Name: The String of Pearls
ISBN: 9781716655807

James Malcolm Rymer

Thomas Peckett Prest

This classic "pennydreadful" novel, first serialzed in the years 1846-1847, has been thrilling and chilling audiences for a hundred and seventy-four YEARS. Celebrated on stage and screen, the story of the mad, murderous barber Sweeney Todd, who holds forth as the king of a muderous court in old, wicked London, is a grim and grisly gothic horror epic the likes of whcih the reader is not soon to forget. Bloody and weird, this sordid saga of sadism will keep the reader up many long, dreary, and dreadfully nightmarish nights.

The String of Pearls

Thomas Preskett Prest

A Victorian sensation, featuring Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Kirsten Simkiss

Wow. Having had no prior exposure to this story aside from the 2007 Johnny Depp musical, reading this was an experience and a half. I came in expecting one thing and got something ENTIRELY different. That said, it wasn't a bad story. I did enjoy it, despite being thrown by how off different it was. Conceptually, the musical gets a lot of things right. However, it gets everything plot wise totally wrong. I really loved how Sweeney himself is described as this visually ugly and frightening man with an unearthly laugh and a mass of hair with all his tools in it. If given the opportunity, I likely would not read this again but it was worth reading once.

The exploits of Sweeney Todd, 'The Demon Barber of Fleet Street', have been recounted many times in plays, films and musicals, but the origins of the character largely were forgotten for many years. The String of Pearls - the original tale of Sweeney Todd, a classic of British horror - was first published as a weekly serial in 1846-7 by Edward Lloyd, the King of the Penny Dreadfuls. One of the earliest detective stories, it became an important source for Bram Stoker's Dracula, but it was after over 150 years of obscurity that it appeared first in book form in the Wordsworth edition published in 2005.

The Original Tale of Sweeney Todd

Sam Pulliam

This first book I read from my spooky TBR is The String of Pearls but you probably know it better as Sweeney Todd. I don’t know the best way to talk about the plot of this book because the big reveal in the book is something we absolutely know going into the musical. That being said, I’ll keep it brief. If you know the movie/musical, you know what the mystery is but the rest of the book is incredibly different. The character relations are different and there’s a necklace involved and it’s sort of… boring. It’s fine. It’s an average classic to me but my experience was definitely tinged by already knowing the musical so if you’re considering reading this one but aren’t sure, just enjoy the musical.

The String of Pearls

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