Watch the episodes on Strike TV.
If twisted, gothic-style storytelling is your cup of tea (or if you enjoy stories like “A Series of Unfortunate Events” for the bad things that happen or Sweeny Todd for the killing rampage), you may enjoy the webseries: Penny Dreadfuls. Now, for those of you not up on the 18th century lingo, which I’m all to pieces over, penny dreadfuls was a term applied to cheap, sensational stories that came out as serials once a week. Along the same vein is this webseries, which is extremely twisted. Don’t get me wrong when I say they are – twisted. At the time of writing this review there are two episodes, both which left me with the desire to take a long hot shower and clean off the ick.
Despite their short length, the episodes tell amazingly rich stories (especially episode 1 “Feeding”). The actors are also a treat to watch, compared to other shows that just cast “pretty young things”. Produced, Directed and edited by James Arnall, the stories have amazing visuals and James seems to be able to use “unspoken” moments to get story ideas out. The second episode (“Sleeping Beauty”) features Michele Boyd, who you may know from Season 2 of the Guild.
I can’t wait to see more stories in the Penny Dreadfuls series. Especially since they’re so self-contained the stories can continue on for awhile without much effort (you know, beyond… actually making them). So the potential to horrify me via my computer screen is still huge.
