SHOW NOTES

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EPISODES 19-22 (Season 5)

(March 1-14, 2026)

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Join host Corinthian Finn, a.k.a. Finn J.D. John 18th Baron Dunwitch,* for a one-hour-long spree through the scandal-sheets and story papers of early-Victorian London!

Each segment is in its own sub-episode.

• The "Penny Dreadfuls" segment is in this main episode, followed by ...
• The “Twopenny Torrids” minisode coming Thursday evening, March 5;
• The “Ha’penny Horrids” minisode on next Sunday evening; March 8; and finally—
• The “Sixpenny Spookies” minisode, two Thursdays hence, on March 14.

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THE "PENNY DREADFULS" SEGMENT:

For COMPLETE SHOW NOTES, including art and links to resources, see ⁠⁠pennydread.com/discord.⁠⁠

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02:20: ON THIS DREADFUL DAY (March 1): It must have seemed like a great idea to embezzle nearly 8,000 quid from a business partner; William Anderson got to feeling differently after his eight-year sentence was handed down. (1854)

04:00: VARNEY THE VAMPYRE; or, THE FEAST OF BLOOD, Chapter 44: We cut back to the dungeon in which the prisoner is incarcerated. He hears someone running toward the dungeon, and then a tall gaunt man runs in and collapses beside him. He rises from his bed, grapples him by the throat, and cries, “Villain, monster, vampire! I have thee now!” Meanwhile, the mob of villagers, cheated of their prey, start thinking about seeking more vampyres in the graves of the recently deceased ….

42:10: BROADSIDE BALLAD: Basically, an early-Victorian episode of Judge Judy, pitting a disgruntled customer against his tailor — who claimed the unwearable pair of “inexpressibles” (trousers) he made for the customer were a new fashion he’d seen Prince Albert wearing. (1840s).

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GLOSSARY OF EARLY-VICTORIAN SLANG USED IN THIS EPISODE:

• HIGH SPICERS: First-class highwaymen.
• LADYBIRDS: Sweethearts.
• KNIGHTS OF THE BRUSH AND MOON: Drunken fellows wandering amok in meadows and ditches, trying to stagger home.
• CORINTHIAN: A fancy toff or titled swell. Used here as a reference to Corinthian Tom, the quintessential Regency rake depicted in Pierce Egan's "Life in London" (usually referred to as "Tom and Jerry").
• CHAFFING-CRIB: A room where drinking and bantering are going on.
• NIPPERKIN: Half a pint.
• EYE-WATER: Gin.
• CABBAGE: Fabric used by a tailor to make clothing.
• KICKSIES: Trousers.
• ARTFUL CARD: Crafty character.
• TWIG: Recognize. To twig to something is to figure it out; to twig the prince is to recognize him on the street.
• KIDDY: Fashionable fellow.
• FARDEN: Phonetic spelling for the Cockney pronunciation of “farthing,” which was a quarter-penny.
• SPOOONEY: A silly, stupid fellow.
• MAG: A ha’penny.

* The Barony of Dunwitch is located in a deep forest glade west of Arkham (where, as H.P. Lovecraft put it, “the hills rise wild, and there are valleys with deep woods that no axe has ever cut; there are dark narrow glens where the trees slope fantastically, and where thin brooklets trickle without ever having caught the glint of sunlight.”) Actually it is a good 3,000 miles west of Arkham. It is not to be confused with Dunwich, the English seacoast town that fell house by house into the sea centuries ago, or Dunsany, the home until 1957 of legendary fantasy author Edward J.M.D. Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany.

SHOW NOTES

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MINISODE 18 (Season 5)

(February 25, 2026)

"THE SIXPENNY SPOOKIES"!

• For COMPLETE SHOW NOTES, including art and links to resources, see ⁠pennydread.com/discord.⁠

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IN TO-DAY'S "SIXPENNY SPOOKIES" EPISODE:

• 00:45: THE TERRIFIC REGISTER: Screams awakened the traveler, and running to investigate he found the fingers of a corpse, shackled with chains, locked around the throat of his companion!
• 05:15: EARLY VICTORIAN GHOSTLY SHORT STORY, to-wit: MISS JEROMETTE AND THE CLERGYMAN, by Wilkie Collins, Part 2 of 3 parts: After the narrator’s brother’s love affair with Miss Jeromette has been going on in secret for some time, his dying mother begs him to leave off the law and enter the church, and he promises he’ll do it. Obviously carrying on an extramarital with a secret French girl is one thing for a law student, but quite another for a divinity student. He goes to her house, sadly and regretfully, resigned to break it off….
• 28:30: A SHORT GHOST STORY from the scrapbook of Charles Lindley, Viscount Halifax: “Head of a Child.” Guests in the manor of Sutton Verney complained they’d wake up in the night with the feeling of a child nestled in bed with them. It got so nobody would stay in that room; finally, the owners demolished that wing … and thereby learned its secret.
• 30:45: A FEW SQUEAKY-CLEAN DAD JOKES from the early-1800s' most popular joke book: "Joe Miller's Jests; or, The Wit's Vade-mecum."

GLOSSARY OF EARLY-VICTORIAN SLANG USED IN THIS EPISODE:

• VADE MECUM: Latin for "hand book."
• JOE MILLER: A player at Drury-lane, in the early 1700s, who was famous for a Leslie Nielsen style of stone-faced comedy. Mr. Miller was always so serious (and don’t call him Shirley) that he was hilarious on stage. When he died leaving some dependents uncared-for, the jestbook was created by Joe’s friends as a sort of inside joke, as a fundraiser to support his bereaved family.
• KIDDIES AND KIDDIESSES: Flash fellows — basically, early-1800s hep cats.
• SHERRY OFF: Run away.
• FLATS: Suckers.
• GET FLY TO THE FAKEMENT: Get wise to the swindle.
• BUMS: Bailiffs.
• CRAPING COVES: Hangmen.
• YE OLD STONE PITCHER: Newgate Prison.
• PADDINGTON FAIR: Execution day at Tyburn, which is in Paddington Parish. Paddington is also a pun, as “pad” was a flash word for “thief” or “robber.”
• BRUSH OFF: Leave. Note this phrase means something slightly different today.

SHOW NOTES

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MINISODE 17 (Season 5)

(February 22-25, 2026)

"THE HA'PENNY HORRIDS"!

• For COMPLETE SHOW NOTES, including art and links to resources, see ⁠pennydread.com/discord.

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IN TODAY'S "HA'PENNY HORRIDS" EPISODE:

• 00:45: HANGED TODAY IN HISTORY (February 24): A real downer, you might want to skip this one. But on Feb. 24, 1823, a 54-year-old closeted gay man named William North, outed by the discovery of some love letters, was hanged for “an unnatural crime.”
• 07:45: SWEENEY TODD, THE BARBER OF FLEET-STREET, Chapter 89: Todd has escaped through the neighbor’s house, terrifying them in the process. But now he has a problem — the heat is going to be on! And Sir Richard Blunt has a problem: He doesn’t want Todd to go dark quite yet, he’s working on a plan to catch him red-handed. How can he reassure Todd enough to keep him in England for another day — and make sure Johanna is safe in his shop?
• 23:00: HORRID BROADSIDE: “Life, Trial, Confession & Execution of JAMES GREENACRE, for the EDGEWARE ROAD MURDER!” (1836). Truly a nasty crime, in which Mr. Greenacre killed and dismembered his fiancée on Christmas Eve, the night before their wedding.

GLOSSARY OF EARLY-VICTORIAN SLANG USED IN THIS EPISODE:

• SCRAGGED: Hanged.
• BULLY ROCKS: Swaggering braggadocios.