NOTICE/APOLOGY: There are a couple fairly egregious editing errors in this episode caused by my ill-advised attempt at multitasking. I haven't time to re-compile it, but please accept my assurances that I will be more careful in future! — The CORINTHIAN.

Join host Corinthian Finn, a.k.a. Finn J.D. John 18th Baron Dunwitch,* for a one-hour-long spree through the scandal-sheets and story papers of old London!

PART I: “THE PENNY DREADFULS”:

• 01:50: DICKENS’ DREADFUL ALMANAC for today: An attorney who took to the road and became a highwayman Bonnie-and-Clyde style was hanged with his highwaywoman sweetheart, 288 years ago today.
• 04:50: VARNEY THE VAMPYRE; or, THE FEAST OF BLOOD, Chapter 35-36: The other men of the household also emerge from the house, and run about trying to figure out where Varney ran off to. After they’re gone, he coolly steps back into the summer house to resume his conversation with Flora. He assures her that after they leave the hall, she will be reunited with Charles; and then he buggers off. They don’t catch him, of course, and next day the whole family gets together to try and figure out what to do next ….
• 33:58: BROADSIDE BALLAD: A couple jolly drinking songs: Bacchus and Time and Heigh-ho Says Thimble!
• 38:24: TERRIFIC REGISTER ARTICLE: They accused her of theft — but learned, after it was too late, who the real thief was: A magpie!

PART II: "THE SIXPENNY SPOOKIES":

• 41:10: EARLY VICTORIAN GHOSTLY SHORT STORY, TO-WIT: No Living Voice, by Thomas Street Millington: Stuck in a boring border town while he waits for his passport to be fixed, an English travler named Mr. Brown takes to exploring the scenery and ruins of the picturesque Neopolitan countryside. One day, darkness catches him still far from town. But a passing shepherd guides him to a rustic country inn, where he can get a good meal and a bed, saving him from the discomfort of being stuck outside all night. A lucky break for Mr. Brown — or is it? Because there’s something about that country inn that’s not quite right ….
• 1:05:30: A SHORT GHOST STORY from the scrapbook of Charles Lindley, Viscount Halifax: The family had no end of trouble from ghostly manifestations in a particular room in the house… then, when they demolished that room to expand the staircase, they found a coffin under the floorboards.
• 1:15:30: A FEW SQUEAKY-CLEAN DAD JOKES from the early-1800s' most popular joke book: "Joe Miller's Jests; or, The Wit's Vade-mecum."

GLOSSARY OF FLASH TERMS USED IN THIS EPISODE:

• CONVEYANCERS: Burglars or thieves.
• CHICKSTERS: Prostitutes.
• KNIGHTS OF THE BRUSH AND MOON: Drunken fellows wandering amok in meadows and ditches, trying to stagger home.
• CORINTHIAN: A fancy toff or titled swell. Used here as a reference to Corinthian Tom, the quintessential Regency rake depicted in Pierce Egan's "Life in London" (usually referred to as "Tom and Jerry").
• CHAFFING-CRIB: A room where drinking and bantering are going on.
• GUNPOWDER: Proper old lady.
• IRON DOUBLET: Fire-and-brimstone preacher.
• BRUSHER: Large glass.
• STRIKE-ME-DEAD: New gin, hot off the still, also known as kill-devil.
• HEDGE BIRDS: Scoundrels.
• CAKES: Soft-headed fellows.
• SLIPPERY BLADE: A crafty gentleman.
• JARVEY: Hackney-coach driver.
• VADE MECUM: Latin for "hand book."
• JOE MILLER: A player at Drury-lane, in the early 1700s, who was famous for a Leslie Nielsen style of stone-faced comedy. Mr. Miller was always so serious (and don’t call him Shirley) that he was hilarious on stage. When he died leaving some dependents uncared-for, the jestbook was created by Joe’s friends as a sort of inside joke, as a fundraiser to support his bereaved family.
• EXIT PURSUED BY A BEAR: The most famous stage direction in all of Shakespeare’s work. Appears seemingly out of the blue in The Winter’s Tale.

There are more! But we’re out of space here. A full glossary of all the flash-cant terms used in this episode is at ⁠https://pennydread.com/discord⁠ in the "#season-5-episodes" thread.