Venture into Fleet Street and discover the dark side of Victorian London where you'll encounter the demon barber Sweeney Todd and his menacing accomplice Mrs Lovett in this classic thriller. Gruesome mysteries are uncovered when Lieutenant Thornhill goes missing after entering Todd's barber shop for a haircut. Londoners are disappearing, Todd's young apprentice Tobias is subject to constant fear and abuse, and the barber's grows more peculiar as the days go by. Menace and murder abounds in this terrifying tale where criminals hide in plain sight and threaten to harm anyone who could get in the way of their schemes. Famously adapted to the big screen by Tim Burton, Sweeney Todd is a classic of British horror writing and its legendary villain remains iconic this day.

Freshly typeset in readable modern type with the original woodcut illustrations, this two-volume edition presents the full version of what's probably the most influential and notorious "Penny Dreadful" ever published: the one in which London was introduced to Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet-Street, and his pie-selling partner-in-crime, Mrs. Lovett. This edition is lightly footnoted to help the modern reader catch literary and pop-cultural references as well as slang terms that were familiar to 1840s Londoners, but are more obscure today.

'Ladies and Gentlemen...I have to state that Mrs Lovett's pies are made of human flesh!' This shocking announcement provides the stunning dénouement to a narrative first published over a period of four months in the winter of 1846-7. The revelation marked only the beginning, however, of the notorious career of Sweeney Todd, soon known to legend as the 'Demon Barber' of London's Fleet Street. The story of Todd's entrepreneurial partnership with neighbouring pie-maker Margery Lovett - at once inconceivably unpalatable and undeniably compelling - has subsequently provided the substance for a seemingly endless series of successful dramatic adaptations, popular songs and ballads, novellas, radio plays, graphic novels, ballets, films, and musicals. Both gleeful and ghoulish, the original tale of Sweeney Todd, first published under the title The String of Pearls, is an early classic of British horror writing. It combines the story of Todd's grisly method of robbing and dispatching his victims with a romantic sub-plot involving deception, disguise, and detective work, set against the backdrop of London's dark and unsavoury streets. This edition provides an authoritative text of the first version of the story ever to be published, as well as a lively introduction to its history and reputation.

Peter Haining's definitive biography exposes the man behind the Sweeney Todd myth. Based on careful research of both fact and fictional accounts, Haining's book reveals a gruesome yet fascinating character. Previous ed.: 1998.

"From his barber shop in Fleet Street, Sweeney Todd murders selected customers to steal their money and valuables"--Page 4 of cover.

Tells the fascinating story of how the Sweeny-Todd-myth developed from popular melodrama in the 1850s to film, ballet and musical incarnations in the 20th century. >