Trey McClain loves to read fantasy novels. The fourteen-year-old spends his days inside reading of dragons, elves, and heroism. One evening just before dinner, Trey blacks out, unable to move or speak. His thoughts, flooded by an uncontrollable wash of darkness. When he regains consciousness in the Emergency Room, he finds that his parents have had him committed to a psychiatric hospital called The Duskwalker Institute. Without delay, Trey is immediately thrust into a world of terror and heart pounding dread when he discovers that this is no ordinary facility. The walls are cracked and smeared with blood, the broken windows have bars on them, and terrifying creatures with red eyes are hunting him on behalf of an all too familiar doctor. Trey may love fantasy novels, but these aren’t dwarves he’s dealing with.
About the Books
The term Penny Dreadful refers to a term used to describe serial literature in the nineteenth century. Working class young men were becoming more literate, and with the rise of Capitalism and Industrialization, more money was being spent on entertainment. These serial fiction stories were often fantastic and had no grounding in normality. The subject matter of these stories was typically sensational, focusing on the exploits of detectives, criminals, or supernatural entities. Young men who could not afford a penny per week to buy these stories would often form clubs and pass the beaten pages from person to person. Later, whole stores and libraries were jam packed with “story papers”. This later gave birth to an Americanized version of the books called “Dime Novels.”
These stories died out with the rise of contemporary Victorian era fiction, but the characters and essence of the novels can still be seen in books and movies today. Sweeny Todd, a beloved (however disturbed) character actually got his start in the Penny Dreadfuls.
As I sat and thought about my next writing project after Trinity, I thought of releasing a full book of short horror stories, just like I used to get lost in as a child. Then, for some reason, I also thought of a Cultural Dance that comes to Pittsburgh every year called Shen Yun. This performance tells 10,000 years of China’s history through interpretational dance.
I asked myself, What if release them like the old fashioned short stories?
Thus, the Penny Dreadful is reborn.