5.17: Setting a trap for Sweeney Todd! — The Edgeware Road dismembered-torso murder. — Hanged Today in History. (Segment 3 — The “Ha’penny Horrids.”)

SHOW NOTES

— for —

MINISODE 17 (Season 5)

(February 22-25, 2026)

"THE HA'PENNY HORRIDS"!

• For COMPLETE SHOW NOTES, including art and links to resources, see ⁠pennydread.com/discord.

————

IN TODAY'S "HA'PENNY HORRIDS" EPISODE:

• 00:45: HANGED TODAY IN HISTORY (February 24): A real downer, you might want to skip this one. But on Feb. 24, 1823, a 54-year-old closeted gay man named William North, outed by the discovery of some love letters, was hanged for “an unnatural crime.”
• 07:45: SWEENEY TODD, THE BARBER OF FLEET-STREET, Chapter 89: Todd has escaped through the neighbor’s house, terrifying them in the process. But now he has a problem — the heat is going to be on! And Sir Richard Blunt has a problem: He doesn’t want Todd to go dark quite yet, he’s working on a plan to catch him red-handed. How can he reassure Todd enough to keep him in England for another day — and make sure Johanna is safe in his shop?
• 23:00: HORRID BROADSIDE: “Life, Trial, Confession & Execution of JAMES GREENACRE, for the EDGEWARE ROAD MURDER!” (1836). Truly a nasty crime, in which Mr. Greenacre killed and dismembered his fiancée on Christmas Eve, the night before their wedding.

GLOSSARY OF EARLY-VICTORIAN SLANG USED IN THIS EPISODE:

• SCRAGGED: Hanged.
• BULLY ROCKS: Swaggering braggadocios.