FRANKENSTEIN - A MODERN PROMETHEUS - BY MARY SHELLEY - GUNSTON CLASSICS
An exciting fiction in the HORROR genre that tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. In 1816 Mary and Percy Shelley and Lord Byron had a competition to see who could write the best horror story. After thinking for days, Shelley was inspired to write Frankenstein after imagining a scientist who created life and was horrified by what he had made. He was a crazy man who became possessed by his act of unethical creation, and tortured himself to death with guilt because of it. Containing elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement, Frankenstein embodies the first true science-fiction story. In contrast to previous stories with fantastical elements resembling those of later science fiction, the central character "makes a deliberate decision" and "turns to modern experiments in the laboratory" to achieve fantastic results. The novel has had a considerable influence on literature and on popular culture; it has spawned a complete genre of horror stories, films, and plays.
Since the publication of the novel, the name "Frankenstein" has often been used, erroneously, to refer to the monster, rather than to his creator/father.
Adult Fiction - Horror
