Penny-dreadfuls

[matrixrefugee]

The phrase comes from the early days of popular literature, often printed on cheap pulp paper and sold for a penny. Later on, as inflation took hold, they became known as dime-novels, since they sold for ten cents. These were the ancestors of the modern mass-market paperback romance novel, ie. the size of the books sold in drug stores and grocery stores and Wal-Mart...

And I found more than a few people on Amazon.com selling Silhouette Nocturnes for just these very prices. Sure, I had to shell out for the shipping, but they still cost a whole lot less than I would have paid if I'd gotten them brand-new.