"Penny Dreadfuls" were a type of British publication in the 19th century that featured lurid serial stories appearing in parts over a number of weeks, each part costing one penny. The term, however, soon came to encompass a variety of publications that featured cheap sensational fiction. The penny dreadfuls were printed on cheap pulp paper and were aimed at young working class males. Two of the most famous were "Varney the Vampire" (which popularized vampires) and "The String of Pearls" (Sweeney Todd), both of which are included here, alongside other works which share the same gothic horror traditions. Included are:

FRANKENSTEIN, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

DRACULA, by Bram Stoker

VARNEY, THE VAMPIRE, by Thomas Preskett Prest

THE WERE-WOLF, by Clemence Housman

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, by Oscar Wilde

THE MONK, by Matthew Lewis

THE STRING OF PEARLS, by Thomas Peckett Prest

THE RING OF THOTH, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, by Robert Louis Stevenson

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER, by Edgar Allan Poe

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