shilling shocker

English

Etymology

From the price of one shilling, and the shocking content.

Noun

shilling shocker (plural shilling shockers)

  1. (British, historical) A cheap paperback book produced for the mass market in 19th-century Britain, often consolidating twelve to fifteen episodes of a serial novel whose chapters had previously been published separately as penny dreadful pamphlets, and typically focused on crime and violence.

See also

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