31 Days of Hallowe'en: Day Two

 Day 2: Frankenstein's Creator

  On 1st January 1818, a novel called Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus was published in London. There was no named author on the edition so no-one knew who had written it. When the second edition was published in Paris in 1921, it was revealed that author was Mary Shelley. Of course, everyone was shocked. A well brought up young woman (she was only 18 when she started writing it and was 20 when it was published) writing such a brilliant horror story. A book critic at the time wrote that the book for a man was ‘brilliant’, for a woman it was ‘wonderful’. That is because they have smaller brains than the rest of us (book critics that is, not women). How had she done it? Simple, she had a dream. Literally.

Shelley travelled through Europe in 1815 along the river Rhine in Germany stopping in Gernsheim, 17 kilometres (11 mi) away from Frankenstein Castle, where two centuries before, an alchemist engaged in experiments. She then journeyed to the region of Geneva, Switzerland, where much of the story takes place. The topics of galvanism and occult ideas were themes of conversation among her companions, particularly her lover and future husband Percy B. Shelley. In 1816, Mary, Percy and Lord Byron, snowed in and bored, had a competition to see who could write the best horror story. To help them out, all four ate rotten food to give them nightmares. Mary consequently dreamt about a scientist who created life and was horrified by what he had made. She saw a scientist standing over the monster he had made, she found it terrifying. Frankenstein was born.

  The mistake most people make with Frankenstein, is believing that is the name of the monster. The monster, actually is never named, Frankenstein, is his creator. Victor Frankenstein is often portrayed as something of a mad scientist. Although perhaps not entirely sane, Frankenstein is a normal man who is seeking a way to combat death. 

  There have been many adaptations of Frankenstein into both plays and films. Whilst the hammer Horror films are best known. There have been 3 musicals, 6 plays (one seen by Mary Shelley and her father in 1823) 1 TV miniseries, 3 TV films and 19 films. There has even been one ballet. Now many of these films are from the monster movie franchises so are not necessarily based on the book but more films featuring the monster, now mistakenly named Frankenstein. Probably the most famous portrayal of Frankenstein’s monster is by Boris Karloff.

   Karloff only played the monster 3 times, first in 1931 and lastly in 1939. Brief though his appearance of the monster may have been, it was iconic and is often how the monster is portrayed in both pop culture and adaptations. The 1931 film was actually based on a play from 1927 by Peggy Webling. The film that is perhaps the most faithful to the original is the 1994 ‘Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein’ which starred Kenneth Branagh (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) as Frankenstein and Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver) as the monster. This star studded cast also included Helena Bonham-Carter (The Crown), John Cleese (Fawlty Towers), Ian Holm (The Lord of The Rings), Tom Hulce (Amadeus) and Aiden Quinn (Practical Magic).

  All in all, Frankenstein has risen from an amazing horror story written by a young Victorian woman, to a part of culture in the UK and beyond. The monster and even Frankenstein himself appear in many things and Shelley herself has been dramatized. From 1818 to 2020 and beyond, this classic horror story will endure. The horror story born from a dream.

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