My love for “Frankenstein: or The Modern Prometheus” by Mary Shelley is no secret. And it’s no surprise, either — I’m an avid Edgar Allan Poe reader and a verifiable Tim Burton addict. The grotesque and macabre are my daydream material. Therefore, few words can describe my utter joy when I wandered onto the internet last week and found it abuzz with “Frankenstein” mania.
First of all, let’s get one thing straight — the “Frankenstein” novel and the classic movies are nothing alike. Victor Frankenstein is not a mad scientist in a white lab coat. There is no Igor. The Creature can speak and certainly with more coherence than a tired, angry toddler. Before continuing, take every old film reference to “Frankenstein” you know and hurl it into a fire because this is something else entirely.
With that out of the way, we can ask why the internet is suddenly so interested in “Frankenstein” again. Simple: March 2018 will mark the bicentennial celebration of the novel’s publication and people are already ramping up the hype. The world considers “Frankenstein” to be the first science fiction novel ever written and also one of the first modern horror novels. It has spawned thousands of inspired works, including books, poems, movies, TV shows, stage plays and even musicals. In essence, it reinvented Gothic horror. It even has its own trope; it’s a modifier for anything large, grotesque or catastrophic — as with Hurricane Sandy being dubbed “Frankenstorm” in 2012. This is a powerful book and over the last 198 years, it has lost none of its philosophical impact.
Shelley wrote “Frankenstein” when she was nineteen years old as a dare and published it a couple years later. The dare itself — between Shelley, her husband Percy Shelley and a friend — was to write the scariest Gothic ghost story. Shelley was the only one to complete her story with tandem input by her husband. The result is the “Frankenstein” we all know and love today. Shelley is most well-known for her debut novel and a few of her journals, but it’s unlikely she knew just how influential her work would eventually become.
The reason I, and so many others, love “Frankenstein” is because it explores far more than just a narrative. The fierce potential, brief triumph and prolonged tragedy of Victor Frankenstein, and the tender, violent, twisted emotions of the Creature never fail to break my heart. Under Shelley’s pen, humanity tests its boundaries and finds them much more malleable than previously assumed. In addition, the references to great works, especially John Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” build a basis on which we watch the Creature —an innocent blank slate — develop an understanding of what society and humanity are, then interpret them according to example. His conclusions, as wrong as they seem, are inarguable. The link between creator and created becomes, like the link between God and Adam, broken.
With all this and more in mind, it stands to reason how excited I am for the book’s bicentennial celebration. The Frankenstein Bicentennial Project is an entire website, headed by Arizona State University, dedicated to platforming different participatory activities. It’s even been on the news. My particular interest has focused on one segment in particular, the NaNoWriMo Dare.
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a 30-day novel-writing challenge established in 1999. This year, they are partnering with the Frankenstein Bicentennial Project and in the month of July are running the #Frankenstein200 dare. Budding writers can submit a short story exploring the complexities between creation and the monsters that result. As an avid NaNoWriMo participant since 2010, I will definitely be writing my own story to contribute. I encourage anyone who has ever read and loved “Frankenstein” to submit as well. After all, it’s not often anything has a 200th birthday. It’s something to make noise about.
In summary, the literary community is preparing for one of the most exciting events of the decade. At last, there is a place to funnel creative energy toward the classic novel which shaped a massive part of current-day culture. Personally, few things could make me happier. From now until March 2018, I will be taking full advantage of everything the world offers in regards to this grand celebration. And afterward, I will carry the festivities as far as I can into the future. I mean, who wouldn’t? We get to celebrate the first time anyone saw a man stitch corpses together. Truly my kind of party.
