Thomas Peckett Prest

Thomas Peckett (or Preskett) Prest (probable dates 1810–1859) was a British hack author. He was a prolific producer of penny dreadfuls and was known as a skilled author in the horror genre. He is now remembered as the co-creator (with James Malcolm Rymer) of the fictional Sweeney Todd, the 'demon barber' immortalized in his The String of Pearls, as well as the co-author with Rymer of Varney the Vampire. He wrote under pseudonyms including Bos, a takeoff of Charles Dickens' own pen name, Boz. He also was noted to have a style similar to Dickens. Before joining Edward Lloyd's publishing factory, Prest had made a name for himself as a talented musician.

Style Prest was noted to follow a similar style to Dickens, often outright imitating his work like he did with Oliver Twist. His work was also noticed to not have as strong a narrative or continuity throughout its story, little description and lots of action in order to ensure people would keep returning week after week and not grow bored. Although historically attributed to Prest recently arguments have been made that Rymer should be considered the true author of The String of Pearls. It is commonly noted that these works were cooperatively written and so they usually are both considered co-authors of the piece. The Gipsy of Rosemary Dell