Other editions of book Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus

The novel that Mary Shelley would go on to publish, the legend of Victor Frankenstein and his unholy creation, and their obsessive, murderous pursuit of each other from Switzerland to the North Pole, has been the stuff of nightmares for nearly two centuries. A masterpiece of Romantic literature, it is also one of the most enduring horror stories ever written.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, tells the story of a scientist (Victor Frankenstein) who creates a grotesque but sapient creature. Frankenstein’s monster may not be the scariest component of the story; it also sheds light on a darker side of humanity. On one gloomy night in May, 1816, she, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, and others all promised to write a ghost story, prompting Mary Shelley to write this novel. She began the story at age 18, and it was first published when she was 20. Illustrations by Theodore von Holst.

The story of the monster created by Victor Frankenstein as the result of a scientific experiment and the havoc it caused has mesmerized generations of readers and inspired countless writers of horror and suspense. "Frankenstein" contains elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement and is also considered to be one of the earliest examples of science fiction.