Penny Dreadful, a horror-drama television series, was created by John Logan for Showtime and Sky. Logan also serves as executive producer with Sam Mendes. The original pitch to the show was made to several US and UK channels. It was eventually landed at Showtime and Sky by John Logan, who also acts as executive producer.
The penny dreadfuls is a 19th-century British fiction publication that featured lurid and shocking subject matter. The series is based on many characters from Victorian Gothic 19th-century fiction such as Dorian Gray, Abraham Van Helsing and John Seward, Renfield and Count Dracula. Victor Frankenstein and his monster are from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Henry Jekyll comes from Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll, which shows their origin stories while an explorer seeks his daughter. Justine or The Misfortunes and Virtues by the Marquis de Sade are also featured.
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels was a spin-off series that aired from April 26 through June 28, 2020.