The Art & Making of Penny Dreadful

I have to admit I only started watching this hit Showtime series only for Eva Green (Casino Royale, 300: Rise of an Empire), but I stayed for for the story and characters driving the “Penny Dreadful” program. We are already knee-deep into the second season and Titan Books has just released “The Art and Making of Penny Dreadful”, the official companion book to the program.

Created and written by John Logan, who penned scripts like Gladiator, The Last Samurai, The Aviator and Skyfall, “Penny Dreadful” takes place in Victorian England and places literature’s most iconic horror characters like Doctor Victor Frankenstein, Dorian Gray and Dracula in this world. This is more than just a picture book, but veteran author Sharon Gosling interviews the main man John Logan, the creative team and production crew on the making, the development, the production stages and bringing the world of Victorian England alive. If you’re a Penny Dreadful superfan, you will definitely find more details and background information on the characters and places than the Penny Dreadful Wikipedia page.

The companion book also explores the first season of “Penny Dreadful” in-depth that includes make-up process, plot ideas and set designs. I enjoyed reading about the development process and seeing how hard it is to put a TV show together. Readers will also get John Logan’s thoughts on the various characters and the making of Victorian England, that’s actually shot in Dublin. If you can’t get enough of Showtime’s “Penny Dreadful” TV series, then “The Art and Making of Penny Dreadful” is must buy and place on your book shelf.