"Elizabeth Black is the headmistress of a girls' school and a well-respected author of "silver-fork" novels, stories written both for and about the upper-class ladies of Victorian society. But by night, she writes very different kinds of stories--the Penny Dreadfuls that are all the rage among the working-class men. Under the pseudonym Mr. King, Elizabeth has written about dashing heroes fighting supernatural threats and dangerous outlaws romancing...

Vanessa Ives--accepting her demons--could exact a terrible cost and plunge the world into darkness, while Ethan Chandler, Dr. Frankenstein, Dorian Gray, Sir Malcolm, the Creature, and Lily must each face their own monstrous selves.

"Welcome to Penny Dreadfuls, an anthology of twenty "sensation stories" all first published in the nineteenth century. The original penny dreadfuls were cheaply printed, inexpensive publications written to titillate the masses with shocking thrills and lurid horrors. Over time, "penny dreadful" became a catch-phrase for any story steeped in gothic horror that pushed the limits of what was acceptable in popular fiction"--inside cover.

Six months after Vanessa's death, Ethan and Sir Malcolm still struggle to move on. As an ill wind blows over London, it soon seems that Vanessa's death was only the beginning...and an even greater is yet to come!

In the void left behind by Vanessa's death, Ethan and Sir Malcolm must search for a new meaning in life. But the demimonde isn't done with them yet, as decisions from the past come screaming back to haunt them... -- Summary of volume 1.