Well I did warn my kids...

[Goddlefrood]

> Pam:
> 
> Sweeney Todd is not based on a true story. It's based on a 19th 
> century "penny dreadful" novel.  

Goddlefrood:

He most certainly was real. This would tell you a little about him:

http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/weird/todd/index_1.html

Hung 1802. The only questionable part is whether he operated out 
of Fleet Street or elsewhere. The murders for pies are true. Truth 
is often stranger than fiction ...