Mary Shelley
FACTS
1. THE BET.
During a storm, they locked in the house. His friends would happen to bet on June 16, 1816, on who managed to make the best horror story. Days later came the idea.
2. HORRIBLE NIGHTMARE.
The Frankenstein’s story was inspired by a nightmare he had at eighteen years of age, about a scientific creating a monster.
3. FRANKENSTEIN'S FILM.
In the classic 1931 film of Frankenstein, his first name is Henry. In the novel, he was Victor.
4. ANONYMOUS.
In 1818, Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, was published anonymously when Mary was only 20 years old in 1818. In 1823 it was published under her own name.
5. WRITING TH BOOK.
In 1814 Mary traveled through Europe. She traveled near a Castle where it was believed that strange experiments had taken place a few centuries before. She also traveled to Geneva's region in Switzerland where much of Frankenstein's story occurs.
6. A DAUGHTER'S REPUTATION.
Mary's father may have killed to save his daughter's reputation. In 1816, the pregnant body of Harriet Westbrook, Percy Shelley's first wife, was found in London's Serpentine river after an apparent suicide. Mary and Percy got married soon after, but rumors persisted that Mary's father had Harriet killed, as she stood in the way of his own daughter marrying Percy and thus forging a "legitimate" relationship.
7. ANOTHER SUICIDE.
Mary's second sister committed suicide too.
8. THE MONSTER.
Despite popular assumptions, it is the mad doctor, not the monster that is named Frankenstein. The monster is only ever referred to as "wretch," "creature," "monster," "demon," and "it."
9. SCIENCE FICTION FANS.
Fans of the sci-fi genre have a lot to thank Mary Shelley for as Frankenstein is considered by many to be the first science fiction novel published.
10. THE SCIENTIFIC.
There is a Frankenstein Castle in Germany where a mad alchemist lived around 1700. It is not clear whether Mary knew of it.