James Malcolm Rymer (1814–1884)

Still icky after all these years, it must have been sensational when it was first serialized in 1846-'47. The characters for Todd and Lovett are nicely drawn and chilling; Mrs. Lovett's discussion with Todd near the end of the book is genuinely repellent. The other characters are mostly melodramatic caricatures. Allusions to the stage are interesting and I wonder if a contemporary theatrical production of the book was given.

This took a while to get moving, but once it did it was fantastic. I read this while directing the Sondheim musical and while the story is completely different, it did give good insight to the elements of melodrama and horror that still endure with the story today. The introduction and history of the story is invaluable.

I must admit that I had seen all of the movie trailers (but not the movie) before I read this one. So, with Johnny Depp's face, voice and accent doing a one-man-play in my head, I read Sweeney Todd...and loved it. Quite a lot like Dickens in the way the characters are so masterfully developed, and in the way that there are so many stories within the story itself. Additionally, the author makes use of social injustices of the time in telling his story. While the subject matter is quite dark, show more the telling of the story is not. The author quite adeptly draws the picture but leaves plenty of room for the reader to fill in details ... or not :-) Excellent book, I will be reading this one over and over again. show less

This isn't a novel it's the equivalent to a 20 season Boxed Set, if the original story ran every week then it went for at least 4 years. Its long, reallll long.
I'm not sure how many writers there were but i'm sure there was more than one. The writing style becomes much less descriptive and over the top around chapter 30 or so much to its detriment.
The story becomes increasingly inconsistent with at least 3 different origin stories for Varney, however it is possible to link everything show more together with a bit of work and if you assume that the origin stories done after he becomes a vampire (he's not one at the start he's just pretending) are simply due to Varney going a bit mad and misremembering.
The mob scene is probably the highlight of the entire run. The middle chapters are probably the weakest with numerous very similar incidents taking place. It gets slightly better towards the end.
I wouldn't bother paying for it to be honest, get a public domain version online, read until after the mob situation or until Varney falls ill and becomes a vampire and then skip to the end. show less