SWEENEY TODD, THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET

The tale of the real Sweeney Todd is a dark, macabre story that causes the tales of his later fellow murderer, Jack the Ripper, to pale in comparision. Sweeney killed people in his shop with the aid of a barber's chair that tilted backwards and toss its occupant into a deep basement. Todd would descend to "polish them off" with a razor, if necessary. Sweeney and his female companion Margery Lovett conspired together to make and sell meat pies made from the gruesome remains of Todd's victims. Todd hid the remains in the old catacombs beneath St. Dunston church, where the smell of decay proved his undoing. Margery committed suicide before trial, and Sweeney Todd found himself at the end of a hangman's noose. To quote a famous crimefighter, "Crime does not pay." Crime did pay for Sweeney for a while, but after a few close shaves, it caught up to him in the end. Penned anonymously by James Malcolm Rymer, this version of Sweeney's story appeared in the Penny Dreadfuls of the 19th century.