significant for its depictions of dangerous and transgressive women which inspired such milestone Gothic works as Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla .
Collecting ten tales from classic – and truly obscure – penny publications and featuring newly edited text and insights from Dr Dittmer’s research, this new volume revives a company of witches, femme fatales, vampire mistresses and deadly criminals to enthrall a new generation of readers.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published September 7, 2023
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588 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
November 5, 2023
It contains what it says on the tin: a selection of penny dreadfuls: Victorian horror pulp stories, which were very popular amongst the common reader (if there was such a thing) during the era.
I've enjoyed this book more as a historical witness than as a collection of stories itself: it illustrates the zeitgeist very well, with a clear fascination of all that is forbidden and occult in the Victorian social mindset.
This doesn't make them any better as stories though, and to modern reader, these stories are hardly 'spooky' anymore today. They are pompous, over-the-top and sometimes a bit of a drag to read.
So this is one for the reader who revels in the historical value of the stories and less for those who are looking for another Halloween read.
I've enjoyed this book more as a historical witness than as a collection of stories itself: it illustrates the zeitgeist very well, with a clear fascination of all that is forbidden and occult in the Victorian social mindset.
This doesn't make them any better as stories though, and to modern reader, these stories are hardly 'spooky' anymore today. They are pompous, over-the-top and sometimes a bit of a drag to read.
So this is one for the reader who revels in the historical value of the stories and less for those who are looking for another Halloween read.
January 27, 2024
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.
This book was almost impossible to read and actually impossible to feel excited about. The formatting was HORRENDOUS. Every time a sentence began with a word that started with the "TH," the "TH" was just cut off. "The" would just be "e." And don't get me started on the fact that double Fs just didn't show up. "Sufficient" became "S cient," "coffin" became "co n." Some words were completely indecipherable; what the hell does "a icting intelligence that was con ned to his bed" mean?!
I understand these stories are from the 1800s so some lenience is required BUT even the introductions and author's notes had the same unforgivable typos and formatting errors. So, it can't be the time period.
Forgetting the formatting and typos, I was also bothered that these stories seems to be cut way too much. The only story I actually liked was the one about Sweeney Todd but it was too short. I know the editor said they cut many parts of these stories for clarity and conciseness, but I think that was a mistake. The stories would be interesting but abrupt. It was hard to feel attached to any story in particular. This had potential and is a good primer for penny publications but ultimately it fell short for me.
This book was almost impossible to read and actually impossible to feel excited about. The formatting was HORRENDOUS. Every time a sentence began with a word that started with the "TH," the "TH" was just cut off. "The" would just be "e." And don't get me started on the fact that double Fs just didn't show up. "Sufficient" became "S cient," "coffin" became "co n." Some words were completely indecipherable; what the hell does "a icting intelligence that was con ned to his bed" mean?!
I understand these stories are from the 1800s so some lenience is required BUT even the introductions and author's notes had the same unforgivable typos and formatting errors. So, it can't be the time period.
Forgetting the formatting and typos, I was also bothered that these stories seems to be cut way too much. The only story I actually liked was the one about Sweeney Todd but it was too short. I know the editor said they cut many parts of these stories for clarity and conciseness, but I think that was a mistake. The stories would be interesting but abrupt. It was hard to feel attached to any story in particular. This had potential and is a good primer for penny publications but ultimately it fell short for me.
January 30, 2024
Penny Bloods is a collection of short gothic stories from the 1800’s including everything from cannibalism, witches and werewolves.
I’ll admit this one was a bit too historical for me, the classic tales from the 1800’s doesn’t really hold up to modern day gothic short stories. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the stories at all, I just found them to be a bit harder to get through than I would have liked. Each story includes an introduction where we are told some general backstory to the stories themselves, the authors and what each story is about, which fit very well with the “educational” tone of the book.
I’d recommend this to readers who enjoy classical literature, and wants to specifically broaden their understanding of the publications known as penny bloods. I fear reader’s going into this expecting an entertaining collection of gothic literature might be disappointed.
Big thanks to Netgalley, British Library Publishing, and the author Nicole C. Dittmer for allowing me to read an e-arc of this collection!
I’ll admit this one was a bit too historical for me, the classic tales from the 1800’s doesn’t really hold up to modern day gothic short stories. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the stories at all, I just found them to be a bit harder to get through than I would have liked. Each story includes an introduction where we are told some general backstory to the stories themselves, the authors and what each story is about, which fit very well with the “educational” tone of the book.
I’d recommend this to readers who enjoy classical literature, and wants to specifically broaden their understanding of the publications known as penny bloods. I fear reader’s going into this expecting an entertaining collection of gothic literature might be disappointed.
Big thanks to Netgalley, British Library Publishing, and the author Nicole C. Dittmer for allowing me to read an e-arc of this collection!
October 24, 2025
This was good in terms of understanding the historical viewpoints of what made gothic villainesses or female tragic figures so compelling in the Victorian era of penny literature - HOWEVER what this isn’t is a readable collection of those actual stories. These are snippets, interesting snippets yes, but portions of the whole tales that are usually readable but are divorced from wider context (the opening blurb to each could provide more I think) and in one case, makes the actual narrative quite unreadable. It’s a shame because i do really think there’s promise in this premise, but this just didn’t deliver in the way I thought it would.
On a positive note, the stories chosen were all interesting and display different attitudes and perceived dangers: the stories focused on a vampire bride, a vigilante and wronged woman, a black widow, a madwoman, and a murderess.
On a positive note, the stories chosen were all interesting and display different attitudes and perceived dangers: the stories focused on a vampire bride, a vigilante and wronged woman, a black widow, a madwoman, and a murderess.
February 13, 2025
A collection of excerpts of Victorian gothic short stories. I really enjoyed the Sweeney Todd chapter, and a couple of the others were okay. However, this book was held back by only giving an excerpt of each short story. This prevented any meaningful connection to the characters and frustrated the possibility of tension or suspense for the reader. I also felt like the introductions could have given more comment on why each story had been chosen and what the intended overall message of the collection was other than showing how "dangerous" women were portrayed at that time.
November 14, 2025
Some stories are better than others but either way they paint a very interesting picture of what people were scared of back in the day.
January 25, 2024
My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Independent Publishers Group, British Library Publishing for an advance copy of this new collection of Victorian stories of bad woman, blood, revenge, magic, and life beyond the grave.
I am older than a lot of my workmates, grew up on getting lots of books from book sales and tag sales, and remember when trade books start appearing in stories. I think that is one of the reasons why I love dealing with the mass market books that come in weekly to the store. I love the garish covers, the huge author names, the puns in the titles, the series names. I grew up on this, learned to read with mass markets. This is why I love the penny dreadfuls or the penny bloods. They were the mass market of their time. Genre stories for people who had learned to read, and wanted a little shock to the system, or a glimpse of stocking in stories. These stories had an audience who wanted them, could go on and on based on popularity, or end if the story wasn't catching on. This collection Penny Bloods: Gothic Tales of Dangerous Women edited by Nicole C. Dittmer, and feature old-timey tales of things no good woman should do, but that many longed to try.
There are ten stories in the collection, each with a brief introduction that tells about the writers, when possible, translation history, popularity, and anything else that can be told about the stories. There is a lot of missing information as so many stories were copied, stolen, or just lost to time. The foreward is also a very good primer to Penny Bloods, explaining the history, there rise and eventually adaption to other forms of fiction. The stories range from vampires, to women getting revenge for slights or real crimes. Some have magic, some are very bloody. Standouts include the first story The Skeleton Count or The Vampire Mistress which might be one of the first vampire stories in the English language, and one of the first with a woman vampire. Also The Female Bluebeard, was quite odd, quite bloody, and had a few characters that are quite memorable.
Cherchez la femme is the theme here. Some of this women deserve that label, some don't. One has to have an expectation going into these stories. There are a little over-the-top, a bit overwritten, and what once was scary to readers in the 1800's, might seem like an episode of Darkwing Duck, today. However a few, the previously mentioned stories still have a power to make one uncomfortable, even turn another light on kind of reading. Some seem really dated, but the collection on a whole is very good. I really enjoyed the historical information. The idea that stories might go on based on reader responses, or just end without a trace is fascinating. The fact that so much about these authors will never be known, or even how wrote what is sad, and yet encourages one to create art. The creator might be forgotten but the art lives on in collections like this.
I am older than a lot of my workmates, grew up on getting lots of books from book sales and tag sales, and remember when trade books start appearing in stories. I think that is one of the reasons why I love dealing with the mass market books that come in weekly to the store. I love the garish covers, the huge author names, the puns in the titles, the series names. I grew up on this, learned to read with mass markets. This is why I love the penny dreadfuls or the penny bloods. They were the mass market of their time. Genre stories for people who had learned to read, and wanted a little shock to the system, or a glimpse of stocking in stories. These stories had an audience who wanted them, could go on and on based on popularity, or end if the story wasn't catching on. This collection Penny Bloods: Gothic Tales of Dangerous Women edited by Nicole C. Dittmer, and feature old-timey tales of things no good woman should do, but that many longed to try.
There are ten stories in the collection, each with a brief introduction that tells about the writers, when possible, translation history, popularity, and anything else that can be told about the stories. There is a lot of missing information as so many stories were copied, stolen, or just lost to time. The foreward is also a very good primer to Penny Bloods, explaining the history, there rise and eventually adaption to other forms of fiction. The stories range from vampires, to women getting revenge for slights or real crimes. Some have magic, some are very bloody. Standouts include the first story The Skeleton Count or The Vampire Mistress which might be one of the first vampire stories in the English language, and one of the first with a woman vampire. Also The Female Bluebeard, was quite odd, quite bloody, and had a few characters that are quite memorable.
Cherchez la femme is the theme here. Some of this women deserve that label, some don't. One has to have an expectation going into these stories. There are a little over-the-top, a bit overwritten, and what once was scary to readers in the 1800's, might seem like an episode of Darkwing Duck, today. However a few, the previously mentioned stories still have a power to make one uncomfortable, even turn another light on kind of reading. Some seem really dated, but the collection on a whole is very good. I really enjoyed the historical information. The idea that stories might go on based on reader responses, or just end without a trace is fascinating. The fact that so much about these authors will never be known, or even how wrote what is sad, and yet encourages one to create art. The creator might be forgotten but the art lives on in collections like this.
April 22, 2025
Penny Bloods is a collection of penny dreadfuls, the general term for the lurid, sensationalist and cheaply published stories of murder and mayhem widely distributed and hugely popular with a wide British audience in the middle of the 19th century. This collection focuses especially on tales featuring women as the main villains, offering a fascinating insight into Victorian ideas of the femme fatale or dangerous woman. The stories range from supernatural accounts featuring such dangerous women as witches and vampires over tales of horrid crimes and murders with female perpetrators to stories of wronged and misunderstood women whose criminality lies simply in seeking retribution for past hurts. As such, the collection provides a quite comprehensive overview of dangerous women in the Victorian imagination, and it is perhaps from this angle that the book is best viewed, not as a horror collection in the modern sense. The style of horror is quite old-fashioned and can easily come across as over-dramatic or even a little silly to modern horror audiences. As such, this book is perhaps best enjoyed by people who are already familiar with classic literature and old-fashioned horror. That said, though, the book has one big disadvantage, and that is the cropping of most of the stories. Penny dreadfuls were often quite long, both because they were serialised and because many were pay-by-word. As such, many stories eventually developed into full length novels. To fit the stories into an anthology format, the editor has had to find ways to crop the stories down to around 20-30 pages per story. As can be imagined, that's no easy task, and while I feel that the editor did a good job overall, it obviously comes at the expense of details and scenes which are often necessary for full emotional investment and/or a satisfying conclusion to the story. In a couple of instances, it became so bad that I felt unsure about what was going on. And that's a shame, because I think that I would have enjoyed many of the stories significantly more if I had been able to read them in their full length.
January 24, 2024
I have been looking for a good reference book or collection of Penny Dreadful publications for eons and I am so glad to have found this one. Not only is it comprehensive and authentic, but each story has an epigraph explaining the history of each story
If you are a lover of history and have tried to research penny dreadfuls online, you will know just how difficult it is, so to have a great collection of stories at my fingertips from the British Library is a real treat to be treasured! The text is authentic, the illustrations original and a wonderful edition to preserve the earliest commercially mass-printed entertainment. I will certainly be buying this one for the "Keeper" shelf
Absolutely fantastic and a must-read for lovers of turn of the century history and gothic horrors
This copy was kindly given by NetGalley and my review left voluntarily
If you are a lover of history and have tried to research penny dreadfuls online, you will know just how difficult it is, so to have a great collection of stories at my fingertips from the British Library is a real treat to be treasured! The text is authentic, the illustrations original and a wonderful edition to preserve the earliest commercially mass-printed entertainment. I will certainly be buying this one for the "Keeper" shelf
Absolutely fantastic and a must-read for lovers of turn of the century history and gothic horrors
This copy was kindly given by NetGalley and my review left voluntarily
February 20, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!
This was a lovely little collection of Penny Dreadfuls - there's a lot to be said for an older collection of little horror novellas, and Pennys were very much that. I understand that they had been cut for clarity in places, but I feel we would have benefited more from the full stories, that or adapted versions where they had been modernised. This was a concise collection, no doubt, but things are not always better pared back.
I don't these were quite as obscure as initially advertised either - I was familiar with most, if not all, and particularly Sweeney Todd. There is something to be said for collecting these kinds of stories, and I appreciated the educational focus, but would have been appreciative of a little more meat on the bones of this one.
This was a lovely little collection of Penny Dreadfuls - there's a lot to be said for an older collection of little horror novellas, and Pennys were very much that. I understand that they had been cut for clarity in places, but I feel we would have benefited more from the full stories, that or adapted versions where they had been modernised. This was a concise collection, no doubt, but things are not always better pared back.
I don't these were quite as obscure as initially advertised either - I was familiar with most, if not all, and particularly Sweeney Todd. There is something to be said for collecting these kinds of stories, and I appreciated the educational focus, but would have been appreciative of a little more meat on the bones of this one.
March 27, 2024
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC
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I was interested in this book when I read the description - I love 19th century literature for the historical perspective and the depth of language.
For me, however, this was too academically presented to be an 'enjoyable read'. I found the editing, even though it was explained, broke up the plots and made a lot of the stories confusing. The introduction was written in a way that I don't think will be helpful to the general reader.
I struggled with several of the stories and didn't read them all.
I think this book would appeal to academic readers, or those who really want to study history through literature; I wouldn't recommend it to those who read generally for recommendation.
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I was interested in this book when I read the description - I love 19th century literature for the historical perspective and the depth of language.
For me, however, this was too academically presented to be an 'enjoyable read'. I found the editing, even though it was explained, broke up the plots and made a lot of the stories confusing. The introduction was written in a way that I don't think will be helpful to the general reader.
I struggled with several of the stories and didn't read them all.
I think this book would appeal to academic readers, or those who really want to study history through literature; I wouldn't recommend it to those who read generally for recommendation.
December 12, 2024
Unfortunately, a lot of this publication is indecipherable due to letters being missing from words. I'm unsure as to whether or not this was done on purpose or if this was a formatting error. Either way, it took a lot of the educational enjoyment out of the read. When you could piece together words or when you read a page absent of errors, it was fine. Apparently some of the stories have been cut down which is really a shame. I can understand the intent behind the decision, but it makes it less engaging and loses focus with the common reader picking up the book. I think I had my expectations a little too high for this one based off the description.
December 26, 2024
Penny Bloods offers a collection of gothic tales featuring dangerous women, serving as a delightful glimpse into the world of Victorian-era horror. These stories, reminiscent of old-fashioned Penny Dreadfuls, hold a certain charm, capturing the essence of classic horror novellas. There’s a nostalgic appeal in revisiting these dark tales, but I found myself wishing for a bit more depth. While some of the stories were edited for clarity, I feel the collection would have been more impactful if we had access to the full, uncut versions. Alternatively, modernized adaptations might have brought a fresh energy to these narratives.
Read
March 20, 2024(Note from 19/3):
I’m not going to attempt to read the eARC I was given by The British Library. It’s so full of weird gaps, spelling mistakes, and/or missing words that made the reading experience hard. I’m definitely going to see if I can get a physical copy of the book as I think the eARC was rushed or just wasn’t checked for these issues before granting requests. Very sad that I couldn’t even get into the first 5% of the book. 🙁
I’m not going to attempt to read the eARC I was given by The British Library. It’s so full of weird gaps, spelling mistakes, and/or missing words that made the reading experience hard. I’m definitely going to see if I can get a physical copy of the book as I think the eARC was rushed or just wasn’t checked for these issues before granting requests. Very sad that I couldn’t even get into the first 5% of the book. 🙁
August 27, 2024
An interesting collection with fun intros for each story. My main grievance was that the editor approached this too academically and did not always consider the story being told - as explained she took key parts from the long serials to highlight the role of specific female characters - but for some stories did so in a way that meant the story made no sense. So it felt like a book of examples to refer to, as opposed to being able to enjoy the stories.
November 5, 2024
Don't get me wrong, this is a great book. I'm just a little confused as to why almost all of these stories (with the exception of one) are by men? It's a bit odd that it's a collection edited by a woman, and about women, but only one of the authors is a woman. I guess I just expected it to be more woman centered
October 31, 2023
I really enjoyed this book. I am a big fan of penny stories (mostly Sweeney Todd and Wagner) but this concise collection that focuses on the women villains is amazing! I can't wait to read more by this person.
June 7, 2024
Lovely collection and a gorgeous display book. I especially enjoyed The Female Bluebeard. Also really enjoyed the short introduction to each text, often in compilations these can be long-winded and overwrought but I found them to be concise, informative and entertaining here.
June 8, 2024
(3/5⭐️) 📚 I love horror and gothic tales but I think my expectations were high as I didn’t find the stories very scary or shocking. Perhaps they were for that period of time. Still enjoying to read and interesting to learn about these stories through the editor’s notes.
January 17, 2024
A great selection of stories, from another universe
Read
April 17, 2024Dnf
October 13, 2024
While the reasons for the cuts to the source material were explained, the result was choppy and occasionally difficult to follow stories.
December 7, 2024
Beautiful book and well edited as a collection, but penny dreadfuls by their nature are a bit long winded and schlocky!
September 25, 2025
I didnt realize it was excerpts of full stories. That made some of them a little confusing. Overall fun read and id like to find some of them in full.
December 23, 2025
I'm gonna have to read the full 'Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf' xD
January 1, 2026
this was such a good collection! a great introduction to penny bloods and common gothic tropes
August 18, 2025
the biggest takeaway: don’t be cruel to women they will FUCK U UP!!!
second takeaway: instead of left or leaving they used quitted or quitting and it made me giggle every time
second takeaway: instead of left or leaving they used quitted or quitting and it made me giggle every time
August 25, 2025
The book as an object is to be treasured in all its glory. As for what is inside, the gruesome tales are gripping, and make is easy for the reader to visualise in details the spooky scenes taking place there. My favourite tale was the one which inspired the movie Sweeney Todd, an environment so claustrophobic, I felt relieved once the character jumped out the shaft, and finally got fresh air (as well as his liberty back)!
I had no idea there was such a difference between Penny Dreadfuls and Penny Bloods - which the book explained in clear ways.
I had no idea there was such a difference between Penny Dreadfuls and Penny Bloods - which the book explained in clear ways.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews