A shocker: a report of a crime written in a provokingly lurid style. / A journal or broadsheet printing such reports. / A shocking or sensational crime.

present participle of dread

plural of dreadful

The characteristic of being dreadful.

Quality of being dread.

plural of dreadfulness

(originally derogatory, now usually historical) A cheap paperback book, particularly those concerning lurid depictions of crime in the Victorian era.

plural of penny dreadful

plural of rent-a-dread

(slang) A male sex worker in the Caribbean, catering to female sex tourists.