penny dreadful

== English == === Etymology === From its low price and the lower-class British use of dreadful (“sensationalized crime reporting”). === Noun === penny dreadful (plural penny dreadfuls) (originally derogatory, now usually historical) A cheap paperback book, particularly those concerning lurid depictions of crime in the Victorian era. 1861 July 29, North American Review: They can read the ‘penny dreadful’, but they cannot darn their stockings or mend their shoes. Pulp fiction: stories written in the lurid style of the penny dreadfuls. ==== Usage notes ==== Also used attributively as an adjective. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== See also ==== dime novel gazette pulp fiction === References === “penny dreadful, n. and adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000. === Further reading === penny dreadful on Wikipedia.Wikipedia