A ‘penny dreadful’ is a type of 19th-century cheap British fiction publication not unlike a serial magazine story with lurid and sensational subject matter, often times being dark and devilish. Showtime’s Penny Dreadful draws upon many public domain characters of the time, including Dorian Gray from Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, Mina Harker and Abraham Van Helsing from Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, and Victor Frankenstein and his monster from Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”.

Pulling in rather respectable ratings and critic reviews, PD got renewed for a second season.  Here is the brand new trailer released for what we can expect to see:

Starring Josh Hartnett, Timothy Dalton and Eva Green, the series won a Critics’ Choice Television Award for Most Exciting New Series in 2014.

Penny Dreadful returns to Showtime Sunday, April 26th at 10PM ET/PT.