A complete issue · 239 pages · 1899
The Wreck of the South Pole and Other Strange Tales
A complete, restored issue of Penny Dreadfuls from 1899 — all 239 pages of cheap serialized Victorian sensation fiction — crime, horror, and lurid melodrama, free to page through at ComicBooks.com.
A complete issue · 239 pages · 1899
The Wreck of the South Pole: Or The Great Dissembler and Other Strange Tales, by Charles Curtz Hahn, comprises twelve separate works. The titular novella follows Captain Reynolds' Antarctic expedition to South Georgia Islands, where his crew discovers a mysteriously inhabited cabin in an isolated, shipwreck-strewn cove. The resident, George Wilding, a castaway from a whaling vessel, reveals in recorded testimony his harrowing solo exploration of a vast polar ice continent. There, Wilding experiences supernatural phenomena—a disembodied voice and a vanishing apparition—before finding an impossibly constructed log cabin with provisions and a fire awaiting him. The narrative combines exploration adventure with psychological horror elements rooted in isolation and sensory uncertainty. The collection includes additional stories of romance, mystery, and domestic drama, including titles such as "The Baby Ghost," "A Medical Student's Love," and "A Chicago Romance."
Each page has its own page — the cartoon, who’s in it, and what the satire means.