Read

Quick Answer: First, let’s dispel a common myth; there is no character on this show named “Penny Dreadful.” The show is not named after a woman named Penny, but after a sensational form of literature—known pejoratively as Penny Dreadfuls—that was popular during the nineteenth century in the United Kingdom. The stories were often adventure tales, focusing on detectives, famous criminals, or superhuman beings. The show constantly references its namesake, featuring a number of characters borrowed from Irish and British fiction, including Frankenstein and Dorian Gray. Combine these infamous characters with the bleak Victorian London setting and the never ending conflict of good and evil, and you’ve got the perfect concoction of gothic horror gold.

John Logan’s Penny Dreadful (2014 - ) is yet another critically acclaimed series from Showtime. For those who don’t watch it, however, the show’s arcane title can be a subject of confusion and curiosity, raising a host of questions. What is this show about? What is it based on? And who exactly is this Penny Dreadful character? Indeed, the title often elicits the same reaction among those who are removed from the veritable goldmind that is Showtime: “So, the show is about some chick named Penny Dreadful, right?” Not quite.

Penny Dreadful (2014)

First, let’s dispel a common myth; there is no character on this show named “Penny Dreadful.” The show is not named after a character, but after a form of literature popular during the nineteenth century in the United Kingdom—the era in which the show takes place.

Penny Dreadful is a pejorative term for this form of literature: cheap, entertaining serial literature that sold for a penny each. Despite their derogatory name, the books were quite popular due to their lurid, sensational subject matter. The stories were often adventure tales, focusing on detectives, famous criminals, or superhuman beings.

Josh Hartnett in Penny Dreadful (2014)

Penny Dreadful is exceedingly clever at referencing its namesake. The show is particularly indebted to the supernatural; vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and demons play a prevalent part in this Showtime hit, along with classic characters from Irish and British fiction. Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway), Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney), Abraham Van Helsing, and Dr. Henry Jekyll all make an appearance. Combine these infamous characters with the bleak Victorian London setting, some Egyptian mythology, and the never ending conflict of good and evil, and you’ve got the perfect concoction of gothic horror gold.

Harry Treadaway and Rory Kinnear in Penny Dreadful (2014)

Though countless monsters appear in the flesh, the show’s true focus is on our inner demons and how one goes about conquering them. The protagonist, Vanessa Ives (Eva Green), proves to be well versed in the darkness inside all of us, and how important it is that we fight it. Are these conflicted characters worthy or deserving of saving, of love, of happiness? This is the show’s looming question, and what makes it so much more than mere horror. Penny Dreadful‘s title may wink at its Victorian time period, but the complexity of its characters is uniquely modern. The result is a show that is both eerily haunting and heartbreakingly beautiful.