Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd...

[Manofevil]

...His skin was pale and his eye was odd!
He shaved the faces of gentlemen-
who never thereafter were heard of again
Did Sweeney..
Did Sweeney Todd-
The demon barber of Fleet Street!

Here's a Ravenloft tale in all but name.. and from a very unusual source- a Broadway Musical. If there's anyone here who's heard of this I'll be very surprised. Written by the great composer, Stephen Sondheim, It's originally based on a victorian 'penny dreadful', a published 19th century periodical. The story goes like this:

Anthony Hope, a merchant sailor, pulls an unfortunate man, Sweeney Todd, from the sea on a voyage to London, a place he's never been before. Todd, it turns out, is a former prisoner who has served his sentence in Austrailia and was shipwrecked on his way home to London. Todd is a barber by trade. When the ship docks in London, Todd tells Hope his story. Years earlier, when Todd was a young man not long married and newly a father, he was a simple hard-working barber plying his trade on Fleet Street in London. His clientelle was mostly gentlemen, one of whom was a judge who mentioned that he might have a job for Todd's wife. With foolish naivite, Todd's wife goes to the Judge's house one night to inquire about the job. She walks into the middle of a very strange party filled with questionable high-class people. It wasn't an open orgy so she wasn't frightened away immediately. This didn't stop both the Judge and his henchman, a Beadle, from raping her when she met with them, however.
When Todd attempted to file charges, though, he instead found himself charged, tried, convicted, and sent to Australia. It was the last time he saw his family. As Todd's tale ends, the two men are accosted by an old beggar woman who first begs coins from them and then offering herself for sex in spite of the fact that they've already paid her. Todd chases her off with angry words.
Hope and Todd part ways for awhile. Hope goes sightseeing and Todd goes off to his old neighborhood. He stops in to an old pie shop where he meets the proprietor, Mrs. Lovett, who used to be a neighbor of his in the old days. She's having no shortage of trouble selling meat pies without meat. Todd learns from her that his wife committed suicide with poison not long after his sentencing and his daughter was adopted by, of all people, the very Judge who had raped her mother. She also gives him his fancy razor and barber's tools which she kept for safekeeping.
Meanwhile, the Judge has raised Todd's daughter, who has grown into a beautiful young woman. The Judge has, in fact, become obsessed with her and decides that he will in fact marry her. While he is coming to this decision. Young Anthony Hope is walking outside. He sees Todd's daughter, Johanna, and is struck by the sight of her. He stops to speak with her and both soon find themselves smitten with each other. Hope learns of Johanna's guardian whom she suspects has dishonorable intentions towards her. Hope vows to rescue her from the Judge and goes looking for Todd to form a plan.
Meanwhile, On Fleet Street, a barber claiming to be the best in London is hawking useless products to passersby. Todd attempts to expose him and is challenged to a barbers dual. Each must shave someone and have the quality of his work judged by the finest gentleman in the crowd, in this case, the Judge's henchman, the Beadle. Todd defeats his opponent handily and gets the crowds approval and, no doubt, the reputation as the finest barber in London. Todd retires to a room above Mrs. Lovett's Pie shop which he plans to turn into a barber shop. Hope comes in and tells him about his meeting with Johanna. Todd immediately puts two and two together and realizes Hope is talking about his daughter. He tells Hope to bring her to the shop and he'll help the two of them escape. Hope thanks Todd and races off to make plans with Johanna.
In the meantime, the Judge informs the Beadle of his plan to marry Johanna. The Beadle recommends the Judge get shaved and cleaned up by the barber he just met in Fleet Street so that he can really sweep the girl off her feet when he proposes. Not recognizing Todd's name, the Judge agrees and sets out for Fleet Street.
When the Judge arrives at Todd's shop, Todd couldn't be happier. Especially when the Judge boasts about his impending wedding to his own foster daughter. Todd shaves away the Judges whiskers obviously savoring the moment that he's waited so long for. Unfortunately, before Todd can slit the Judges throat. Anthony Hope comes in telling him the details of his plan to free Johanna. The Judge immediately bursts up and vows to have them both arrested. When Todd attempts to mollify the Judge by saying he didn't know what Hope was up to, the Judge vows to merely ruin his business and storms out. Todd, murder in his heart, chases off Hope with a promise to kill him if they ever cross paths again.
Not long afterward, Todd is confronted by the barber he just bested and learns that this man is in fact an old apprentice of his who is threatening to expose Todd to the authorities. Todd responds to this by slitting the mans throat with his fancy razor. The first of many murders.
When Mrs. Lovett comes upstairs afterward. She's at first upset by what's happened, then she concieves of a way to help her old friend AND save her own business- she'll butcher the corpse and cook the meat into her pies. Todd laughs heartily at the idea of doing this to the people of London he hates so bitterly.
The Judge, meanwhile, confronts Johanna with what he's just learned and discovers that she has indeed fallen for the young sailor. In a rage he has her committed to the local insane asylum
Todd, also in a rage, vows to slit the throat of every high-class 'gent' who comes through his door. Rather than trying to talk him down, Mrs. Lovett suggests that she dispose of the bodies by cooking them into her pies. With mad glee, Todd and Lovett create a very efficient operation. Todd purchases a special barber's chair which he fixes so the seat of which will drop down and the corpse of victim will fall through a trap door and down a chute into the building's basement where Mrs. Lovett would then butcher the body and burn the bones in a giant furnace down there. To watch over the shop while she's working below, Mrs. Lovett hires a young man, the former apprentice of the murdered barber. Only one person notices as gentlemen disappear into Todd's shop, never to return. The old beggar woman from the docks, who tries to tell passersby but can't manage to do so in a coherent manner and is thus ignored.
Hope, meanwhile is still trying to rescue Johanna. He approaches Todd very cautiously and informs him of her circumstances. Todd, having had time to calm down and remember his daughter, agrees to help and even gives Hope a viable plan. Every Saturday, barbers from town visit the asylum to cut hair from the inmates for the making of wigs. Hope, the only one who knows Johanna on sight, must be the one to pose as a barber and ask for her specific shade of hair. With some of Todd's fancy barbers tools in hand, Hope sets out for the asylum.
The Beadle, meanwhile, has been sent to investigate a terrible odor rising from the basement below the pieshop. He quickly becomes another one of Todd's victims. His cut isn't quite deep enough across the throat however and he's still dying hours later.
Mrs. Lovett's assistant, one Tobias Ragg, is also concerned about the odor and continues to raise the issue with Mrs. Lovett. Mrs. Lovett asks Todd to kill him. As Ragg is no high class gentleman, Todd doesn't feel right killing him, and instead suggests that he become part of the process and that she teach it to him.
The escape attempt, sadly, goes sour. Johanna recognises Anthony immediately and is so desperate that she cries out to him. The asylum keeper, having been warned about Hope by the Judge, immediately attempts to arrest him promting Johanna, in her desparation, to sieze the keepers pistol and shoot him dead on the spot. Hope quickly spirits Johanna out of the asylum and into the streets.
The Judge, having heard of the escape, hastily heads for Todd's shop, hoping that that is where the fugitives are headed.
Todd sits in his shop knowing that any moment, the Judge will come looking for his henchman and finally he will have his revenge. Unfortunately, before the Judge arrives, the old beggar woman decides to confront Todd. As she is also no high class gentleman, Todd also doesn't feel right killing her and instead attempts to convince her she's mistaken. Before he can get rid of her, however, he hears the Judge coming up the stairs and in desperation, slits her throat and pushs her down the chute.
The Judge finally arrives and demands Todd tell him where his daughter is. Todd gets between the Judge and the door and reminds him of a woman he raped and a husband he falsely accused man years before. The Judge finally recognizes Todd just before Todd murders him.
Sadly for all involved, Standing in the doorway, dressed in one of Hope's spare suits, is Johanna. She has witnessed the entire exchange. As he's never seen her before, Todd doesn't recognise his daughter and advances on her determined to cover up his crime. Johanna flees never learning who her father is.
In the basement, Mrs. Lovett is instructing Tobias Ragg in the finer points of meat preparation. When the dying Beadle tries to attack them. Mrs. Lovett knocks out Tobias, planning to kill and butcher him later. She then finishes off the Beadle.
Todd enters the basement to see to the butchery of the Judge himself. When Mrs. Lovett opens the chute to let the two bodies inside fall out. Todd takes a longer look at the old beggar woman and recognises her as his lost wife. He demands to know why Mrs. Lovett lied to him. Mrs. Lovett confesses that she's always loved Todd and didn't want to see him suffer the pain of knowing what had really happened to his wife. Todd embraces her and then shoves her into furnace behind her. He then collapses weeping atop his dead wifes body.
Tobias Ragg having recovered in time to see Lovett's murder, sneaks up behind Todd and slits his throat with his own razor. He then turns around to return to his work.
Behind him, in the basements doorway, he sees Anthony Hope and Johanna embracing each other in horror. Tobias walks over to the table and begins to instruct them in the finer points of meat preparation.

That's the tale of Sweeney Todd as I saw it in the theatre. As the PBS website outlines, there are several different versions of the story but I thought this one was the the most RavenLoft-ish. Primarily because it includes with the most important story ingredient, horror, the second most important ingredient, tragedy. At first I thought the best place to put this was in Dementlieu but having read the Monte Mal Gazzeteer (sp). I think Monte Mal might be better. Ideas?

[Brandi]

If there's anyone here who's NOT heard of this I'll be very surprised.

Fixed yer typo.

Actually, what I want is to find the 1930s British film about Todd (the story was well-known before Sondheim), starring Tod Slaughter, who had the second-best name for a horror actor behind Max Schreck.

[Manofevil]

You guys know about this?? THEN WHY HASN"T SOMEBODY MENTIONED IT. I dug thru this board and the Gothic Earth board just to make sure I wasn't rehashing somebody else's idea! Jeez-Louise! we can make a knock-off of 'Frankenstein' for RavenLoft but not THIS! I mean I'd figure it'd be good for at least a Hag and a couple of ghosts. Maybe even a sinkhole of evil. If it's that well known I'm surprised I haven't seen it made gamable.

You're right, by the way Brandi. There WAS a movie based on this story made.

1936 - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, directed by George King, becomes the first film version of the story. Todd Slaughter, the film's star, makes a career out of portraying Sweeney Todd on stages around the world.

It was based on The String of Pearls as dramatized by George Dibdin-Pitt. His melodrama, subtitled "The Fiend of Fleet Street," is set in London during the "Reign of George II," or the second half of the 18th century. The play opened at the Britannia Theatre, where audiences demanded bloodcurdling entertainments, and was advertised as being "Founded on Fact."

For as complete a history of this story as I've been able to find look here:

http://www.pbs.org/kqed/demonbarber/penny/index.html

So, If you all know this story, should I finish the synopsis?

[Desertrising]

I actually saw a rendition of it a couple years ago here in small little cedar city during the Shakesperian festival good stuff and think other's would love tohear you finish the story

[Jason of the Fraternity]

So, If you all know this story, should I finish the synopsis?

I know about "Sweeny Todd" as well as seen both the movie and stage renditions of it. However, it wouldn't hurt to provide a synopsis for those who aren't familiar with the story. Plus, you can write up a review for us to add to our Drawing Room.

THEN WHY HASN"T SOMEBODY MENTIONED IT.

While it is known, I guess most people don't think of this story when Dracula and Frankenstein come to mind so much easier. I agree that it would make a great adventure, and you could easily create a darklord and domain around the concept.

[Brandi]

Oh, and Man-- I'm sorry if I sounded insulting. I didn't mean to, it's just that the musical's been around for 26 years (debuted in 1979) so I figured most folks here had heard of it. (And cheeky or snarky humor so often doesn't come across right on boards!) That it's surprisingly unutilized by Ravenloft is true, though somehow I suspect Sweeney's less likely to turn up in an Island of Terror domain than as a shady figure in someplace like Paridon.

Personally, for unusual Ravenloft references, I was relatively surprised that H. H. Holmes inspired a sinkhole of evil in the RLDMG. Holmes is remarkably awful, but there's relatively little modern-day info on him-- no hit musicals or major movies that I know of, and even fewer books written about him than Saucy Jack or Ed Gein.

[Gwynplaine]

I was interduced to this movie about 5 years ago. A friend of mine has a very worn out copy of the musical on VHS that has Angie Landsburry [sp] in it - now I'm not much on musicals, but this one is wonderful!
I've been looking for it on DVD ever since I saw it, and ironicly enough, yesterday while looking through the racks at my "local" Suncoast Video store guess what I found?
The very same '36 movie version that was just being mentioned -
and I didn't even know it existed!
It was in the $10 and under area to boot! I haven't seen it yet as we got back from the mega-mall rather late but plan on watching it sometime over this long holiday weekend.
Being an avid Classic Horror movie buff I consider this quite a find, [I also picked up the international version of Castle of Blood aka: Danse Macabre on that same rack - scandalious!]

As for gaming, I've had a Sweeny Todd type in my campain for quite a few years now. He's not a Darklord, but a NPC that has/is a traveling Barber Shop/ Meat Salesmen which stops from town to town along the north eastern side of the core. Only insted of pies he would make sausages - kind of a take-off on what Frantisek Markov used to do with the meat he would come across during his bucher-shop days. As he travels from place to place, he changes his "front" so that nobody [he hopes...] will put two and two together.
His name is Gymie Haremann and he used to be a barber for the Falkovnian Army that "retired" [rather quickly and under the cover of night] after "nicking" the neck of a high ranking officer that he suspected was fooling around with his neighbors' rather young daughter.
[The officer in truth raped the little girl, so he had it coming..]
His straight-razor is even a minor magic item that allows the person he's shaving to become rather relaxed and sleepy in the chair, assuring an "easy" kill.
There are other aspects to him, but you get the general idea.

[Dr Bloodworth]

a NPC that has/is a traveling Barber Shop/ Meat Salesmen which stops from town to town along the north eastern side of the core. Only insted of pies he would make sausages... His name is Gymie Haremann

Fritz Haarmann? In case it's a very strange and unintentional coincidence, Fritz Haarmann was a German murderer in the 1920s or so who did this exact thing. Except for the moving, IIRC.

[Yattara]

Fritz Haarmann? In case it's a very strange and unintentional coincidence, Fritz Haarmann was a German murderer in the 1920s or so who did this exact thing. Except for the moving, IIRC.

That was the name I was trying to remember when I read this thread the other day! Drove me bonkers that I couldn't.

I haven't seen neither movie nor musical, but I was familiar with the name of Todd, and at least that he was a murdering barber. Very interesting story, this.

[Brandi]

Thinking of legendary (and I say this because I don't think there's any documented evidence of their existence) murderers who'd make an interesting fit in Ravenloft-- how about the Sawney Beane family?

[Manofevil]

Thinking of legendary (and I say this because I don't think there's any documented evidence of their existence) murderers who'd make an interesting fit in Ravenloft-- how about the Sawney Beane family?

A complete outline of this family, its crimes and downfall, is also refered to on the PBS pages listed above as a possible inspiration for the original story which eventually evolved into Sweeney Todd. A rather gruesome account really. Gross.
Also, as far as the Version with Angela Landsbury, I, too, saw this version when I was in high school. A terribly abreviated version because the teacher had to cram it into 50 minutes, but it was enough for me to see it for the great piece that it was. Finding this version would, I'm sure be very difficult but there is a version easier to be had. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street was performed in concert with the San Francisco Symphony. The performance, starring George Hearn and Patti LuPone (as Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett), was filmed by Ellen M. Krass Productions. The resulting television program premiered on PBS October 31, 2001. And of course, everything broadcast by PBS for a long time now is available on VHS and DVD. This version is rather crude however. The singing, music, and costumes are great but it's performed with almost no sets or props. I think the idea was to emphasise the music
Regardless, If you all haven't noticed, the synopsis is done. I'd like to share with you another song passage that I found particularly RavenLoft-ish. One need only replace the name London with a name of a place from RavenLoft to have a very good description of that place. For those who have Real Audio, go here to listen to it:
http://www.pbs.org/kqed/demonbarber/aud ... place.html

For those who don't or can't listen to it over the computer here's a transcript:
There's a hole in the world like a great black pit
and the vermin of the world inhabit it
and its morals aren't worth what a pig could spit
and it goes by the name of London

At the top of the hole sit the priveledged few
making mock of the vermin in the lower zoo
turning beauty into FILTH and greed. I, too,
have sailed the world... and seen it wonders...
For the cruelty of man is as wondrous as Peru.
But there's No place like London...

I don't know about any of you, But I see the resemblance.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Chalk me up as another who's heard of Sweeny Todd. And I'm fairly certain I've seen it mentioned as inspiration for ravenloft somewhere. I personally haven't used it because several of my players are Musical Theater fans and would, upon hearing about a bad smell from a meat pie vendor, immediately charge upstairs looking for the barber.

[Yattara]

upon hearing about a bad smell from a meat pie vendor, immediately charge upstairs looking for the barber.

This does give new meaning to Cut Me Own Throat Dibbler

[Gwynplaine]

Wow! I didn't know about Fritz Haarmann - it's just a wierd coincidence.
He's actually named after ME, [Jimmy Herriman] because people confide in me, much like when you're in a barber's chair and he's chatting away.
That is also another "quirk" to my 'Sweeney Todd': while your in his chair he has a way of getting your deepest, darkest secrects out of you.
You just feel like pouring your heart out to him without even knowing it, which is how he finds out about any misdeeds that you have done -
which in turn helps him on his "quest" to do "good deeds" for the people accross the land.

The movie by the way is quite good - Tod Slaughter is unmatched as the Demon Barber, and the storyline is quite diffrent then the musical.
The sound is rather horrid though, and the picture quality is sub-par in spots - but it's what I expected from a film that was on the bargin bin rack.

I still consider it quite a find!

[Manofevil]

OK who knew the guy was actually real? Or that his name really was Sweeny Todd?
http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_kill ... dex_1.html