At the flea market, she bought a faded penny dreadful about a serial killer for a few coins, fascinated by its sensational illustrations and melodramatic prose.

Victorian children eagerly collected penny dreadfuls, trading each lurid issue for the thrill of a cliffhanger.

Her penny-dreadfulish tales, filled with grotesque villains and gaslit streets, kept the audience both horrified and enthralled.

The critic argued that the author's reliance on penny-dreadfulism undermined the novel's moral complexity.