Thomas Peckett Prest

Thomas Peckett Prest was a British writer, journalist, and musician active in the Victorian era. Sources describe his dates as probable, usually given as 1810–1859, and he is often characterized as a prolific "hack" author who produced large amounts of popular serial fiction for cheap weekly publication.

He is most strongly associated with penny dreadfuls, especially horror and sensation fiction. Prest is now widely remembered as a co-creator of the Sweeney Todd legend through The String of Pearls, and as a co-author, with James Malcolm Rymer, of Varney the Vampire. Those works helped give lasting shape to two of the best-known figures in Gothic popular fiction.

Although many details of his life remain uncertain, his reputation rests on the sheer energy and influence of his writing for everyday readers rather than elite literary circles. That combination of speed, melodrama, and imagination made him an important figure in the rise of popular horror fiction in 19th-century Britain.