![]() ![]() These, in turn, would prove to be the strongest building blocks for the rise of the penny dreadful. However, it was the intersection of growing literacy among the general populace combined with the rise of the Industrial Age in England that enabled increased efficiencies in the printing process as well as faster methods of shipping. While relatively haphazard in quality and style, these primal pulp works helped create a nascent audience for inexpensive and easily read books. Moody and brooding, these dark books were often based upon legends and folktales about figures of general ill intent. The so-called penny dreadful, none of which ever willingly adopted that title, traces its origins back to the short chapbooks, broadsides, and primitive serialized gothic novels of early nineteenth-century England. Conservative fears that penny dreadfuls would drive a rise in delinquent behavior among the children of the working-class, who it was believed were particularly vulnerable, were never statistically founded, but for an extended period, the march against the penny dreadful became a cause célèbre in Victorian England. Within a short period of time, the contention that children were being influenced to act criminally by the poor examples found in penny dreadful stories became sensationalized in both political rhetoric and newspaper editorials. In a series of well-publicized trials, lawyers attempted to link penny dreadfuls to the criminal actions of children accused of offenses ranging from burglary to assault. Despite their appeal at large, penny dreadfuls were commonly associated with "the wild boy" population who earned a reputation as violent, directionless thugs prone to dangerous encounters and presenting a threat to the general citizenry. Cheaply produced, often poorly written, and readily available, the books became a source for cultural vitriol when it became apparent the widespread devotion they inspired among a broadly unpopular segment of the restless juvenile male population of the era. Named for a combination of its cover price of a penny an issue as well as the macabre nature of its contents, the Victorian penny dreadful-short, graphic, often serialized stories targeted at juvenile audiences-caused near-hysteria towards the end of the nineteenth century when outraged parties accused the violent books of subverting the natures of its generally poor readership towards indecent behavior. Victorian era literature for juveniles that sparked controversy surrounding suitable cultural influences for children. CRITICAL REVIEWS OF PENNY DREADFULS FEATURING JACK SHEPPARD
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