a type of inexpensive, usually paperback, melodramatic novel of adventure popular in the United States roughly between 1860 and 1915; it often featured a western theme. One of the best-known authors of such works was E.Z.C. Judson (Judson, E.Z.C.), whose stories, some based on his own adventures, were written under the pseudonym Ned Buntline. The dime novels were eventually replaced by pulp magazines. Penny dreadfuls (penny dreadful) and shilling shockers (shilling shocker) are genres similar to the dime novel.