The phrase has re-entered popular culture of late but what actually is a Penny Dreadful?
Well it dates way back to the 19th century and the dawn of the industrial printing age.
Alongside daily newspapers a somewhat naughtier form of printed entertainment appeared trading in serialised, salacious stories of morally dubious deeds.
Nefarious highway man Dick Turpin first appeared in a Penny Dreadful as did the demon prankster Spring-Heeled Jack.
Each edition cost just one old Penny hence The Penny Dreadful.
Also known as Penny Awfuls or Penny Bloods, the Penny Dreadful was designed to get the pulses of the youth racing while scandalizing the stuffy old guard.
It’s this spirit of scandalous adventure and rebellion that inspires the devil in the detail of Penny Dreadful Menswear.