User blog:ARTaylor/200 Years of Frankenstein

This year marks the two-hundredth anniversary of the release of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, released on January 1st, 1818. Written by Mary Shelley, novel is considered the first work of science fiction. While in Geneva, Shelley heard about an experiment using electricity to cause a dead frog to move. Later that night she had a dream about a man reanimating a dead corpse. She formed the story the next day and eventually published the work anonymously when she was twenty. Her name didn't appear with the book until it was published in France in 1823.

The story follows Victor Frankenstein who, after a series of tragedies involving death, decides to create immortality with a being of his own creation. However, Victor becomes disgusted with his creation after it awakens and flees. The monster strikes out on his own to hunt down his creator forcing the two into a battle that takes them both. The story is presented as a diary of a sailor who found Victor in the Arctic who then tells him his story before his death.



The book is one of the most popular stories ever written with the monster being one of the most iconic faces in fiction. It has been adapted numerous times into films, television series, and comic books. The character inspired the Marvel Comics character, while Punisher once became a similar character named FrankenCastle. The monster has appeared several times in animation like Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Ultimate Spider-Man, and Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.. The book served as the main inspiration for the animated film The Monster of Frankenstein, for which Shelley was credited as writer.