Chapter 5 of A Mission for the Baron mentions "penny dreadfuls". I decided to explain this reference instead of suggesting the name change to "simo dreadfuls". Feel free to discuss and/or critique.
The publisher Lady Penny was founded in 1860 and moved to Argenstrath, Antiford in 1862. They became known for their inexpensive comic books and highly sexually charged or bloody gruesome novellas. The publisher has consistently marketed toward the poor and young, innovating new ways of publishing smaller and for cheaper. They have been criticized by the rich and educated for the crudeness of the material and for paying their authors little, yet still remained rather popular.
The Roarscha Travel Books Company, founded in Dalaerum, Prush in 1880, has been well known for their world guides. They have an extensive group of adventurers and writers in their employ who have documented and produced advice on touring everywhere from Monte-Diamonte luxury to rugged Adelonian mountain climbing and exploring the marshes of southern Araz. The Prush-Antifordian war put a severe hamper on their business, shortly after the height of their initial success.
The two merged in 1886, after the war and subsequent civil uprisings calmed, to form the Penny-Roarscha Publishing House. The combination has brought them great profit and they have produced a great many pieces of literature. They continue both lines of literature previously known for, and the cheap novellas with graphic content are still known as "penny dreadfuls".