The Art and Making of Penny Dreadful: The Official Companion Book to the Showtime Series

As a massive fan of this gothic mash-up of classic literary horror, I was delighted to see a book had been released to accompany the series. Having bought other TV tie-ins, and finding them disappointing, I was a bit apprehensive about how good the book would be. Let's just say I was absolutely delighted with this book. The volume is a hardback without a dust jacket, but attention has been lavished on the design. The cover is embossed around the main image of Vanessa Ives (Eva Green), Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) and Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton). The embossing follows the inside edge of the silver frame design and is very neatly done. The finish is in a 'peach skin' feeling texture which almost feels like very soft leather. The image of the characters is printed in a high gloss finish and teamed with the antique-effect silver print gives a lovely shiny finish against the matt effect of the rest of the cover. The spine is red and the back of the book is printed with a similar silver frame and red insert with text. To continue the Victorian Gothic theme the book has antique printed red end papers and the pages are printed on high gloss paper stock which has a nice thickness to it. The book feels like a quality, well put to together item that has been lavished with love and attention to detail. The most impressive aspect of the book though is the abundance of beautiful photographs that have been superbly printed. Often the photos are pixelated due to being blown up too much in order to fill the page. Not here though, every photograph is crystal clear and beautifully descriptive of the show, including full page character promo shots, scene stills etc. There are the expected character biographies (Vanessa, Ethan, Sir Malcolm, Frankenstein, Brona, The Creature & Sembene), but these are dispersed through the book in the same order as each character is introduced into the series. I thought this was a very nice touch instead separating out the contents by sections, it also makes reading the book very enjoyable as it follows the series timeline. In between these bio's are scene 'breakdowns', plot synopsis and historical information along with the expected production stills, concept art etc, also in chronological order. The book has a distinctive visual look that All in all I can't fault this book at all. In my humble opinion it is a far better produced volume than either 'Game of Thrones' TV series books (which are good may I add) or so many other TV tie-ins. This book deals with one series only so there is plenty of space to explore every episode and story line. It also hasn't been rushed in order to get something out there of the fans. Hopefully they will release an equally wonderful companion to series two. Ultimately, if you are a fan of the show then you will be absolutely delighted with this book, and you will no doubt 'drink it up' (pardon the vampiric connotations!). It's superbly gothic, creepily beautiful and darkly satisfying. Just make sure to lock your doors and salt your windowsills before opening! Thanks for reading :)

I’ll start my review by describing the quality of the material used to make the book. The hard cover features a mixture of gloss and matt finishes with slight embossing and vibrant colours of silver, red, black and white. The end plates are blood red with a Victorian map of inner London printed on them. Classy and very Gothic. The pages are glossy so that the text and pictures are printed in sharp detail – although they do pick up finger prints easily. The spine has a red cloth inner spine. Suffice to say, the manufacture of this book top notch and a tactile delight. Moving onto the content, this is an in depth examination of virtually all aspects of the first series. So we have, for example, articles on Ethan’s guns; London’s East End; the creation of the vampire; Ferdinand Lyle and his house – in fact all the main members of the cast; and then the lesser aspects: how the explorers club and the rat baiting scenes were created and so on. There is plenty of artwork and ‘making of’ as well. In short, this book provides fans of this series with plenty of inside information on how it was created and produced - a treasure trove of information. Fans of the Penny Dreadful series will know that if there is one thing that makes it stand out is the high quality of its production. This book is no different: definitely recommended.

This book is OOP and hard to find, but is worth tracking-down if you are a fan of the show. It is the ideal companion to the Penny Dreadful The Complete Series Blu-Ray set. It is a large format hardback book printed on glossy stock and features superb colour photographs and plenty of behind-the -scenes information about the production. My only complaint is that the book does not cover seasons two and three of the show. But that's nit picking.

This opus is a very good companion and introduces each character, as well as their dark side, from the actors point of view. After reading this book I can now view Penny Dreadful from a different viewpoint and can see all the characters, as well as their dark sides, from a completely different viewpoint. This book lays out each character and allows the reader to get additional points from writer, actors, etc. which allows me to view the series over and over again. It is a must read for both fans saw ell as those who have not yet viewed Penny Dreadful. The plots, twists, characters and the views of London and the States are REAL for the viewer. I can not wait for a second opus on the second and third series with all their new characters, as well as their dark sides, revealed to us.

This is one of the best making of books I have seen. Beautiful cover, well written, gorgeous photos,and loads of art work and behind the scenes shots.Excellent. Highly recommended.

A splendidly produced book and excellent companion to the series. All fans of Penny Dreadful will enjoy. Likewise, if watching Penny Dreadful to see a favourite actor, then it will greatly please as well as there are plenty of pictures of each character.

Excellent book, with fantastic photos and illustrations, of one of the good horror shows currently on air. I hope they make this an annual thing and do one that covers season 2.

Definitely more of a "Making Of" book than an art book. Really good read but a lot of the pictures are taken from the show itself so there isn't much "behind-the-scenes" artwork.