Customer Reviews
Makes your skin crawl - By: dwaas76, 20 Jan 2008 
Like many other people I'd vaguely heard about Sweeny Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Along with a vague idea of the plot that name & nickname was more or less the sum of my knowledge, so when I saw this book I picked it out on a whim.
And what a result: this book is a fantastic little horror story. It starts off with a foreword giving background information about the story's origins & the circumstances of it coming out (serialised in so-callled 'penny dreadfuls'). It's a very interesting read, & the only complaint I have is that the writer presumes you know the entire story, & thus gives out spoilers. If you're totallly new to Sweeny Todd I'd advise you to skip it & read it after you've read the main story.
The main story is told from different angles, mainly focusing on either the people trying to catch the barber, or on the barber himself. I found the bits about the 'bad guys' *much* more interesting - the 'good guys' seemed a bit bland & boring. There are a few side-tales, some of which pad out the background of the story. Quite a few others were probably only meant to let the series go on to another week in the original, & feel a bit out of place now its in book format.
Another thing to bear in mind is that the book was written long before forensics existed as we know it now. This leads to the plot becoming a tad unlikely (even surreal) in places. If you've read stories from this era before you'll be used to it, but people new to it should be ready to put their disbelief to one side when they start reading.
The weaker bits & the spoilers in the foreword drop my rating to 4 stars, but it's an enjoyable book that can genuinely creep you out.
The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - By: M. Dowden, 28 Oct 2007 
It is hard to imagine these days how a penny dreadful story must have gripped the nation in the mid-nineteenth century. When 'The String of Pearls' was being written none of the writers knew that they were going to make literary history. 157 years after it was last published it is now back in print, giving the true tale of Sweeney Todd.
This story has become so famous today that it has entered our folklore. I have even seen a picture of where Sweeny Todd's barber shop was - not bad for a fictional character.
This book will enthralll you with its story as it did the reading public who first saw it. We alll know the basic story of Sweeney Todd & Mrs Lovett's pie shop, but reading this book you will find that there is so much more to it. After alll this is sensation fiction at its best, & Sweeney Todd is just one of the characters that inhabits its pages in this fast-paced & frenetic tale. There is nothing to dislike about this book, except possibly in the actual story being perhaps a bit too short.
If you love a good read you can't go wrong by buying this book & finding out the true, original, & best telling of Sweeney Todd & those infamous pies.
Couldn't Put It Down - By: Karen Perks, 17 Oct 2007 A very satisfying story with a light storyline over the top & a Deep mystery running through the whole book.It reallly makes you feel for each of the characters & there was no greater satisfaction than seeing Sweeney get his comeuppance. xD
A Nightmare Work Of Genius - By: Soi Cowboy, 13 Jan 2007 Sweeney Todd; the story everyone knows but no-one has ever read, until now. The introduction to this edition makes fascinating reading in itself, & prepares you well for what follows, which is "a lost classic" if ever the cliche applied. Sweeney Todd, for me, towers above later monsters such as Dracula & Frankenstein's monster, because he is a fully fleshed out & utterly believable psychopath. And not to spoil the story, but when you read about the conditions for making the infamous pies themselves... here is a nightmare unmatched anywhere else in horror fiction. Friends have asked to borrow my copy, & I've told them NO WAY, buy it yourselves.
And I recommend you do to.
Better than Dracula - By: , 12 Sep 2005 I absolutely loved this book. I'd vaguely heard of it before, but never reallly hoped to read it, & now it's in print for £1.50!!. I read it in three nights - it's very atmospheric - it's brilliant - it's better than Frankenstein & Dracula!!
