This deserves all the pennies! So glad this collection exists, and, if you are a fan of the Dread Penny Society series, a must-have, must-read! I mean, just getting an actual story written by our stoic sweetie Stone is worth reading this! SO good.

Much like the impression I got starting out the series, one can tell the author had all the fun writing it, and these penny dreadful stories account for so much of that fun. Of course these could be enjoyed on their own as amazing Victorian short stories, but for me, a great part of the enjoyment is appreciating the character authors’ distinctive writing voices, and, most of all, how the stories share themes and dynamics with the main Dread Penny Society storylines. So, I would recommend reading them as part of the series first and then hoarding this collection just for fun, once you have that context.

Not complaining but, most of these a little too creepy Gothic and heart-pounding for a wimp like me, it was interesting to read the new additional three stories consecutively without being interspersed and getting to jump right in after each cliffhanger installment ending.

Nobody asked but, Mr. King still reigns as my favorite penny dreadful author. No surprise there, since those always have sweet romance with suspenseful high stakes and some supernatural elements. Love them all, but standouts for me from the author monarch are The Bachelor and the Bride and The Queen and the Knave. The additional story we get here, The Governess and the Fugitive, is just as good. Special mention to beyond charming Higglebottom’s School for the Dead. Really, I’d be saving up my pennies and sneaking into a Dickensian alley to escape with all of these stories.

A fun add-on for fervent fans of this series!

Thank you to Netgalley and the generous souls at Shadown Mountain for an ARC.

Delightful read from Sarah Eden. I've read her books in the Dread Penny society series and I'm thrilled that she included all of the penny dreadfuls in one novel to be enjoyed. I love how all of the stories are so much like penny dreadfuls from history. I enjoyed all of them so much. They are all written as if they were done by different authors and I'm so impressed that Eden was able to do that. Definitely a great one to add to your Eden bookshelf. There is a story for everyone. Dashing heroes, highwaymen, vampires and werewolves, orphan children and rags to riches and much more (there are so many great ones you need your own bookshelf for her books!)

I'm not a fan of mini-stories in books and I always skip any extra not-really-important content in books whenever I am reading so I didn't have too high hopes for this book. BUT I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED! I loved seeing all the stories that came together to create this book, it was fabulous!

This was my first time with Sarah Eden and I went into this not realizing there was a collection of stories. But I quickly found myself in the rhythm and enjoyed the short stories..

While I own all (currently published) books in this series, I will most definitely be purchasing this compilation to go in my home library! I love every book Sarah Eden has written, but I have a special place for the Dread Penny Series. You get the best of all worlds, action, adventure, love, suspense, curiosity, and mystery. I love having all of them together because, while published over years, the story lines are really close to one another in chronology. This series is a must read!

The Dread Penny Society, by Sarah Eden, contains five of her gothic tales. Definitely a fun re-telling of these stories!

I received this arc from NetGalley in exchange for this honest review. Okay wow. This was SO fun. I have read Sarah Eden’s work before and love her traditional historical romances but this compilation of Penny Dreadfuls was so different than anything I’ve read before. I loved it! Sarah Eden did such an amazing job developing characters and plot with real substance even within a shorter format. With the suspense and mystery, I could not turn the pages quicker. Everyone should give this anthology a chance. You will not regret it.

A great collection of stories!
This book is one I was hoping would come into existence. If you have read or heard about Sarah Eden’s Dread Penny Series you probably know that tucked inside each novel there are extra stories inserted throughout the book just as the Penny Dreadfuls were originally published in England, a chapter at a time. If you’ve read any of this series, and I highly recommend you do, you’ve seen these stories and perhaps you have wished to see them compiled as complete, connected stories. This book is that compilation and it is such fun! Not only do you get the original Penny Dreadfuls by Sarah, you also get three new stories. These stories allow the reader to experience Sarah’s ability to write as a different and distinct person in the form of different Penny Dreadful authors. This book is sure to please Sarah’s fans. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the copy. This is my review and all thoughts are my own.

first of all, the cover is VERY BEAUTIFUL 🥺 (i’ve always loved Sarah Eden’s books covers)
now, i’ve loved these short stories in Dread Penny Society Series. especially the ones which were written by Mr King.
this collection has 13 stories. 10 from the books in the series and 3 new. i loved all by Mr. King. Elizabeth sure has a talent for writing 🌷 and from the other ones, i loved 'Posie and Pro' the most 🕵️‍♀️.

thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the free copy.